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Same Old Russian Enemy? a Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Russians in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

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Same Old Russian Enemy? a Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Russians in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Same old Russian Enemy? A Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Russians in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Danny Ivan Lazarov Peace and Conflict Studies Bachelor Thesis FK103L, 15 credits Spring Semester 2020 Supervisor: Katrine Gotfredsen Abstract Stereotypes and threatening images are present in much of our modern entertainment media often going unnoticed for the effects they may have on society. One media which is relatively new and unexplored when it comes to these stereotypes and images of threat is the video game media. This thesis explores how stereotypes are created and maintained within video games and how securitization efforts affect entertainment media, in order to pursue these aims the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is analysed with a content analysis built on the theories of othering and securitization, in order to see how the Russians are portrayed within the game. The analysis shows that the image attached to Russians is overly negative compared to other people in the game, and the common threats which they pose is going to war with the West. Based on these findings, the thesis concludes that video games do reproduce securitization discourses and create stereotypes. Key Words: Media Portrayal, Stereotyping, Othering, Video Games, Russian Stereotypes, Call of Duty Word Count: 13599 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Research Aim ......................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Research Categories ................................................................................................ 2 1.3. Delimitations .......................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Peace and Conflict Studies Relevance ..................................................................... 3 1.5. Thesis Outline ......................................................................................................... 4 2. Background and Plot Synopsis ....................................................................................... 5 2.1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Plotline ................................................................... 5 3. Previous Research .......................................................................................................... 9 3.1. Mass Media and Stereotypes/Prejudice ................................................................... 9 3.2. Portrayals of Out-groups in Media ........................................................................ 10 3.3. Media Portrayals’ Influence on Society ................................................................. 10 3.4. Possible Solutions to Problematic Portrayals Within Media ................................... 11 3.5. Stereotypes of Russians in America ...................................................................... 12 4. Theoretical Overview ................................................................................................... 14 4.1. Othering/stereotyping ............................................................................................ 14 4.2. Securitization ........................................................................................................ 15 5. Methodology and Research Design .............................................................................. 16 5.1. Method ................................................................................................................. 16 5.2. Material ................................................................................................................ 17 5.3. Codes .................................................................................................................... 18 5.3.1. Characterization ............................................................................................. 18 5.3.2. Threat ............................................................................................................ 19 6. Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 21 6.1. Characterization .................................................................................................... 21 6.1.1. Aggression ..................................................................................................... 21 6.1.2. Superiority and Sexism .................................................................................. 22 6.1.3. Cruelty ........................................................................................................... 23 6.1.4. Cowardly ....................................................................................................... 24 6.1.5. Cold Blooded ................................................................................................. 25 6.1.6. Positive Traits ................................................................................................ 25 6.1.7. Alcoholism .................................................................................................... 26 6.2. Threat ................................................................................................................... 26 6.2.1. Death ............................................................................................................. 27 6.2.2. War and Proxy War ....................................................................................... 27 6.2.3. Occupation and War Crimes .......................................................................... 28 6.2.4. Military Strength ............................................................................................ 29 6.2.5. Weapons of Mass Destruction ........................................................................ 29 6.3. Discussion............................................................................................................. 30 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 32 8. Reference List .............................................................................................................. 35 8.1. Literature Sources ................................................................................................. 35 8.2. Digital Sources...................................................................................................... 37 8.3. Material sources .................................................................................................... 37 9. Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 38 1. Introduction Entertainment media has become one of the main sources of leisure for many people in today’s world, coming in many different forms such as television which is broadly consumed and the increasingly popular video games, which have become a trend in recent years. Video games have become one of the biggest forms of entertainment for the younger generations being enjoyed and consumed en masse. While there have been large debates and some research around video games and their effect on society, these discussions have mostly been focused on the violence aspect of games and their link to aggression in youths. This correlation has, however, not been proven. Research within this field is a hotly debated topic with no clear consensus on the issue (Van Looy et al. 2015). Some researchers indicate that there is some correlation (e.g. Anderson et al., 2010), while others maintain that the topic and research published about the debate is often of very poor quality and very politicized (e.g. Ferguson, 2013). This has meant that the field of video game research has been limited to the individual psychological effects on players, and topics such as the effects which games can have in enforcing or creating stereotypes within society have mostly been overlooked. While overall field of media studies is large and many studies have been made on its possible effect on society, video games have largely not been scrutinized for their possible damaging effect which they could have in creating stereotypes and enemy images which are consumed by people. This study will focus on one stereotype within the video game media: stereotypes applied to Russians. The reason why studying the portrayal of the Russians within media is important, I argue, is because the cold war that lasted from 1945 to 1990 left a stereotypical view of the Russians as villains or the so called “bad guys”. This stereotype can often be seen in western politics when parties justify an increase in military spending. This stereotype is often reinforced and created by mass media from news sites discussing the threat which Russia possesses to the Western world though their meddling in the US election of 2016 to portrayals of them as villains in films such as Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Rambo, Rocky IV. This study will focus on one specific game which has chosen the Russians as one of their antagonists. The game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) a new first-person shooter which has been met with much praise for being a return to the roots of the series. This thesis will seek to explore 1 how the Russians are represented within the game by answering two main questions: What are some common characteristics
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