The Military-Entertainment Complex (metaLABprojects) - Softcover

Lenoir, Tim; Caldwell, Luke

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674724984 ISBN 13: 9780674724983

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2018

Synopsis

With the rise of drones and computer-controlled weapons, the line between war and video games continues to blur. In this book, the authors trace how the realities of war are deeply inflected by their representation in popular entertainment. War games and other media, in turn, feature an increasing number of weapons, tactics, and threat scenarios from the War on Terror.

While past analyses have emphasized top-down circulation of pro-military ideologies through government public relations efforts and a cooperative media industry, The Military-Entertainment Complex argues for a nonlinear relationship, defined largely by market and institutional pressures. Tim Lenoir and Luke Caldwell explore the history of the early days of the video game industry, when personnel and expertise flowed from military contractors to game companies; to a middle period when the military drew on the booming game industry to train troops; to a present in which media corporations and the military influence one another cyclically to predict the future of warfare.

In addition to obvious military-entertainment titles like America’s Army, Lenoir and Caldwell investigate the rise of best-selling franchise games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, and Ghost Recon. The narratives and aesthetics of these video games permeate other media, including films and television programs. This commodification and marketing of the future of combat has shaped the public’s imagination of war in the post-9/11 era and naturalized the U.S. Pentagon’s vision of a new way of war.

About this title

About the Author

Tim Lenoir is Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Cinema and Digital Media and Science and Technology Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Luke Caldwell is a Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Literature and Media Arts + Sciences at Duke University.

Review

“Locked and loaded, this astonishing account of the ‘military-entertainment complex’ exposes the links between military technologies and popular media, the alignments and affinities among defense agencies, video game companies, and Hollywood studios. With tactical precision, Tim Lenoir and Luke Caldwell show how the militarization of contemporary society is driven less by political interests than by economic interests, revealing the ways in which the entertainment industry and its commercial practices shape the imagination of postmodern warfare. This is a provocative, high-octane book about the war games of everyday life and the future of digital culture. Epic pwn.”―Colin Milburn, University of California, Davis

“While the term ‘military-entertainment complex’ conjures images of dystopian collusion, what Lenoir and Caldwell uncover is far more disturbing: collusion is unnecessary. By avoiding authenticity in favor of adrenaline, billion-dollar video game franchises, such as Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, do more to create a cultural acceptance of war than military PR could ever hope to achieve. Games have not been co-opted by the military, but rather the opposite. Civilians have transformed war into a consumer product, reducing its emotional resonance to that of a theme park ride, all in service of reaching a larger audience.”―Walt Williams, Lead Writer, Spec Ops: The Line

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0674724984
• ISBN 13: 9780674724983
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272