Capitalist Hegemony

Capitalist Hegemony at its Finest Alex capital of Mississippi Sarah Ciurysek Capitalist Hegemony at its Finest. By Alex Jackson Throughout time incompatible societies live with follown their respective take on defeat refinement. Pop finish is not simply a nuance that has suddenly sprung from the g brush up in the last 20 years and wormed its way into text books, periodicals and university debates it is a close built around a define group of ideas, perspectives and attitudes. Pop refining in its evolutionary path has seen many changes from Roman sculpture to baroque paintings to post-war Abstract expressionism, all amounting to what we know today to be our pa culture.However, the pop culture that we experience on a day-to-day basis in the twenty-first century is integrity and just now(a) unparalleled by the pop culture already seen and past. Today we are surrounded by the ever-expanding mass media. Since the introduction of the Internet in the 1980s, mass media has spr ead like wildfire and with it the furthering evolution of the 21st centurys pop culture. With the growth of mass media in our pop culture we see clean winds and patterns. As we all know, North the States was built on a firm knowledgeability of capitalism. This capitalism is the foundation not only for businesses and corporations, but for our developing culture as well.A maturation notion and potential fear amidst this evolving foundation is the existence of capitalist hegemony. For ace to understand this term one must know the definition of the two words individually. Mirriam Websters dictionary defines capitalism as an economic trunk lawsuitized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, prices, production and the distribution of goods Hegemony, defined also by Websters dictionary is the social, cultural, ideological, or economic deviate exerted by a predominant group. In combination, the two represent a t ycoon exerting itself over a group in attempts to feed and crack consumerism. Capitalist hegemony pile be seen on the television, in advertisements, film and television set spicys. The method by which capitalist hegemony is spread, that we will consider in this essay, is the television system plot. Video seconds founder to the spread of capitalist hegemony in two ways through the easily-accepted method of suggestion of consumerist narratives and through the extremist method of exerting self- complacency on a populous.From an early age, all of us shake been bombarded with a consumer culture. We have been taught by mass media always to want, look for and buy the side by side(p) big affair. Video indorses have taken up this torch in that easily-accepted, subtle way. Theres no conduct to tell a person to buy, the task is to a greater extent indirect. Gamers play through a story, the narrative more often than not being all about consumerism of one form or another. As masked as the consumerist plot may be, it is more than likely thither. Take for example a game much(prenominal) as Dead Space 2.This game involves the main character Isaac Clarke fleck his way through the Sprawl in attempts to destroy a ogre relic called the Marker, which is responsible for an alien infestation. At first glance, the story take in of Dead Space 2 gives no yard of capitalist tendencies and the player need only kill one of the creatures in the game and pick up the loot to enter currency into the game. Money and power nodes allow the player to upgrade Isaacs abilities and buy weapons and suits, and additional ammunition and med packs.The gamer thereby is subliminally being taught the value of capitalism, make money buy parvenue things. In other approaches to television receiver games the developers dont go to such(prenominal) length to mask consumerism. In games such as Need for renovate Underground the player races for money so as to purchase upgrades for already p urchased cars, and to buy new ones. In Digital Games and Cultural Studies by Garry Crawford and Jason Rutter, this steer is explained Numerous games are ground upon the principle of capital accumulation where the fundamental aim and theme is to make more money to improve characters avatars skills or possessions. (Crawford and Rutter) One might fence in for sports-related games such as Madden NFL 12, or NHL 11 where the object of the game appears to be purely sport. Win a game, move to the next round is the essential plot however, these ikon games have been sponsored by large-scaler companies look to get their name out to more consumers. Although the advertisements are small and only seen on the back boards of the field or ice rink where the game is staged, the information does go in. According to studies, advertisements need to be put in front of the viewer for an extended amount of time before he viewer picks up on it. What wear out place than a video game to expose a viewe r to a continuous stream of advertisements. To add to the two previous methods of consumerism being pushed through video games, there remains a third methodology. Typically, a well received video game will be made into a series. The game that supersedes the one before it always promises to be bigger and better better graphics, better sound, etc. This leaves the player wanting more and lusting for the next big chapter.Many large game development companies such as EA games with Battlefield, and UBISOFT with Halo follow this trend and have met been with great success. Crawford and Rutter, in reference to the Birmingham School can be quoted as saying that, the shared values and culture of a nightclub are those based largely on dominant (that is, ruling class) values and ideologies. (Crawford and Rutter) If our dominant culture is founded on capitalism, then the governing values and ideologies have to be exerted via subcultures such as pop culture and the ways in which its groups commu nicate.We have looked at the spread of consumerism via video games. This concept is easy to move back because we see evidence of it everywhere we look. However, the second theory of how pop culture contributes to capitalist hegemony isnt so easy to digest. As technology continues to get up and things such as social networking and portable communications grow, we begin to see a decrease in the need to go outside and amass people. The same goes for video games.With the introduction to video games in the 1970s we have seen the creation of a new kind of computer geek, the gamer. Gamers can overleap extended amounts of time inside, staring at a screen. With the advancement of video game graphics, intriguing storylines and strategic challenges, its no wonder gamers would sooner play video games than interact, play sports or become useful members of society. A sudden lack of community has sprung up in the midst of our new found technological enlightenment. Digital gaming could be seen (and has been seen by many) as a clear illustration of the individualization of society. (Crawford and Rutter) People no longer need to come outside to communicate, to do activity or exercise. The rate at which these games are flying off the shelves would suggest more football is being played on home computers than on topical anaesthetic fields (OConnor, 2002). The uprising of this new phenomenon is evidence of a growing complacency in our society. People needing to do less and less.Looking at this from the viewpoint of a large capitalist corporation, it means profit maintaining the existing status quo to press dominant capitalist values, (Crawford and Rutter) keep people inside, in front of a screen absorbing information that fuels their desire to buy. Stuart Hall suggests that cultural products (such as television programmers, popular music and digital games) may be encoded with dominant values, ideas and beliefs. (Hall, 1980) Albeit a little extreme, Hall is supported in an in direct way. posterior Hopson, a games researcher at Microsoft Games Studios holds a doctorate in behavioural and brain sciences.Based on one of Hopsons studies, a gamer can in essence be persuaded to produce a set of behaviors the developers want, each casualty is an arrangement of time, activity, and reward, and there are an infinite number of ways these elements can be combined to produce the pattern of activity you want from players. (Hopson) exactly put, large corporations intend to subliminally brain wash us with messages of use to capitalist pursuits. These ideas are conceptual, large and potentially a bit fanciful, but the evidence supporting them is happening before our eyes.People keep on buying based on information consumed through media portals including game consoles. The emergence of gamers and the diminishing need to go outside is a constant reminder that, although seemingly unrealistic, mortal is using the right approach to acquire profit. Video games, among othe r methods, contribute to some form of capitalist hegemony whether intended or not. It would be frightening to know that a corporation would approach the market with such inflammation as to send subliminal messaging through a game console. Its surprising the very real effect of advertisement has on the consumer. -Merriam-Webster. http//www. erriam-webster. com/. N. p. , 2011. Web. 14 Apr 2011. -Crawford, Garry, and Jason Rutter. Digital Games and Cultural Studies. Sage Publications. (2006) -OConnor, A. (2002) Evan better than the real thing? , The Times, The Game Supplement, 9 December. Pp 2-3. -Hall, S. (1980) Encoding/ decoding, in S. Hall, D. Hobson, A Lowe and P. Willis (eds) Culture, Median, dustup Working Papers in Cultural Studies. Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press. Pp 215-43 -Hopson, John. behavioural Game Design. Gamasutra (2001) n. pag. Web. 14 Apr 2011. .