When observing different forms of rhetoric and its influence, it is interesting to view how similarly outright manners and more direct, can be. When playing, "We Become What We Behold" (WBWWB), the game had two levels of rhetoric: the sensationalist tv frame depicting examples of life taken by the camera and the screen itself for the viewer, which depict the two different levels of rhetoric that are commonly utilized by media or forms of communication. In Kaufmann's piece, there is a conversation on how more and greater information on a topic is not always the most effective in creating an influence on the player, which introduces the power of subtle actions. WBWWB has a duality of rhetoric which clearly communicates two different narratives and one major theme.
The first narrative is that of the circle and square people in the game. The mechanics of the game are a moveable camera shot which captures different people, animals, or actions shown in the over-world. This camera is then transferred onto a tv in the center of the game, which receives feedback or reactions as a hashtag and from the audience of people/sometimes crickets. At first, the mechanic was innocent to me, displaying simple things like the TV, the crickets, and hats. However, the "news", or voice communicating through the hashtags on the TV grew more hungry for sensationalist shots. This increasing need for bigger stories and larger headlines, led to there being more and more violent tendencies and anger present int he audience towards each other, which ended in chaos and bloodshed. This first narrative communicates the effects of the more direct and non-subtle influence. The sensationalist stories brought about specified emotions which evoked then attacks and possibilities for even more shots. The mission of the television was to spread depictions of violence and words to catalyze conflict. This narrative carries the non subtle rhetoric to the player which is the power of observing certain messages in media. However, this is then even more exemplified in a more subtle manner of the positioning of the over-world.
The second form of rhetoric is that of the subtle hints of the changing over-world positioning. To detail, as the games grows in chaos, the screen encompassing the people grows smaller to reveal a mac computer. This subtle change implies many things to the player. The game still has the very direct and raw narrative of the effects observation of media has on viewers, illustrated by violent actions, but the inclusion of small, sometimes not very noticeable, changes then makes the players intake of the rhetoric happen at a different level. The subtle showing of the computer screen to that of the action brings up questions of "am I now the viewer?", as in are you now on the same level as that of the circle and square people. This subtle showing makes the reader question and become involved in the message of the game. I believe that both manners of rhetoric are effective in their own way, and WBWWB is able to effectively depict both levels in a manner that can be noticeable and influential on the player.
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