* First off, don’t forget that you’ve got a great extra credit opportunity (below this post – response to Trixie Minx).
For next week, please read: Take 2: Culture Paper by Andrew Parks.
Consider the following questions and respond to one:
- Do you agree with Parks’ assessment of video games? Why or why not?
- Can you think of any examples that defy the stereotyping he describes?
- Can you point to other instances of racial, ethnic, class, gender and/or sexual stereotyping in video games?
- In what ways do these images inform or reflect one’s sense of identity, culture, and power?
- If you chose a game with people in it, think about the following: were you given an opportunity to choose a person (did you get to choose a body/face to go with your character?); if so, what were your options? What did you choose and why? What kind of people were in the video game?
- Think about roles: were the people in the game baseball players, boxers, soldiers, etc.? What about ethnicities? What ethnicities did you identify? Who seems to have what role? – what color or gender, for example, are the “bad guys”? Who is the hero of the game? What did these people look like? – fat, skinny, muscular, tall, short . . . and what roles did each play? And how does any of this reflect ideologies around race, class, and/or gender?
- What was the goal of the game? To kill all your enemies? To get the gold? To win the race? What obstacles did you have to overcome in order to move from level to level or to win the game? How might any of this reflect contemporary culture (our ideas about success, what it takes to win, the “American” story or ideal, etc.)? In what ways was the game NOT like life?
- In what ways was the game totally fantasy-like or had elements that were not at all realistic of modern society? Perhaps these elements were of a past that no longer exist. And if so, how might that reflect a particular ideology; and if so, what?
THEN, choose some video game (either one you rent, one you or a friend already have, or 
go to a video game outlet), play it for a while, and then discuss, in your blog response how it reflects issues of gender, class, ethnicity, or culture.
Below are some questions that you may ask yourself (feel free to ask different ones – this is just a guide to get you started):
** Always, always back up your thoughts with some example, quote, or explanation.
