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I enjoy smoking many cigarettes, watching good movies, and playing video games.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Culture of Power: God of War II


When playing God of War II, I tend to forget about time, and when I do decide to look away from my television to look at the clock it ends up being 4 in the A.M. Many aspects of God of War II are closely related to the culture of power ideas. First off you have Kratos, and he himself is a culture of power. Every Spartan looks to him for guidance and everyone knows he is the man in charge when it comes to fighting wars. In the beginning of the game you are helping the Spartans defeat Colossus, who has decided to wreak havoc. There is another culture of power right there, the Spartans are known for their great fighting abilities and they have been called to fight with Kratos. People see the Spartans as warriors, actually the best warriors, and during this time in "history," this is a culture of power. Everyone aside from the Spartans is not considered a great warrior like the Spartans are. Instead of being more brushed aside because of race or ethnicity, the people in this time were marginalized because of their lack of raw strength.

The biggest culture of power in this game goes up to the Gods. The Gods obviously have all the strength and power that no mortal has, which makes them segregated from everyone else, and in this game it's ok. Being a God you are immortal, and ultimate, so the culture of power is obviously going to be here. As a God everyone else around you is marginalized. In the beginning Kratos is a God, but he gets stripped of his power and killed by the God of Olympus, Zeus. Fortunately for Kratos he gets a second chance because another God, who is a woman by the way, has a heart for him even though almost every God hates him because he wants to destroy everything, with or without the approval of the Gods.

The Last culture of power in this game is The Fates. They hold a mortals fate in their hands. They can change the fate of time, and the whole game is about Kratos going to see the sisters of Fate to try and go back in time and defeat Zeus. The Fates marginalize all the mortals because they hold the mortals fate within their hands, so to speak. This game isn’t really connected to the culture of power we see in everyday life, but instead a different kind that is more of a strength driven culture. In our world today we do have a strength driven culture, but in the video game God of War II strength is not used metaphorically. God of War II is about actual physical strength and how they have power over others. This could be considered to be closely tied to our culture of power, but in a metaphorical way.

6 comments:

  1. Don't forget about the fact that Kratos is white, and so are the gods. Plus, Kratos hates on the women, treating them as sexual objects and ripping off Medusa's head.

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  2. Hey Medusa deserves to get her head ripped off shes a total bitch just kidding and thanks I forgot to mention Kratos is white..very white I mean he is the "ghost of Sparta."

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  3. During this time it is a known fact that women were treated as sex objects, and men were held in the highest regard. Women were to be subjected to being wives, or servants of the gods. Even the females gods were at the center of sexual controversies. It was a sad fact, but women were kept at a disadvantage.

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  4. I have to agree with Danny's point. When women are portraied in video games it is (most of the time) as sex objects. You make a great point by saying that even the female gods are usually involved in some kind of sexual matter. However, I believe that as more female video game developers join the industry, this will gradually change. The same goes for the portrayal of Hispanics, Blacks and other marginilized groups.

    Jorge Tavarez

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  5. SPARTA!!!!!

    Sorry I had to sneak that in there :P

    You make great points. Woman were looked as objects not only now but also, back in Spartan time. If you remember in the first game, there is a little mini-game that you could do on the ship in which Kratos can have a ménage à trois to start off the game! Although you don't see anything, you still have to press the buttons to please the young slaves that are only there for your pleasure.

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