bob bobato
L'imparfait
Before I begin this post, a few youtube videos:
Link to video.
Link to video.
Link to video.
Link to video.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, Bioshock is a video game series set in a 'retro art deco'-inspired world which features 'old-style' music recorded from about 1930 to 1960. The above videos feature songs from the games set to Bioshock imagery.
I'm wondering what you think of this. On the one hand, this music is being exposed to people who otherwise would never have heard it. But on the other ... the medium through which it is being exposed doesn't do the music much good. The player, while listening to the hot jivin's of Benny Goodman, is blowing up mutants.
Overall the series presents its retro-styled culture somewhat ironically, as the decaying remains of a lost society. Besides the authentic music, some other 'retro' cultural artifacts include cutesy cartoons advertising dangerous superpowers, kitschy chromatic vending-machines selling ammunition, and cheery intercom recordings warning about bootlegging and the dangers of drug addiction ("Don't trust the bootlegger - and have a nice day!"). In these depictions the game dismisses what it considers 'retro-culture'. It doesn't even bother to differentiate its source material - all sorts of images and sounds from the late 1920s to mid 50s are presented as the artifacts of a single art-deco, hair-bobbed, naive, cartoony, and very corny culture.
Now, remember how we said before that most of the players of Bioshock have no other experience with this sort of culture? Well, let's plug these two ideas together. Because this music is only known through Bioshock it becomes "Bioshock music", and it is understood from the same jaded POV as it is presented in the game. Similarly, any other culture similar to it is seen through this lens, rather than being appreciated for its own worth. Read the comments of the videos posted above, or go through some other similar videos. Bing Crosby - hey, Bioshock! The Chrysler building - hey, Bioshock! Leave it to Beaver - hey, Bioshock!
Bioshock is not the only video game series with a retro-style. Art-Deco Retro has quite a vogue, currently. It could also be found in Fallout, a game set in a similar post-apocalyptic environment. These two games, together, what with their great success and apparent influence, are adding to the creation of a dismissive myth of the mid-twentieth century. For decades, when people hear an 'old' song, they will associate it with the impression "Bioshock" and "Fallout" has created for them. It will simply seem quaint.
So... do you think this matters - or is even a valid analysis? Is the presentation of culture so important to its consumption? I personally think it is. Take Classical music. A lot of people I know think of Opera and Classical music as 'serial killer music', because serial killers in movies tend to listen to that kind of music. Some have even said they feel uncomfortable when they listen to classical music because it reminds them of particular scary scenes.
At the same time, to bring us back to Bioshock, this doesn't have to be the case. Some people who play Bioshock do actually like the music, apparently reversing my argument that they should have developed a sophisticated disdain for it. Again, read the comments. Personally, I find that their attitudes are still in line with what I've said - it's all just 'classic' or 'oldies' to them. They don't actually know who Django Reinhardt or Annette Hanshaw are. But, as I'm asking you, is that so important? They like it. Their horizons are being broadened.
But are they being broadened in a good way?
Link to video.
Link to video.
Link to video.
Link to video.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, Bioshock is a video game series set in a 'retro art deco'-inspired world which features 'old-style' music recorded from about 1930 to 1960. The above videos feature songs from the games set to Bioshock imagery.
I'm wondering what you think of this. On the one hand, this music is being exposed to people who otherwise would never have heard it. But on the other ... the medium through which it is being exposed doesn't do the music much good. The player, while listening to the hot jivin's of Benny Goodman, is blowing up mutants.
Overall the series presents its retro-styled culture somewhat ironically, as the decaying remains of a lost society. Besides the authentic music, some other 'retro' cultural artifacts include cutesy cartoons advertising dangerous superpowers, kitschy chromatic vending-machines selling ammunition, and cheery intercom recordings warning about bootlegging and the dangers of drug addiction ("Don't trust the bootlegger - and have a nice day!"). In these depictions the game dismisses what it considers 'retro-culture'. It doesn't even bother to differentiate its source material - all sorts of images and sounds from the late 1920s to mid 50s are presented as the artifacts of a single art-deco, hair-bobbed, naive, cartoony, and very corny culture.
Now, remember how we said before that most of the players of Bioshock have no other experience with this sort of culture? Well, let's plug these two ideas together. Because this music is only known through Bioshock it becomes "Bioshock music", and it is understood from the same jaded POV as it is presented in the game. Similarly, any other culture similar to it is seen through this lens, rather than being appreciated for its own worth. Read the comments of the videos posted above, or go through some other similar videos. Bing Crosby - hey, Bioshock! The Chrysler building - hey, Bioshock! Leave it to Beaver - hey, Bioshock!
Bioshock is not the only video game series with a retro-style. Art-Deco Retro has quite a vogue, currently. It could also be found in Fallout, a game set in a similar post-apocalyptic environment. These two games, together, what with their great success and apparent influence, are adding to the creation of a dismissive myth of the mid-twentieth century. For decades, when people hear an 'old' song, they will associate it with the impression "Bioshock" and "Fallout" has created for them. It will simply seem quaint.
So... do you think this matters - or is even a valid analysis? Is the presentation of culture so important to its consumption? I personally think it is. Take Classical music. A lot of people I know think of Opera and Classical music as 'serial killer music', because serial killers in movies tend to listen to that kind of music. Some have even said they feel uncomfortable when they listen to classical music because it reminds them of particular scary scenes.
At the same time, to bring us back to Bioshock, this doesn't have to be the case. Some people who play Bioshock do actually like the music, apparently reversing my argument that they should have developed a sophisticated disdain for it. Again, read the comments. Personally, I find that their attitudes are still in line with what I've said - it's all just 'classic' or 'oldies' to them. They don't actually know who Django Reinhardt or Annette Hanshaw are. But, as I'm asking you, is that so important? They like it. Their horizons are being broadened.
But are they being broadened in a good way?
Did he even play the game? Give him the second one, it might make him a communist.
