17 April 2014, 03:18 PM IST
The success of Survivor encouraged studios to bring out reality shows that delve into every aspect of our lives – no matter how mundane or intimate. We're delighted when Gordon Ramsey brings the competing chefs in Hell's Kitchen to tears. And we watch Big Boss with all the pleasures of a peeping Tom. Basically, its voyeurism minus the guilt where one man's Reality is another man's Entertainment. So, where should we draw the line between Reality and Entertainment? Should we even bother drawing a line?
Those are just a couple of questions that come to mind when you read Matz and Jacamon's Cyclops. And yes, being a story, it does exaggerate and is decidedly noir - but it does make a point.
Cyclops is set in a future where the latest television phenomenon is war streamed in real-time from cameras in soldiers' helmets. It's a future where war has become privatised to the extent that the United Nations contracts out peace-keeping operations to private militia - which are sponsored by TV networks and the soldiers are the big TV stars.
The plot revolves around Douglas Pistoia, a young, married man who joins Cyclops, a militia unit sponsored by Multicorp Inc.- a large TV network that's been awarded the UN Peacekeeping contract in a war-torn South American country.
Douglas' good looks get him earmarked by the network's decision makers as a possible 'hero' for the TV audience. He's given a leadership role in a unit of veterans with strict orders to make sure that Douglas remain unhurt in battle. In the very first op, Pistoia rescues a wounded soldier while under fire, and becomes a favourite with the audience. Thrilled by the TRPs, Multicorp sends him out into more conflict zones where, once again, Pistoia comes across as a hero - thanks to the orchestrated theatrics.
His rising popularity gets Douglas a handsome contract and, when he's not fighting, lives like a celebrity. The team soon realizes that some of the places they're sent to are actually 'safe zones' which have already been cleared out, and the network is just 'protecting an investment'. Further investigation reveals that Multicorp has been actively creating conflict in various countries just to keep up the show's ratings. The rest of the story is about how the Cyclops team rebels against Multicorp and takes down the network.
That may sound very much like Andy Diggle's The Losers or the 80's Schwarznegger starrer sci-fi flick The Running Man. But here's the real kicker.
When you're reading the book, you'll see a parallel to the recent military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The very idea of putting cameras on soldiers for direct transmission is just one step further than the current 'embedding' of journalists with deployed troops for frontline reporting – which, as a concept, has come under fire from independent reporting media for biased news reporting.
Cyclops is more than just an action story about mercenaries. It's a story about a very possible evolution in Warfare and Entertainment. And if you feel I'm over-thinking this, read this interview of authors Matz and Jacamon.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
War as Reality TV? Cyclops paints a grim picture
Dengan url
http://osteoporosista.blogspot.com/2014/04/war-as-reality-tv-cyclops-paints-grim.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
War as Reality TV? Cyclops paints a grim picture
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
War as Reality TV? Cyclops paints a grim picture
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar