automatonvice

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Final Essay

Contreltophobia Incarnate

Contreltophobia, or agraphobia, is defined as the phobia of sexual abuse. Generally, phobias are seen as extremes of a fear, taken to a point of sensitivity where they cannot be explained. But, sexual abuse, as well as the ideals similar to it such as rape, can easily be understood as producing a strong and understandable fear, and even more so for females. Video games hold the interesting aspect of being able to simulate and represent realistic fears and create a unique type of immersion for the viewer through pure interaction. The RPG video game trilogy LISA contains almost three different generations in a family that the viewers gets to know, beginning with the more abstract and experimental origin story of Lisa, a child very obviously sexual abused by her father, and followed by two games set in a post apocalyptic world containing no females but one, a young girl named Buddy. It is mostly in this strikingly contemporary and perverted wasteland that LISA begins to reveal culturally implanted fears and paranoia of women through its extreme circumstances of abuse.

Due to warnings from parents or the increasingly common cases appearing in public news, women from a young age begin to fear the mere possibility of being taken advantage of and raped. Patricia D. Rozee, author of "Fear of Rape" from the Women's Studies Encyclopedia, found that women fear rape more than any other violent offense, such as physical non-sexual assault, armed robbery, and even murder. Rozee’s studies indicate that this intense fear of rape appears in the early years of girls’ development, between about ages 2 and 12. She also reports that women participating in the studies claim to remember hearing parental warnings about stranger danger at very young ages (Rozee Fear of Rape). LISA: THE FIRST can be described as having this fear as a major core concept. Lisa, the main character of LISA: THE FIRST, physically appears to be a young girl, and one who very clearly characterizes a child used and abused by her guardian. The choice to make Lisa so young not only emphasizes the lack of power, especially mentally, that one has as a victim of such a situation, but she also comes to represent the “worst case scenario” or parental horror story. As with all successful educational media, it is that which is the most shocking and intense which leaves the most lasting mark in one’s memory. Lisa takes on many of the warning signs of a child put in a similar situation in the real world. Key symptoms and signs of sexually abused children is that they often look distracted/distant, have nightmares, think of their self or body as repulsive, attempt suicide, have inadequate personal hygiene, and/or attempt running away from home (Stop It Now!). Lisa has long mangled hair, worn clothes (Image 1), experiences many feverish and symbolic nightmares (Image 1 and 2), which the viewer also gets to experience through her eyes, and does not speak throughout any of her game. The viewer sees her home through an exaggerated perspective, where it is implied that she is drugged regularly by her father, so the home is covered in vomit stains (Image 3). Lisa spends the entirety of the game attempting to run away from her home, and her father, who covers the landscape in many shapes and forms, such as spiders, cultists, and most often as horribly deformed monsters (Image 3 and 4). There’s even a recurring phallic looking character named Tricky Rick (Image 5) who, when Lisa tries to bypass, tells her "Did you really think that would work? I'll never leave you. You have to swallow me, get over it". The later game, LISA: THE PAINFUL, reveals that Lisa asks her brother to maim her face through cuts so that she may become unpleasant to look at as a last ditch attempt to have her father leave her alone. Her suicide on the title screen of the third game (Image 6) implies her unsuccess with that theory as well as her final, and brutal, escape. Lisa represents the most extreme case of sexual abuse, from start to finish, along with all of the nuts and bolts and quirks of one suffering from such a home life. LISA: THE PAINFUL plays with the subject of men who casually speak of rape, which on the exterior may seem hard to miss in our current world, but is more likely than you think. A canadian college in recent years has finally received backlash over a popular student orientation chant: Y is for your sister. O is for oh-so-tight. U is for underage. N is for no consent. G is for grab that ass (The Canadian Press). Completely lacking in any moral story or educational purpose, this chant solely became a way for male students to joke or relate over non consensual sex, even including underage as part of it. LISA: THE PAINFUL, the second game of the trilogy, portrays a male population with a widespread desire to take advantage of the single remaining female on earth, Buddy. Men of LISA: THE PAINFUL also casually refer to rape by spouting lines such as “You can lead a horse to water, and then do whatever you want to it!”(Image 7) in regard to Buddy. To cement this, the enemy, Bolo, even has a pretty clear attack move called “Grope”. Buddy frequently meets men seeking to take advantage of her sexually, despite her alarmingly young age. The society of the post apocalyptic world emphasizes a lack of intelligence, and therefore connects this open pedophilic ideology, rape, and similar perverse ideas as that of unintelligent people and of a degraded culture. Again, the games aim to give the worst possible scenario, as all apocalyptic tales tend to. LISA builds a world of regret to try to get viewers to read into the warning signs and into what makes this world so horrible as to get them to avoid it happening in the real world.

The LISA trilogy also contains a perforating theme of objectification and monetization of sex and females. This can be seen today in brideprice and dowry practices in some cultures. Arranged marriages still exist in many societies where the woman has a minimal say in her future. In  the apocalyptic world of the second game, where there are barely women to defend their rights, and men have degraded in moral and intelligence, it is not surprising to see this concept implemented into the game. For instance, when Buddy stumbles upon a wandering gang led by Bolo, he states, “When it comes to a king's buffet. There's no shame in eating table scraps. Especially when the scraps are this tasty. Haaaaaaaaa! Okay. Enough goofin'. Grab that pristine meat!". The entire concept of the second game is that everyone in the country of Olathe is trying to find Buddy, either for their own, mostly sexual, personal gain, or to sell her to the highest bidder, and as the only woman alive, she is quite literally the most valuable and rare item in the world at the moment. Sex with women is yearned for intensely and obsessively, and as one NPC describes in a particularly deserted map area, "Everyone left to go after that girl. I used to be like that... Chasing women... One woman actually... Sneaky cheating bitch”. Even when remembering the time where women were abundant, most of the men continuously regard their past partners and women in general in the most negative connotation. Women also become a legitimate commodity in Olathe. Paper and metal completely falls through as a form of currency, and pornographic magazines take their place (Image 8). As the only source of images of women, magazines, or mags as they come to be called in the game, become the next best thing. More interesting is how protective Olathians are of their mags, as they are very rarely picked up through simple looting. Most mags collected come from looting corpses of people who have recently died or you have beaten, a sort of selfishness and viewing of women as their own personal property becomes a core part of the game series, paralleling real world human trafficking and trading of daughters for marriage in the past and present. Physical or even printed, women become the most wanted commodity of the apocalypse with no females.

The LISA trilogy uses comedy, a simple 8-bit RPG style game to bravely tread into sensitive content and controversial topics. LISA: THE FIRST contains no plot and no storyline. It is purely imagery and limited and repetitive text, and yet it tells a story because of its directness. LISA: THE PAINFUL and LISA: THE JOYFUL use more complex game concepts like a very developed story, backstories, characters, and in game items and dialogue to increase the immersion of the viewer as well as making a more relatable environment. Viewers are able to bond to the characters, such as Buddy and even learn more about the incredibly mute Lisa through the second game. Viewers learn to associate Buddy and Lisa with unfair circumstance and come to resent those who take advantage of them or view them as lesser. The dire circumstances transfer the same ideals into the real world and it is the emotional connections that viewers get from media that goes on to follow them into their daily lives. LISA uses the video game convoy to tell the story of the abuse degradation of moral through the gradual viewing of women as only sexual objects, and the isolation and inner scarring of a child sexually abused and educates its viewers through this content.

Works Cited

LISA. Dingaling Productions, LLC. 2014. Video game.

Rozee, Patricia (n.d.). Fear Of Rape. Greenwood Electronic Media.

http://gem.greenwood.com/wse/wsePrint.jsp?id=id222

“Tip Sheet: Warning Signs of Possible Sexual Abuse In A Child's Behaviors.” Stop It Now!,

Klingberg, www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/tip-sheet-7.

The Canadian Press. “Saint Mary's University under Fire for Frosh-Week Chant Championing

Non-Consensual Sex with Underage Girls.” National Post, 25 Jan. 2015,

nationalpost.com/news/canada/halifax-university-under-fire-for-frosh-week-chant-cham

Ioning-non-consensual-sex-with-underage-girls.

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Final Theses

The RPG game trilogy, LISA, presents the issues of the cycle of abuse, sexual, physical, domestic and drug, in a dark post-apocalyptic world by forcing the player to correlate each character's backstory to their current state of mind and actions.

The RPG game trilogy, LISA, presents the issues of the cycle of abuse, sexual, physical, domestic and drug, in a dark post-apocalyptic world where the cycle is perpetuated by conceding and passive characters who fail to confront their trauma.

The RPG game trilogy, LISA, reveals culturally implanted fears and paranoia of women through the game's extreme circumstances of abuse and a nightmarish, perverted, apocalyptic world.

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Westworld

Westworld features a kind of amusement park where humans can go and interact with a world of artificial intelligence that are so realistic that they can be used as recipients of human emotions without repercussion. They are free to treat the artificial in any way they please. Dolores answer of “Has she ever questioned her existence” can be read as incredibly intelligent and aware, far beyond that of which she should be capable of. This is part of the glitch, a realization of the loop these artificial beings are placed in each day. She states that she tries to see the beauty in the world, not the violence that she and her technical coworkers are set to endure each day by visitors.

Amusement parks can be seen as simulacra, a place where a lie can become semi true, its accuracy just right to create an illusion that could be questioned. Westworld features this exact situation, but where realities blend even closer together. The point of view switches between that of the visitor, who is experiencing the park as it is meant to be experienced, a place of freedom and adventure where you may act as you please and be whoever you would like to be. You may treat the “people” of Westworld however you like to create your own story. Then, there is the point of view of the androids, where their world is set in stone, they have a set storyline they go through each day, and starting dialogue to their patrons. They react according to the patrons and follow set personality types. If anything were to differ out of the ordinary, they would be removed as to keep the illusion pristine. And then, there is the point of view of those behind the scenes, the creators. This is the true moment of reality break, where even our own philosophies and lives as viewers are put into question. The scientists break the mirror of the park of Westworld, disassembling the androids, as well as maintaining the park for the patrons. They are in almost every sense, gods. They create, destroy, capable of stopping the whole world of Westworld if necessary. In the beginning, the scientists reality can be seen as the most “true”.

It is difficult to tell apart the androids and the humans if they have not explicitly “blown their cover” and talked about the park as if it were just an experience. Dolores has a long monologue after she answers with “No” to the question of “Has she ever questioned her existence”. The most interesting line of this being “I like to remember what my father taught me, ‘That at one point or another, we were all new to this world. The newcomers are looking for the same thing we are, somewhere to be free”. Free, in the Westworld, has two incredibly different meanings. Newcomers wish to experience the freedom of the old west, where law was loose, and where they can let loose their inhibitions. They want the freedom to experience that which they’re not allowed to experience in the ‘Real world’ (outside of Westworld). Those androids that are becoming sentient, those who are realizing their situation, yearn for freedom to live on their own and to not be at the bec and call of visitors. They wish to cease being actors and puppets and to become their own beings. “One chance encounter can change my life forever”, is another claim that Dolores makes in passing. This directly references the photograph she finds which triggers her breakdown and the beginning of the glitches. The ruining of the illusion for visitors can be easily fixed, as humans are already slightly aware of the park being rigged. But humans are not gods, and although the androids are artificial, as much as they are controlled and regulated, there is an unknown and a possibility of failure. The shattering of the illusion for Dolores, and the quick way of salvaging the situation, makes it seem as though the humans know how to deal with this sort of breakdown (which they clearly don’t). The illusion shattering for the androids is much more dangerous than that of the visitor, and a situation which their creators could not expect to be difficult to fix.

Westworld brings up the situation of “when artificial intelligence transcends artificiality and becomes a thinking being of its own, is it still artificial”, and what is the true reality of Westworld. Is it the visitor, which blindly continues its life seeking quick moments of pure joy and freedom (human life as a whole), the android, which transcends its creators to slowly learn of its confines (e.i. Us with our own religions), or those of the scientists, who try and fail and try and fail to create in our own image (modern science and the human obsession with creating ourselves or creating in our own image).

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Simulacra

Baudillard’s piece on simulacra discusses the idea of how real or fake it inherently is. As with the example on faking an illness, a simulacra cannot be considered fake as it holds physical pieces of reality in it. The example of Disneyland argues that amusement parks are a simulacra of childhood for adults. They step into this contained bubble of childish wonder, filled with fictitious beings. They are given the opportunity to leave their adult responsibilities and life at the gateway just for a little while. It is not necessarily fake as childishness exists everywhere in general and can be experienced at any time, but it simulates it to the point of it being an exaggeration, and could not possibly be real.

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Monster

Cohen brings up some interesting ideas concerning a monster as a being born from our current culture in his Monster Theory. A monster generally encapsulates the fears of a current time period and area, depending on their lifestyle. Monsters therefore are subject to change as a culture changes, and so new monsters are born to represent new fears. A monster, in my mind, would almost always have the quality of lack of morals or humanity. This would be the cornerstone of every monster. If they had morals or humanity and questioned their actions or that of humans, then its monstrosity would be up for argument and discussion. A human can be a monster, if it lacks a moral compass. Not the type to be punished because of mental limitations, but should be generally supervised and taken with a grain of salt based on situation. The monstrosity seen in humans is hard to deal with and react to while still trying to see them as fellow human being. Some actions and thoughts expressed by them might bring into question their very humanity, and then the question becomes how do you react to or, if necessary, control a monstrous human. There is a common cycle in culture which synthesizes well with this theory: the old fear the new. Adults find things to fear in the younger generation. Long distance communication was always up for analysis by each older generation. In the 1900s, political cartoons featured the “lack of communication” in their culture because of newspapers. It claimed that people would cease to know how to properly speak to one another. Same with the use of radios and music, where parents would think of their children as wasting away their brain cells and time listenin to it. Now, the current monster is social media and computers. The antagonists of this generation have caused adults to write of “internet addictions” and the dangers of internet strangers (which has the exact same ratio of creep:normal person as any normal outing in person). You are just as likely to meet a creep in person as you are online, and in fact, it's much easier to remove yourself from a dangerous situation in online communication than it is in person. Political cartoons today depict the younger generation being “controlled” by technology or bodily or physically connected to it. A monster can be described as the unknown or new change. A fear of a faulty generation, a decline in human productivity or community. An obvious example of this can be the new acknowledgement of a gender spectrum or sexuality spectrum. Those who choose to label themselves using these terms are commonly mocked or admonished. Sometimes they’re caricatured for jokes or exiled by classmates, or even adult peers. They are seen as mentally unwell because they stand for represent something different or believe something different. There is a tendency for humanity to mob against an outlier and weed them out. The masses over the oppressed generally results in a monsterization of the opponent to normality.

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Remix

The use of past ideas, images, and sounds from the past is pervasive in today’s method of creating. Iconic characters of the past are often called back to in modern television shows, bringing a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. The remix is a way of reviving the old ideas with the technology of the current day, while either encapsulating, or even completely modifying the tone of the original. Future knock or flip is a subgenre of electronic music which features frequent use of music from the 90s, and early 2000s, especially in black-centric genres such as hip-hop, R&B, and jazz. Remixers, legitimately known as DJs, sample the incredibly emotional vocals from these genres, edit the pacing to their desire, and create an entirely new track to be enjoyed. Kaytranada, a semi-popular DJ centered in Canada, has a discography almost completely composed of this form of music. For instance, one of my favorite tracks is one where he uses Janet Jackson’s “Alright” to create a dance beat heavy track to fit his own style. (https://soundcloud.com/kaytranada/janet-alrite-kaytraflip).

The use of the remix in music becomes a large part of electronic music in general. The technology of synthesizers, soundboards, and other editing programs allows for DJs to use existing media and add onto it to produce something not entirely new, but yet exists clearly apart from the original source. Remix gives new power to creators, giving them fodder for expressing their own style using content they already enjoy which might be underrated or underappreciated by a certain age group or audience. The transmutation of a piece of media from one style to another can bring attention to both the remixer and to the original content, benefitting multiple creators. Kaytranada uses soul music which may never grace a club, and transforms it into a form which can easily be danced to and blasted through club speakers. Kaytranada edits the original version, adding low points to the song which were not originally there. His new track might draw his listeners attention to Janet Jackson’s other music as well as his own. Applications like Shazam allow for people to find out what music is playing just from a recording a couple seconds long. This way, any listener anywhere could hypothetically be exposed to both Kaytranada and Janet Jackson’s works. If Jackson’s track were to lose popularity or get less purchases or views on youtube (ad revenue), then a remixed track like that of Kaytranada may temporarily revive that certain original track’s popularity.

Another point to consider is the change in audience of a track such as the original. The original might have been directed towards a more casual audience, an audience which would not regularly listen to EDM. On the opposite end, those who listen to classic EDM (which lacks vocals), might not have seen value in Jackson’s original track or even thought to listen to it before Kaytranada’s remix. The clubbing person would have a different diet of music than those who listen to soul such as Jackson. They are two entirely different beasts. The addition of vocals to pure electronic, or conversely, the addition of a good beat and bass to some vocals would create a new genre, and connect fans of those two characteristics. And so the remix brings upon a meshing of fans. A meshing of fans might introduce new interests, new musical discoveries for both parties, and a recognition of each other. Many listeners might disregard a certain track because of its genre prematurely, and if met with some tracks which combine genres, or place a new spin on them, might entice them to search out the genre for others they might like. Kaytranada in this way challenges listeners to explore other genres. A DJ constantly searches for hidden gems from the past to pick apart and frankenstein into a new spin on something old.

The enhancement of the source materials mood in the remix might create a sense of comfort in the viewers, as they are reliving the source in its essence. A true change in mood of the source material in the remix might interest the viewers, a sharp change of pace and a pulling of the rug from under them. Regularity and the past is a comfort, and change brings a spice to life. The combination, also known as the remix, could be considered the perfect balance of the two polar ideas.

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Critical Analysis- Music Video

Devin Varbanov

https://youtu.be/KZnou4zthz4

Kaytranada - Lite Spots

Kaytranada's "Lite Spots" music video features the modern concern of artificial intelligence as well as the centuries old question of "What brings people together?" which permeates all cultures. The expository shots reveal a humble garage in a suburban area. Inside, we meet a small robotic dog trying to get its owners attention, the first hint at the subject of this music video. Kaytranada works on a circuit board and then is revealed with the full bot, sitting on a table as if it is Kaytranada's patient at a hospital. From humble beginnings indeed as the next scene is set just outside the garage where Kaytranada teaches the bot some sweet dance moves. The bot is an impressively quick learner, and as the two walk down the street, they meet another man standing at the corner of the street. The man is upbeat and once Kay explains the specialty of this robot, he begins to dance in his own style. Kay follows and soon the bot joins as well. The next scene is of a quiet bus stop, where a young girl and the pair are sitting. The girl leans over to see the bot in curiosity and Kay once again explains its purpose. The girl gets up to perform her own personal dance. An icebreaker and beacon of entertainment, the bot joins in as well. This continues on for scenes in different locations and all day, as the sun begins to set. From garage to corner street, to bus stop, to basketball court, to beach. Kaytranada develops a close friendship with the bot as well as brings happiness to the random people he meets. The final dance takes place well after dark where a man is dancing on his own in the illumination of a street light. His double jointed arms bend in an inhuman manner and he moved in a disjointed way, less dance and more spastic. Kay encourages the bot to go anyway. As the bot begins to dance he struggles to understand at the hostility, energy, and ferocity of the human dancer's movements and runs away. Kaytranada meets with him behind a wall and soothes him. The are last seen through a late night dinner's window, chatting. The colors of the video are unfiltered and unmodified, natural and simple. The locations are urban and everyday, which shows the constant opportunities humans have for interaction and friendship on a daily basis. Kaytranada's music featured Portuguese lyrics, uncommon in the chill/flip/future knock genre, and symbolizes the pervasiveness of music and dance through all cultures. A possible uniting force and symbol of trust and peace (as the robot dances with strangers). The lyrics in Portuguese are as simple as the concept of the video: the singer simply repeats over and over how content and happy she is. Kaytranada's "Lite Spots" uses feel good imagery, music, and lyrics, to show the simplicity of inter-human relations, the bonding power of music and dance in these relationships, and touches upon the limitations of AI.

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Devin Varbanov

Critical Analysis

9/19/2017

Present Day

The present day changed, in fact leagues away from the world it had been 10 or 20 years ago, and Kurt Anderson has clearly yet to analyze some of its glaring differences. Technology has not stagnated culture, it has only created a platform for even faster culture mixture, which may create more blurred lines between communities and countries opinions and tastes, but it has not stagnated. The quickly paced evolution of technology in the past ten years has significantly affected political communication between groups of differing opinion and rapid exchange of ideas through images, text, or advanced visual technology such as videos and animation.

For example, the style of advertisements and commercials shown on TV, especially those directed towards kids, have changed drastically. Fish-eye lenses, too-close zoom ins, cheesy laser lights, and animated words plagued the toy and food advertisements of the 90’s and early 2000s. That was simply the style of television sound and visual effects that were most used during that time. This can be seen in the opening of the television series, Goosebumps, as well as the comedy for The Amanda Show. Super Soakers, Kids Cuisine, and various slime or boys prank items featured similar effects that are very rarely used in today’s media. The intensity in camera movements, cartoony expressions, and similar shock tactics were used to impress the audience as the items themselves lacked the abilities modern day toys have. Furbies may be one of the only toys I can think of which might hold some abilities which it did not have to rely on flashy commercials to carry it to popularity. Anderson naively disregards the development of electronic music, and clearly looks down on hip hop. The use of sampling brought new moods and even narrative to music. As technology developed, so did culture, and the capabilities of toys and especially entertainment.

Fashion changed pivotally and markedly since the 1990s. How many people are running around looking like wannabe Spice Girls? Baggy sweaters are rarely used, shapeless jeans, puffy hair, frosted tips, double buns, butterfly hair clips, gaudy platform shoes hardly ever grace the streets of present day. The 2000s brought in the fad of dyed strands of hair as well. Modern hairstyles, man buns, minimalist styles, colors, and less patterns clearly departs from these fads.

Visual culture has made a distinct evolution from the styles and imagery used in the 1990s, and although some concepts may not change, that is simply because there are some ideas that are universal and enjoyed throughout the ages. Although there has been the development of technology, media and the tastes of the present day person differ greatly from the tastes of someone in the 1990s or 2000s. I believe that the stagnation of culture is impossible in a country where the government does not specifically limit it (e.i. capitalism). Human beings and the general consumer continuously tire from older content, in clothing, art, interior design, media, and artists struggle to stand out amongst eachother, developing new tastes and personal styles. It is the human artist and arts which pushes the development of new culture.