2021/10/20
Question
Use the remainder of the session to research examples of politics affecting media in one or more of the following media: Games, Film, TV, Advertising, Animation.
After the 1980s, with the rise of the network society, the new media supported by digital technology has become the most widely disseminated and popular information carrier in the information society, and the digital new media has gradually penetrated into political reports around the world. The media is independent and free, able to reflect all kinds of political and social events as well as the expression of interests of all social classes, and can serve as a kind of supervision over government actions. Media and politics are inextricably linked. People implant ideas in the media to guide the values of the masses. Compared with media such as news reports, film and television works have a more subtle influence on people.
Movies, animation and games are available to almost everyone, so people often avoid political elements in order to avoid controversy. Sometimes, however, a reference to history makes a good subject, as in the Japanese anime Gundam series, a mecha combat animation. The antagonism and political events between the “Zeon” and the “Earth Federation Forces” in the animation can be traced back to reality.
The principality of “Zeon” began to be called “Zion”. It was based on Nazi Germany, and many of its actions bore some resemblance to the real Nazi Germany. But it was later renamed “Zeon” because of political sensitivities. There is even an official intention to draw readers into the realm of international politics by using Gundam‘s worldview as an entry point.
Not only history, but also the future. For example, Cyberpunk 2077, which is an action character game developed by CD Projekt RED. Cyberpunk is a highly political subgenre of science fiction. Mike Pondsmith, author of Cyberpunk 2077, told VGC that “everything is political” and that the background is a story about the intersection of technology and power.
Cyberpunk has always involved sensitive political elements, such as race and the gap between rich and poor. Stanislaw Swiecicki, the screenwriter of Cyberpunk 2077, believes it is one of those elements that can evoke strong emotions in players, and should not be deviated from when necessary.
When there’s a political element to the work, sometimes it resonates better with the audience when paired with a good story. Or in this way to convey ideas and make people think. But indoctrination and imposition are not desirable in most cases. Alf Condelius, chief operating officer of Ubisoft’s Massive Studios, told a game conference in Sweden not to be too open about politics in the game because it’s “bad for business.”