The Military-Entertainment Complex (Paperback)

Tim Lenoir

ISBN 10: 0674724984 / ISBN 13: 9780674724983

Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2018

About this Item

Paperback. 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. With the rise of drones and computer-controlled weapons, the line between war and video games has blurred. The Military-Entertainment Complex traces how the realities of war are inflected by their representation in entertainment. War games, in turn, feature an increasing number of weapons, tactics, and scenarios from the War on Terror. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780674724983

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Military-Entertainment Complex (Paperback)
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674724984
• ISBN 13: 9780674724983
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

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 the Authors

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.