We Become What We Behold is a game about observation. Unlike many of the other games that we have played for class this quarter, the player is not directly involved in the action. Instead, we watch the personified circles and squares, taking pictures of them as they walk around onscreen. However, while the player does not directly control the action, their participation is required for the progression of the game. At first, the player is willing to participate, since we naturally notice the things that stand out- the only character with a hat, the lovers in red, and the square with a “different” haircut. However, as we highlight these differences, the characters onscreen become more and more divided. Soon, we realize that our attention to hostility and violence is not a choice. If we attempt to focus on the protesting lovers, the game reprimands us with an array of slogans:
“Who tunes in to watch people get along? Peace is boring. Violence goes viral.”
We realize that in order to progress, we must give the game the attention that it wants.
However, instead of discouraging the player, this lack of control makes it easier to continue playing the game. We want to believe that we are not to blame, that we are just following orders, and the game continually reaffirms this.
“Give the audience what they want.”
We keep going because we, like the audience mentioned by the game, want to observe violence from a safe, detached perspective. As we give the game what it wants, we breed hostility and violence, eventually leading to all out war. It is only at the very end that the game asks the player to question their involvement.
As the screen zooms out to show a computer display, the game forces us to observe ourselves, pointing out how we are complicit in the violence of the game. While it is easy to distance yourself from the violence in the game, your actions as an observer played a role in the progression of that violence. If you didn’t like being forced to focus on anger and hate, then why did you continue? The game points out that observation is not necessarily as passive as we may believe, and in doing so, asks us to be conscious about our role as observers in society.
This reminded me of a recent episode of Bojack Horseman. Diana has been exposing all sorts of bad practices and capitalist failings and her boss wants her to produce some feel good content. She chooses a story on a Chicago toy company owned by two friends. The company makes realistically proportioned dolls out of recycled materials. During the interview she struggles to remain positive after learning they have been acquired by a mega-corporation and are no longer using recycled materials. This is the opposite of We Become What We Behold in two ways: the media is selectively positive but this doesn't make the world more happy.…
We Become What We Behold offers an interesting conflict of interests. "Give the audience what they want" seems strange in hindsight because in ordinary life, the player is part of the audience. The phrase could have been "Give them what you would want someone else to give to you" and now the player has something to think about. Do I really want this information now or in real life? And if I had the chance, would I give it to myself? The zooming out of the screen at the forces the viewer to confront their desires for media, but the process of the game itself reflects the roles of news networks which seems more complex. A fight between morals, horror,…