IMO all of these kinds of satire fail because they revel in the fascist power fantasy, but if you portray the fascists in your story as the lonely insecure dorks that they often are in real life I don’t think they’d be so quick to appropriate the imagery.
I like the game because it’s chaotic, one second you’re pouring napalm into a bug nest and the next you’re being slammed into a brick wall at 60mph by a charger
The problem is, it’s a product designed to make money, so despite the inherent satire, Arrowhead appeases the reactionary parts of the fanbase
The moment I knew they were never really going to make it as biting as they could was the whole “Save the Children’s Hospital” MO
I thought it was funny at first because why was there a children’s hospital on the frontline of a war zone in the first place?
But they played it completely straight and convinced the loudest worst chunk of the fanbase that even if Super Earth was bad, Helldivers themselves can be good people
Even when they made fun of that with the MO to save the hospital for spindly 20-something men, it was cooked
Well, There’s that and the fact that i’m convinced that most of the people who play the game can’t/won’t read
The number of people who have never picked up on the fact that Super Earth seeds planets with Terminids so that they can later kill them and harvest E-710 is astonishing
How do you feel about the film Jojo Rabbit? It used the more silly characterization you describe, but that exact thing is what many criticize it for. I think some found it too humanizing of the Nazis it portrayed.
Oh yeah, the effeminate gay nazi in that movie was definitely played for laughs but also sympathy because of course the Soviets are portrayed as monstrous for executing him
When, newsflash, he was eagerly participating in THE FUCKIN HOLOCAUST
IMO all of these kinds of satire fail because they revel in the fascist power fantasy, but if you portray the fascists in your story as the lonely insecure dorks that they often are in real life I don’t think they’d be so quick to appropriate the imagery.
There’s a reason fascists don’t love The Great Dictator.
This is why Disco Elysium did fascism so well.
Right
I like the game because it’s chaotic, one second you’re pouring napalm into a bug nest and the next you’re being slammed into a brick wall at 60mph by a charger
The problem is, it’s a product designed to make money, so despite the inherent satire, Arrowhead appeases the reactionary parts of the fanbase
The moment I knew they were never really going to make it as biting as they could was the whole “Save the Children’s Hospital” MO
I thought it was funny at first because why was there a children’s hospital on the frontline of a war zone in the first place?
But they played it completely straight and convinced the loudest worst chunk of the fanbase that even if Super Earth was bad, Helldivers themselves can be good people
Even when they made fun of that with the MO to save the hospital for spindly 20-something men, it was cooked
Well, There’s that and the fact that i’m convinced that most of the people who play the game can’t/won’t read
It’s a cool action game and as a antifascist I enjoy the satire but it’s not going to educate the chuds.
Definitely
Arrowhead is selling a product and their behavior in doing so definitely defangs the satire
but I am glad they refuse to put cowboy hats into the game
Nothing froths up the chuds more than being denied their western wear
My friends didn’t even remember element 710, even though I definitely didn’t shut up about it while we played the mission smh.
The number of people who have never picked up on the fact that Super Earth seeds planets with Terminids so that they can later kill them and harvest E-710 is astonishing
They explain it in the game too. But I guess it’s easy to miss especially if you miss the MO.
The average gamer is not what we would call literate
The gamers are not intellectual, to put it mildly.
The depictions of lonely sad dorks in teen romcoms helped the formation of the incel movement.
You say that but I’ve met people who think Ignatius J. Reilly is supposed to be relatable and cool
IJR steals from his boss, thats cool.
How do you feel about the film Jojo Rabbit? It used the more silly characterization you describe, but that exact thing is what many criticize it for. I think some found it too humanizing of the Nazis it portrayed.
Oh yeah, the effeminate gay nazi in that movie was definitely played for laughs but also sympathy because of course the Soviets are portrayed as monstrous for executing him
When, newsflash, he was eagerly participating in THE FUCKIN HOLOCAUST