Does anyone else find Bioshock Infinite's propaganda posters offensive?

[WanderingFool]

snip

Might have been said already, but Columbia is not fallowing American Ideals, but Columian ideals. Columbia basically fallows a perversed American ideal, which happened because, like in Bioshock 1 & 2, the ideals that the city were founded upon went to the extreme of the philosophy. Also, relating to the backstory, didnt Columbia break ties with America because of the radicle ideals fallowed and perpitrated by Columbia? So what you are basically seeing is the American ideals heavily perversed, which really fits with the Bioshock theme of social and philosophical ideas taken to the extreme.

 

[spartan231490]

It's just a game. Honestly, bioshock in general has always had a lot of satirical interpretations of actual beliefs. Why are u surprised that this remained true for the 3rd one?

 

[NightHawk21]

Ya I think you're missing the point as many of the people above me said.

 

[firelightning1]

The theme of the games is distoypian societies so these posters are ment to offensive or at least to make the player to feel uncomfortable about their location. The very fact that you were offended enough to make a thread about it shows that they are doing their job very very well.

 

[MikeOfThunder]

Its propaganda... if you didn't already know: Propaganda lies.

The idea is to manipulate the audience, NOT give them an equal and fair knowledge of the world around them. Plus it's a game.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I think you're missing the point, bud. It's supposed to be offensive. The people of Columbia think they are superior.

SNIP: picture of "negroid" criminals and such.

My Lord. It's hard to believe that poster actually existed at one time. It's kind of frightening, actually.

 

[Hammartroll]

i don't find it insulting. the bioshock games as ive seen it seek to represent a philosophy in each game. the first was objectavism. the second communism, this third one is xenophobism (its a thing) its just the next step, the idea of being afraid of new outsiders for fear they will take what we have worked for....sound familiar? =COU-immigration-GH!!!=...excuse me.

hmm, yes. I guess the theme would be xenophobism, just with an Americana backdrop. I just HATE it when the founders are wrongfully vilified. And just as many people have said, it's satire (I probably should have realized that when I saw that Alpha creature lol).

I guess I'll take a lesson from the poor Russians and learn to grow a thicker hide when I play it.

 

[Doomsday11]

Sorry not here too troll or create rage were none is needed, but you are a MASSIVE tool and an arse for firstly not getting this is satire of beliefs at the time of the american experiment(Not only that but this takes place in an entirely fictional city which has shown it's self having broken away from america and become its own entity)Considering its canon that the city went rouge and introverted forming its own seperate gated community it would be lunacy too think that they wouldn't be massivly xenophobic and I'm glad in the knowladge that it looks like the dev team is protraying this in a mature manner(I.E. Not just putting up vague posters for people too keep out of columbia but also using establised steryotypes and allowing us as modern gamers too create are own opinions on issues that still persist too today).
If were going back too issues in america's such as slavery and issues of race taking in the time period i'd like too point out that the issue of racism and xenophobia was persistant in all the 'civilised' world at the time(England,America and europe in general)so really america isn't so special in this time frame and taking anything personally is silly,I also say this as a brit so i'm not defending american ideals or whatever someone might think.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

That would be Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States from 1913-1921.

And anyway, Columbia's philosophy is supposed be a somewhat twisted version of American ideals of the time, in other words:

Don't mean to sound like a dick, but... it looks like you missed the point.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

Wait... the first game was based around science and the second game was based on religion, and as far as I know this game will be based on race right?

... doesn't that mean your missing the point?

 

[Aerowaves]

Hate to break it to you but the U.S. as an entity has pretty much always been racist and especially in the period Infinite portrays. There existed institutionalised racism that blurred (and indeed, blurs) class, gender and ethnicity that was and is made more obvious than in other Western countries by the huge and diverse contact the U.S. had with the Other. In that period, ideals and reality weren't so much opposed as blended together by fear, hatred, and in the best cases merely condescension.

If anything, it highlights the potential for corruption of those high ideals in a super-Americanised and racialised setting, at the beginning of the period wherein the U.S. began to take more of a leading global role, with ideology and perception shifting into place around it.

Take your pick of American literature and you'll see these themes and others like them recurring time and time again.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

First, it's a game that is setting up its own logic and showing how things could go. I know people who were offended when they saw D.C. get blown up in Modern Warfare 2. It's fiction. Stuff needs to happen to tell the story, otherwise it's history.
Second, by its very title "Propaganda Poster," of course it's not going to be squeaky clean and nice. Propaganda never is. It's meant to twist your way of thinking, and if taking imagines that everyone knows and then twisting them toward your ideal works, then there you go. I bet there are a lot of people out there who would think this is a real poster and agree with it.

 

[Tdc2182]

Don't mean to sound like a dick, but... it looks like you missed the point.

Yeah... I'm with this guy.

You see... them being offensive kinda is... the point.

 

[LordFisheh]

Historical fun fact - if you were Black in early 1900s America then yes, that was pretty much how you were seen. And yes, even the godlike Founding Fathers way before that went along with the idea - many were slave owners, and the society they founded certainly endorsed it.

 

[Starke]

I feel like you're forgetting one very important aspect: BioShock is intended to represent dystopic societies. Look at Rapture. It's an obvious perversion of actual Socialist philosophies. If Columbia was the actual utopia it was supposed to be, there wouldn't be any point for the game because everything would be solved peacefully and there would be no conflict. The propaganda is supposed to be inherently fallacious: it's propaganda.

Someone's probably already pointed this out to you, but Bioshock is a perversion of Objectivist philosophies. Objectivism is (nominally classed as) a distinct branch of libertarianism, originated and articulated by Ayn Rand, not a branch of socialism.

 

[Realitycrash]

I understand there was a eugenics movement in the United States some time in the 20s, but it's purpose was to breed out the crippled and mentally ill, basically burdens of the state, not promote a particular race; that was just the Nazies. So once again the game is wrongly portraying the US as racist.

..You do know that the "crippled and mentally ill" where thought to be crippled and mentally ill because of mixed breeding inbetween races, right?


...RIGHT?

 

[AssassinFisH]

I think the best thing we all can do, is stop taking anything in gaming too seriously. Artistic freedom lives on in gaming, and we should all appreciate it while we still can.

 

[CommanderKirov]

Gee whiz. I think you might be up to something. I mean the underwater city of Atlantis was also filing complaints against the first Bioshock for absolutely missinterpreting their ideals of seclusion and free market.

I mean they hyperbolise a certain political ideas and for what? For making an interesting game world and unique story? PREPOSTEROUS

 

[Ledan]

Propaganda: To deceive the people in any way possible to follow your beliefs.
Do you think that Aryan race is superior? Change the declaration of independence.
Also, for the time? Totally works. People were racist all the time, against everyone who was different. Even if the were just from another town. Hell, people are still really prejudiced against people they are not familiar with.
The statue of liberty btw does NOT represent welcoming to new immigrants. It was a gift to America when they ended slavery.
Furthermore, you can't generalise about how an entire people think about anything. Even today you can't say "Sweden stands for atheism" (largest Atheist percentage) because there are still plenty of religious people. In a country as divided as America? Especially when the game deals with a fringe group? Fringe groups follow by definition a different moral value than the "general" country.
My basic point is: These are not "standard" Americans for the time. Also, Propaganda is not meant to tell the truth.

No, I'm not offended.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

You misunderstand.

This game is glorifying Jeffersonian Democracy in the same way the first game glorified Ayn Rand Objectivism.

It's not an accurate look at the philosophy or a true to life "what if?" scenario. It's a satirical exploration of extremism in 'chosen' philosophical ground.

I'm going to go and agree with this guy.

OT: I thought it was nothing more than a perverse version of a Jeffersonian Democracy on steroids. I don't see what the big deal is, and frankly, I don't see how that game poster is insulting.

I must be an idiot, because I don't see it.