Machinima is the reappropriation of animations (and sometimes sound) from a video or computer game, remixed into a different context. For as long as we have had video games, we have had machinima. On the site we focus a lot on video games themselves, but that is not the only place where gaming culture happens.
What I find particularly interesting is the way machinima filters games—some make overly sexualized avatars into characters with depth and a story. Some take characters with depth and story and turn them into sexualized objects for the male gaze.
What I find interesting in machinima, particularly WoW machinima, is way the creators hyperbolize problematic aspects of the video game. For example, the Night Elf female dance is highly sexual, even reminiscent of a stripper. In fact, the “stripper” aspect of the dance is uncovered in the machinima, as there are countless productions on youtube that put the dancing night elf into a stripper scene. Often the machinimators remove her clothes and set her dance to seductive music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82y62CwpHUc). Some have even found a way to remove the scant clothing, making the Night Elves totally nude. There is certainly no shortage of exploitation of these avatars.
Using machinima as a guide, then, we can begin to uncover some of the more peripheral, hidden, or unintended hypersexualization of women happening in these games. For example, creators made a video of mashups of the different emotes of the Blood Elf female. She says things like “Do you think the expansion will make me fat?” and “No, no I won’t do that. But my sister will.” Taken in context with the many other female emote machinima videos available, the blatant sexism that traverses WoW becomes more apparent. The Worgen female says “Being bitchy is in my blood.” The female Goblin says, “If you liked it, you should have put a larger, more elaborate ring on it” (which is also reminiscent of the Jewish stereotypes exploited in the game, but that’s for another time). Or the Dwarf, “I won’t fall for any bad pick up line. You’ve got to try 2 or 3 at least.” One creator made a mashup of all alliance flirt emotes, which even further exposes the peripheral sexism in the game.
I find machinima exiting because of it’s potential for exposing structures in games that we don’t always see, but that surely have an impact on how we engage with the game and with the gaming community. The new game, Deus Ex, has been heavily criticized through machinima for being overtly racist, particularly in the peripheral characters. One creator claims Deus Ex has “one of the worst black stereotypes since the robots of transformers.” His video features Latisha, who says things like “done fixed you up good” and “yous.” This is mashed up along with his commentary about the blatantly racist stereotypical remarks. One creator, “Head,” creates a nearly 17 minute machinima video in which he lambasts the game Dead Island for its racism (though the problems with his tagline “everyone loves head” seems to elude him).
So I guess I’m calling for more interrogation into the machinima around games as a way to expose some of the more problematic elements. Further, it gives researchers a unique way to see into the mind of the player, as you often get to hear their commentary along with the video. Even music video machinima mashups have a lot to offer, allowing us to recast video game characters in a new light (that of the music video, which again is its own post).
I hope you post below with some comments or links to videos you’ve encountered that exposed some issue for you.
