Why We Still Fight: Adolescents, Virtual War, and the Government Gaming Nexus

• Other Authors: Susca, Margot A. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Communication
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-5215

This dissertation uses a political economic analysis (Bettig & Hall, 2003; Bagdikian, 2004; McChesney, 2000; 2004; 2008; Mosco, 2009; Wasko, 2005) combined with a cultural studies lens to study the website associated with the government-produced video game America's Army. America's Army is a first-person shooter video game available for free online that has military recruitment as its core mission. The U.S. Army launched America's Army on July 4, 2002, and since that time the game has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for its popularity. The game has been downloaded more than 42 million times, has more than 8 million registered users, and a virtual Army comprised of 519,472 "soldiers." This dissertation examines the online website of the video game America's Army--its last version was updated in July 2010--and the consequences of government-created media through a three-part analysis (Kellner, 1995) that focuses on its production, the text itself, and audience's ideological engagement with the text through an analysis of comments posted to the official gaming website. Such a three-pronged approach analyzing America's Army allows for the criticism of the political-economic environment that has cultivated the game's expansion; provides further understanding of key game features and narratives presented on the game's website by the government; and simultaneously helps to develop an understanding of how users are ideologically responding to the text as an arm of government propaganda. The game simultaneously whitewashes the real problems of violence just as it sanitizes the horrors of war. Its primary purpose is military recruitment although in recent years the game has also sought to commodify its adolescent audience. As the volume of qualitative data available on the game's website, its related social media sites, and the game itself is extensive, this dissertation proposes to unite this three-part analysis by further limiting the data that will be the subject of study. This analysis studies the production, the text, and the audience of the video game and its corresponding website with one overarching theme. The theme that both unites and narrows this analysis is looking at adolescents as the targets of the government-created media messages. By sufficiently narrowing the subject of data collection and analysis to fully explore how and why adolescents are the targets of the media message, the dissertation can better add to the existing literature on militarized entertainment, state-created video games, youth identity in digital spaces, and the political economy of video games. The dissertation's major contribution is the development of the government-gaming nexus--an extension of militainment (Stahl, 2006; 2010) and the military-entertainment complex (Andersen, 2006; Lenoir, 2003; Lenoir & Lowood, 2003; Leonard, 2004)--that specifically focuses on adolescents as the target of militarized entertainment. Praxis strategies to fight these messages inherent in the government-gaming nexus focus on existing ratings systems, media literacy, and advertising regulation. === A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester, 2012. === February 29, 2012. === Adolescents, Commodification, Government-Gaming Nexus, Military Recruitment, Political Economy, Violent Video Games === Includes bibliographical references. === Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ronald L. Mullis, University Representative; Stephen D. McDowell, Committee Member; Arthur A. Raney, Committee Member.