Bioshock infinite quotes heaven12/14/2023 ![]() ![]() I don't expect my contributions to appear on the podcast I've already made my prejudice towards BioShock Infinite too clear to expect otherwise. I'm going to spend evenings this week replaying BioShock Infinite, and meditate on some of my feelings about it in smaller posts over the coming weeks, as well as responding to others'. On the other hand, as Yacobg42 has already articulated, there are definitely things about it which are positively reprehensible. ![]() But I admit I haven't been able to articulate well why I feel that way about it, and it probably isn't as bad as I remember. Now, don't get me wrong: I do believe BioShock Infinite is a bad game. I think some of the contributors to the podcast will feel a certain amount of trepidation at seeing my name contributing to this thread, given the things I've said about BioShock Infinite in the past. Its unwillingness to draw comparisons to the modern world, or to challenge the player's existing understanding of the issues, makes the racism in Bioshock Infinite simply inconsequential. The game presents racism as a sort of historical artifact, a curiosity to be looked back at from the heights of our new progressive values. The original Bioshock still works as a scathing critique of objectivism, its hellish world brought up as a punchline for anyone purporting to love Ayn Rand and her politics. In our modern day world full of white nationalism at both individual and state levels, Bioshock Infinite should be a cultural touchstone. The racism of Columbia has nothing to do with Elizabeth's imprisonment, Booker's guilt, or however many infinite timelines there are. There's a piece of Anita Sarkeesian's work where she brings up that violence against women is often used to establish that the setting is violent and morally bankrupt- the women don't particularly matter, they're just a shortcut to setting the tone of the place. The game seems actively anti-justice the philosophy espoused by our main characters is one of blithe moderation, a child's understanding of "the golden rule" without any acknowledgement of context or larger structures of oppression. Elizabeth gets her moment of character development by killing the leader of the rebellion, who is positioned as an insane and violent reactionary. ![]() And this isn't meant to be Booker as a flawed character either- him and Elizabeth, our vessels for interacting with the world, are in agreement on how horrific this rebellion is. Booker has just equated slavery with a slave rebellion, paralleled oppression and protest. (pardon me, I have to scream into a pillow for a second) "When it comes down to it, the only difference between Comstock and Fitzroy is how you spell the name." They switch timelines into an all-out rebellion from the enslaved members of Columbia, and what does Booker say? WHAT DOES BOOKER SAY? When do they directly interact with the racial politics of the city? When they have to get weapons for the Vox Populi as part of a fetch quest. Because, and this is important, Booker and Elizabeth are not affected by the white supremacy that runs Columbia. When we run into issues is when we get into the actual plot, however. My critiques of how it addresses racism are not trying to keep games from being political, and I'm glad such a mainstream release dove into such a tricky area. I just want to precede this by saying, while no means an expert, I'm a sociologist with a concentration in race theory, so this is something I think about a lot.įirst, the good: the game depicts racism! This is a big deal for games, which tend to stay far away from the territory. This isn't an easy conversation to have, and it's been broiling since it's release. Let's talk about the racial politics of Bioshock Infinite. ![]() This is typified by the deus ex machina Twins, skin deep characters just there to give dumps of babble to move the story on. I never cared about Booker or Comstock, so I wasn't particularly engaged. Maybe it's my background as a physicist but this didn't seem a deep story to me, just an excuse to have time travel/alternate dimensions. I never really engaged with the story either, which I summarise as 'isn't quantum mechanics weird'. The first Bioshock gave the player real insight into how the splicers came to be, but regular enemies in Infinite seem like faceless drones. The wonderful design of Columbia then just became a backdrop that the player didn't really engage with. However, post this 15 minutes, the game moves to a linear shooter with very few NPCs outside of combat. The ideas behind the city in the sky its design are breathtaking, I enjoyed the initial part of the game exploring this world and discovering the brutality of the society beneath the veneer. Bioshock Infinite has a great setting, but never utilised it in gameplay or indeed story. ![]()
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