Killing Game
I’ve been playing an awful lot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) recently and I’ve been enjoying it (as much as the skill-based matchmaking allows me to). I have come to realise that I am not very good at the game. I keep coming back to get a quick fix of satisfaction as I shoot people and die repeatedly and eventually get burned out and decide to do something else. I have mainly been focused on the multiplayer but steadily getting through the single-player campaign. The game looks stunning and has really breathed new life into the franchise in my eyes in terms of look, feel and gameplay. However the campaign is almost laughable at how serious it tries to be – in every single mission you encounter an ethical quandary or shocking situation which is a subtle alternative to a megaphone shouting “War isn’t very good is it?” into your face.
It’s very methodical in what they show you – you drop white phosphorous on Russian soldiers in the first level, then have to deal with a terror attack in Piccadilly Circus…then witness war crimes, steadily clear a house containing a terrorist cell with a mother and her child, play as a POW and get waterboarded…I would almost take it seriously if the franchise wasn’t so inherently jingoistic. Worst parts are the quotes they show when you die to try and have a shallow, poignant message telling you again that “war is BAD!”. I think I saw a Rosa Parks one in there somewhere.
Anyways, one of my main favourite features of the game is the nuanced gunplay with the wide assortment of weapons to choose from. More specifically I like the feature of the gunsmith – it provides a wide range of weapon customisation options to the player in their game beyond attaching a Shiba Inu charm to it. You can attach something to the muzzle, swap out the barrel, grip, optics, stock and ammunition. This helps provide a lot of depth and replayability to every multiplayer match you head into and can change your tactics and playstyle drastically to ensure that it doesn’t grow old. Not having the best day with a certain class? Then change to your Ghost class to be undetectable on the radar and rock your integrally suppressed Kilo 141 with a 100 round drum mag to run around a blitz the other team.
Weird thing is though, I really, really enjoy this feature because there is something so satisfying about transforming this weapon into your own and tuning it to exactly how you want to use it.
Mind you though, the selection of weapons in the game really has opened my eyes to something kind of horrifying – the fact I recognise many of these real-life firearms already.
Iconic Arms
One thing I am very thankful for is living in the UK where we have decent control over guns – but this made the fact I know so much about them all the more stranger. Sometimes when I’m walking on the street in South Kensington I walk past the police and spot an Authorised Firearms Officer (thanks Line of Duty!) standing guard with an MP5. First of all, I’m slightly threatened by its presence and then confused about how the fuck do I recognise this machine gun. How have guns managed to ingrain themselves into culture so much that we know some of them as well as some famous books.
Think about it right now – how many iconic firearms can you name?
I’ll try – P90, AK-47, Ak-74u, RPG, Colt M1911, M1 Garand, M16, Spas-12, Remington 870, Glock-17, Glock 22, M60, AUG, MP5, MP7, Beretta M9, .44 Magnum, Walther PPK, Desert Eagle – the list can go on. Now granted I have been exposed to an awful lot of videogames and movies but I’m almost certain regardless of who you are you will be able to recognise those names or the shapes of them at least.
Starting with interactive entertainment, the presence of weapons and guns is almost ridiculous. It is hard to find a solid action game or even best-selling work which doesn’t feature gunplay or the act of shooting and killing someone. There is this strange obsession around the satisfaction of pulling a trigger and harming someone. Why is it so integral to this specific art form? You can even see how influential it is on an ergonomic level – literal triggers are built into the controllers of games consoles to assist in this gameplay.
I can think of one big influence on my exposure to weapons in games, but not in a typical way – Metal Gear Solidis a really interesting franchise in its themes and details. Not only is it an incredible starting point to learn more on politics, culture and military history; the games also treat guns in an interesting way. In the third game, you can call your buddy SIGINT and he’ll explain certain weapons to you such as their operational history and tactics to employ using them. There is one scene where you go into detail on the modifications to an M1911 pistol that is so satisfying you’ll want to eat the gun afterwards as though it was a burger. A mega interesting thing about the Metal Gear Solid franchise is that you always have an option on whether to progress through the game lethally or non-lethally, which always adds an interesting challenge to the games.
I’m fully aware I’m party to this widespread, weird fascination and regard for guns in TV, Games and Movies but in reality I find their existence absolutely abhorrent. I often remember how hollow point rounds are specifically designed to tear through human flesh better and cause more damage to another person. I think about weapon designers who spent hours, days, years working together to design something that can help cause more damage and extinguish life faster – how can they sleep at night?
TV and Films are also very guilty of perpetuating this cultural obsession. There is this technique I’ve noticed people using to easily escalate the tension or drama in a TV show- introduce a gun. It might be hidden in a family safe or underneath the bed, big or small or ultimately unimportant, but as soon as someone gets a gun it becomes a life or death situation. First example that comes to mind is the Saturday Night Live sketch parody of The OC where everyone gets shot. But it’s true, any time you want to make shit serious just give a character a gun.
Guns in film are particularly prolific, Chekov’s Gun being a direct example of how prominent a role firearms often play in narratives. Also think about all the famous scenes you know of that feature guns – the bit when he gets the pistol in Donnie Darko, the ‘clever girl’ scene in Jurassic Park, the “say hello to my little friend” moment in Scarface, “you talking to me?” in Taxi Driver and “Aw man I shot Marvin in the face” in Pulp Fiction.
Over-Militarisation
There’s another side to the excitement of guns though and that’s when they are necessary for the protagonist to save the day. When there is no conversation to be had on an attempt to avoid extinguishing life – just that antagonists are problems to be solved with a single bullet to the head – and we don’t blink twice to this because that’s just how action heroes roll.
Think about it though, it’s not uncommon for us to get a positive feeling when we see a hero geared up– whether it’s through a tactical vest with magazines of ammunition on it, or even a utility belt like Batman – we can sometimes see this adds realism and presents an over militarisation of the positive force in the story. I recently saw Tenet and I really enjoyed the costume design in that – magazines in the tactical vests, helmets, and fatigues. Really cool to see especially during the big battle sequences.
One thing I like to do in GTA Online is the customisation of my character and my role play as ‘The Red Mask’ – a superhero. Now this very niche form of escapism warrants its own article at some point down the line but my customisation revolves around pedantic custom outfit builds to make the most tactical looking outfit you can – gun holsters, bulletproof vests, tactical equipment harnesses, thermal and night vision goggles, ghillie suits – all of this has been my obsession in that game in the past 7 years. This over-militarisation of this avatar I want to play as is something that is so satisfying to see, but I often take a step back and think – why?
Now for that question with that context specifically, it is very much because of Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman and how he acquires his equipment since The Red Mask is a superhero role play. But that continues my line of enquiry of why this militarisation of the police is so celebrated. It’s a very real problem that when we continue to throw money at institutions of power we enable them to get out of control not just with institutional power but also physical and technological power and threat, whether it’s through riot gear, tear gas or firearms.
Guns are inherently a political issue in the US (and common fucking sense in the rest of the world), with so many horrifying firearms incidents happening in their country, the world cannot help but look on with confusion at how so many people fight proper gun control and regulation.
The tacti-cool look demonstrates an expertise in the act of killing or harm and I think a prime case of this is in the John Wick films. Now I love the John Wick films – but they are absolutely batshit crazy in their violence. The action choreography is lethal, tight and precise – it’s stunning and exciting to watch. When he switches to a different weapon and methodically takes out a whole SWAT team in quick succession its…well, badass. But again, why do I think it’s so cool?!
(By the way, what is the weird obsession people have with suppressors? It’s like they think it makes the gun look cooler and obviously serves a function (although in real life they’re nowhere near as quiet as in the movie. I cannot help but think there’s some kind of phallic element to it.)
I suppose on an extremely simplistic level the dynamic of shooting something and leaving an explosive hole in it is very visually satisfying. And to an equal extent the act of reloading – ejecting a magazine with a clunk and slotting another in, then cocking the gun. It is sonically catchy to hear and mechanically interesting to see. It’s a fundamental fact that we’re all taught the semiotics of this somehow or another and its naturally a part of our language. Think about every time you’ve pointed a gun with your hand at your head as a joke or had a play gun fight (immediately thinking about THAT scene from Spaced).
However, I believe there is a very simple explanation for this over glorification of violence and militarisation – the clue is in the word ‘glory’. There is a fundamental need in society to honour those who go into the chaotic abyss of battle, risking their lives. Consider these cultural icons to be propping up the glorification of modern day ‘heroes’, in the same way they may have built statues for ancient warriors after incredible feats.
One particular image that comes to mind was discussed recently with the US police’s response to protests against racial violence is the skull icon of The Punisher.
The Punisher is a strange character – he is this very strange societal power fantasy where there’s this force of nature whose very existence acknowledges that our system of law and order is fundamentally flawed. Most of the works featuring the character doesn’t provoke that much conversation around his existence, in fact it actively avoids it and continues on the path of Frank Castle’s revenge story, using that to justify him being judge jury and executioner.
Now I’m still not entirely sure what this piece is trying to say, but I remember really enjoying The Punisher TV show when it came out for its tacti-cool and gun-oriented aesthetic. Although I did find it dodgy that it had a slight pro-gun message in one episode with the character Karen Page from Daredevil. However the issue with the character I mentioned before is incredibly problematic, and seeing such a symbol related to the character being actively embraced by police officers in the states is fucking frightening if they interpret themselves to be judge jury and executioner.
Note: that the creator of the Punisher symbol has actively prohibited it’s use by law enforcement or it’s use in the form of any counter protest.
We’ve been culturally trained that guns are forbidden, taboo, exciting and therefore recognisable either down to the make and model or that they are very easy to register as instruments of destruction. So much so that they even have their own online Internet Movie Firearms Database available to browse, where the weapons have as detailed a backstory as the main cast.
And it begs the question on what is going to happen to guns when you’re no longer just looking at them through a screen. The fragmentation of digital information can now allow them to get everywhere –literally in a few years’ time you could most likely 3D print a proper receiver to build yourself an AR-15. And what about VR as the natural progression of interactive entertainment? Although this thinkpiece video from games publication Polygon is made fun of it actually does raise some slightly valid points.
The existence of guns is a horrifying reality that thankfully a large majority of the world has acted upon, but this obsession is fascinating to take a step back and look at and I don’t see firearms, their grotesque allure or cultural obsession disappearing any time soon.
minutiae+musings 