"Call of Duty" Franchises After "Saving Private Ryan"
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Embodied Historiographies: Affect and Realism in the "Medal of Honor" and "Call of Duty" Franchises after "Saving Private Ryan" by Marc-Niclas Heckner A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Germanic Languages and Literatures and Screen Arts and Cultures) in The University of Michigan 2018 Doctoral Committee: Professor Johannes von Moltke, Co-Chair Professor Sheila C Murphy, Co-Chair Professor Julia Hell Professor Lisa Nakamura Marc-Niclas Heckner [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9009-6960 © Marc-Niclas Heckner 2018 DEDICATION To all my students from whom I had and will have the pleasure to learn. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you- Jonathan Hill for guiding me towards history. I miss you. My parents, Christa and Rolf Heckner, and my sisters Katrin Pfaff and Nicola Heckner for believing in me. Professors Johannes von Moltke, Sheila C Murphy, Julia Hell and Lisa Nakamura for your unwavering support. Simonetta Menossi for encouraging me when I needed it the most. My cat Reinhold for copious purrs during difficult times. Dr. Debra Ramsay, Dr. Tanine Allison, Naomi Vaughan and Joshua Morrison for the most helpful of feedback. Silvia “Mona” Narciandi for a friendship that could survive even greater distances than the Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Jon K Adams for fostering my love of popular culture. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. Wolfenstein 3D (1992) .............................................................................................................. 26 II. Between Comforting Familiarity and Physical Discomfort: Saving Private Ryan’s (1998) Visceral Realism .......................................................................................................................... 55 III. Medal of Honor (1999): Virtual Violence and Its Ideological Redemption in History .. 89 IV. Call of Duty (2003): Immersion and Historical Realism ................................................. 133 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 190 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 194 iv List of Figures Figure 1: World of World War II 3 (I) ............................................................................................ 1 Figure 2: World of World War II 3 (II) .......................................................................................... 1 Figure 3: World of World War II 3 (III) ......................................................................................... 2 Figure 4: Battlezone (1980) ............................................................................................................ 7 Figure 5: Driller (1986) ................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 6: Call of Duty: WWII (2017) ............................................................................................. 8 Figure 7: Loading Screen .............................................................................................................. 30 Figure 8: Title Screen .................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 9: Wolfenstein Gameplay with HUD ................................................................................ 39 Figure 10: The Player-Character and his various stages of health ................................................ 39 Figure 11: Game over ................................................................................................................... 44 Figure 12: Mecha-Hitler (Partial Screen Shot) ............................................................................. 47 Figure 13: Mr. Freeze in "Heart of Ice" (1992) ............................................................................ 47 Figure 14: Hitler without Robot Suit (Partial Screen Shot) .......................................................... 48 Figure 15: Death Cam (partial screenshot) ................................................................................... 48 Figure 16: Allusions to the Holocaust .......................................................................................... 50 Figure 17: Czech Hedgehogs in SPR ............................................................................................ 69 Figure 18: Crosses on the War Cemetery ..................................................................................... 69 Figure 19: Water splashes towards the viewer ............................................................................. 69 v Figure 20: The Longest Day (1962) .............................................................................................. 69 Figure 21: A Bridge Too Far (1977) ............................................................................................. 69 Figure 22: Chewing Tobacco ........................................................................................................ 70 Figure 23: Vomiting ...................................................................................................................... 70 Figure 24: Body Parts ................................................................................................................... 71 Figure 25: Under Water ................................................................................................................ 71 Figure 26: Dying Soldier .............................................................................................................. 73 Figure 27: An Exploding Body ..................................................................................................... 73 Figure 28: Videodrome (1983) ..................................................................................................... 73 Figure 29: Hellraiser (1987) .......................................................................................................... 73 Figure 30: Wolfenstein 3D (1992) ................................................................................................ 74 Figure 31: Doom (1993) ............................................................................................................... 74 Figure 32: Saving Private Ryan .................................................................................................... 74 Figure 33: Call of Duty (2003) ..................................................................................................... 74 Figure 34: Disembodied Arm ....................................................................................................... 76 Figure 35: Miller in Shock ............................................................................................................ 76 Figure 36: Miller POV .................................................................................................................. 76 Figure 37: Capa I .......................................................................................................................... 86 Figure 38: Capa in SPR I .............................................................................................................. 86 Figure 39: Capa II ......................................................................................................................... 86 Figure 40: Capa in SPR II ............................................................................................................. 86 vi Figure 41: Capa III ........................................................................................................................ 86 Figure 42: Capa in SPR III ............................................................................................................ 86 Figure 43: Doom (1993) ............................................................................................................... 94 Figure 44: Manon ........................................................................................................................ 102 Figure 45: On to Victory! ........................................................................................................... 103 Figure 46: OSS Handbook .......................................................................................................... 105 Figure 47: Missions Guide File .................................................................................................. 105 Figure 48: Enemy Forces ............................................................................................................ 106 Figure 49: Weapons Handbook .................................................................................................. 106 Figure 50: