Performance Through an Avatar: Exploring Affect and Ideology Through Narrative in Videogames
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PERFORMANCE THROUGH AN AVATAR: EXPLORING AFFECT AND IDEOLOGY THROUGH NARRATIVE IN VIDEOGAMES DAVID OWEN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO NOVEMBER 2015 © DAVID OWEN, 2015 ii Abstract Videogames are a major source of popular cultural narratives surpassing even Hollywood films. Videogames, however, cast the player as the active agent within the narrative as opposed to film, television, and traditional theatre where the separation between performer and audience is clearly demarcated. This dissertation investigates the affective potential of videogames realized through the relationship of the player and the avatar within the game world. Specifically, I look at the avatar as an affective conduit for the player, how the feedback between the player and avatar creates a cybernetic relationship, how this relationship changes the player, and how this change potentially augments the player’s interpretation of reality—virtual and otherwise. It is through this changed (and augmented) interpretation of reality that socio/political ideological meanings— intentional or not—may be absorbed by the player. Ethnographic research conducted with six volunteer participants combined with my own autoethnographic research into several recent popular videogames is intersected with theories of affect, embodiment, and ideology. My findings suggest that experience with the virtual realities of game worlds is one step removed from actual experience. Since videogames are composed of representations, the ideological positions embedded within those representations are not simply presented and understood like traditional theatre, film, and television, but are embodied by the player through the avatar as (nearly direct) experience. Theatre, film, and television have rich critical histories and this study of the player’s performance through the avatar as an affective conduit and receiver/transmitter of ideology joins the growing critical body of work regarding the newer storytelling medium of videogames. iii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my daughter, Zaara Owen. You are my inspiration and the fresh lens through which I see the world. iv Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the unwavering support and keen critical eyes of my advisor, Dr. Laura Levin, and my committee members, Dr. Marlis Schweitzer and Professor Don Sinclair. Your faith in my project and your rigorous yet always positive guidance helped keep me on track throughout the process. In addition, I wish to thank the Graduate Program in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University for trusting in me and taking the chance on such an interdisciplinary project such as this. I wish to acknowledge my six volunteers for giving me your time and energy for my research. It may not seem like much to some to have to play videogames for two hours and then watch yourself play for the betterment of humankind. However, your contribution adds an essential dimension to my project that I could not do without. I also wish to acknowledge the support of my father, Doug Owen. You may not always understand what I am pursuing but you never question why. I know many times you never thought you would see me finish school, but here we are. Now, for a post-doc! Lastly, I wish to acknowledge the support at various points of Gaia Willis for starting me on this path and Kyla Zerbes for helping me to see this project through. This has been a bumpy journey in many ways but I have you both to thank for seeing this project to its fruition. To all of you, thank you. v Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………...………………………………………………ii Dedication …………………………………………...…………………………………………...iii Acknowledgements …………………………………...………………………………………….iv Table of Contents ………………………………………...……………………………………….v List of Tables ……………………………………………...……………………………………viii List of Figures ……………………………………………...…………………………………….ix Chapter One: Introduction .……………………………………………………………………….1 The Avatar, Affect, and Proprioception …………………………………………………..4 Follow the Money ………………………………………………………………………...7 A Historical Survey of Performance Studies and Videogames …………………………..9 Methodology and Chapter Breakdown ………………………………………………….14 Gamer Grrrlz …………………………………………………………………………….21 Next Generation Relevancy ……….…………………………………………………….23 My Six Brave Volunteers ……………………………………………………………….24 I’m On Fire! ……………………………………………………………………………..27 Chapter Two: Digital Like Me .…………………………………………………………………30 The Avatar ………………………………………………………………………………32 The Mind and Body Split ……………………………………………………………….35 Flow ……………………………………………………………………………………..37 The Extended Self ………………………………………………………………………41 Bodies in Time: Liveness and the Virtual Aura ………………………………………...45 Bodies in Space: Presence ………………………………………………………………59 First Person Perspective …………………………………………………………………66 vi Second Person Perspective ……………………………………………………………...69 Third Person Perspective ………………………………………………………………..71 Case Study One: BioShock ……………………………………………………………...79 Case Study Two: Dead Rising 3 ………………………………………………………...89 Conclusion ………………..……………………………………………………………..97 Chapter Three: Cyborg Like Me ...………………………………………………………………99 The Rise of the Cyborg ………………………………………………………………...103 Better Living through Algorithms ……………………………………………………..111 The Dark Side of the Coin ……………………………………………………………..114 Case Study Three: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ……………………………………………116 Case Study Four: Tomb Raider ………………………………………………………...123 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..145 Chapter Four: The Illusion of Agency in a Virtual Environment .……………………………..147 The Noeme of Videogames …………………………………………………………….153 But, How Does This Make You Feel? ………………………………………………....160 The Moving Target of Narrative ……………………………………………………….164 The Issue of Cut-scenes! ……………………………………………………………….166 User-Driven Narrative …………………………………………………………………172 User-Created Narrative ………………………………………………………………...175 Meaningful Choice …………………………………………………………………….182 Unlocking the Sublime: The Ultimate Achievement ………………………………….187 The Last Word …………………………………………………………………………189 Case Study Five: Second Life ………………………………………………………….191 Case Study Six: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag ……………………………………..195 vii Conclusion ………………..……………………………………………………………211 Chapter Five: Winning the Hearts and Thumbs of the People .………………………………..216 Videogames as an Ideological State Apparatus ………………………………………..222 Consuming the Avatar, Consuming the Player ………………………………………...230 Playing with Politics I: Some Easy Targets ……………………………………………234 Procedural Rhetoric ……………………………………………………………………253 Playing with Politics II: Levelling Up Complexity ……………………………………261 The Avatar as the Body without Organs ……………………………………………….273 Hacking and Hate ………………………………………………………………………284 #GamerGate …………………………………………………………………………....288 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..294 Works Cited ………...………………………………………………………………………….300 viii List of Tables Table 1: The historical development of the concept of liveness………………………..53 Table 2: The updated concept of liveness………………………………………………58 ix List of Figures Figure 1: Flow chart...……………………………………………………………………37 1 Chapter One: Introduction When I think of my body and ask what it does to earn that name, two things standout. It moves. It feels. In fact, it does both at the same time. It moves as it feels, and it feels itself moving. Can we think a body without this: an intrinsic connection between movement and sensation whereby each immediately summons the other? Brian Massumi, Parables for the Virtual I was seven years old when I saw the original Star Wars movie at the cinema with my Dad. My imagination exploded with possibility seeing that fantastic universe unfold in front of my eyes. I vividly remember raising my legs to get out of the way of the tie-fighters whenever they flew toward the screen and out of the lower part of the shot. To my seven year old mind, my legs were dangling dangerously in the Star Wars universe. This was also the same year my parents bought my sister and me an Atari 2600 game system. I do theatre. I write, direct, and act in plays. Performing a role for an audience is not the same as playing a videogame. There is a fundamental aesthetic difference in that one is made to be played while the other is meant to be appreciated by others. While it is true videogames are designed for playing, I am investigating the performance that also occurs within that digital space. Steven Dixon gives an excellent example of the connection yet difference between the two in his book Digital Performance. In the chapter on “Performing Interactivity,” he writes: As users, we enter into a performative relationship with a digital design “we perform the design, as we would a musical instrument.” Although this is a potent and apt metaphor for certain installations, we would note its slight hyperbole: one 2 generally plays a musical instrument, one does not perform it, and there is a significant difference between the two concepts. (560) I agree with Dixon that there is an important distinction to be made between playing and performing. I wish to add, though, that whenever I play a musical instrument, I am performing. Similarly, whenever I play a videogame, a performance occurs. Building on Richard Schechner’s definition of performance as a “restored behavior” that is “always subject to revision” (36-37), I maintain that in a videogame the performance is realized through the use of an avatar and rendered on screen