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Wiki Article #1: Anthropology of Social Behavior in BioShock by Katy Meyers

BioShock Development

BioShock was a successful first-person shooter developed by Irrational Games and originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in 2007. The game incorporates visceral first-person action, horror and rpg elements with a unique story and setting heavily influenced by the ideas of authors Ayn Rand and George Orwell.

In BioShock, the player is placed into the role of Jack, a man stuck in Rapture, a crumbling undersea Art Deco metropolis overrun by citizens mutated and driven mad by unregulated genetic experimentation. Over the course of the game the player must fight for survival while working for and against the city's few remaining sane inhabitants to uncover the truth behind the fall of Rapture. BioShock was a commercial and critical success, which sold millions of copies across all platforms and won numerous Game of the Year awards.(1)

Author's Main Argument

In Anthropology of Social Behavior in BioShock, Katy Meyers draws upon ethnographer Bronislaw Malinowski's idea of the importance of detailed participant observation to analyze the various levels of narrative in BioShock and how an anthropological viewpoint can give greater insight into how the player interacts with them. Meyers argues that in BioShock, as in real life, an anthropological approach can reveal the multiple levels that people operate on in society. This can be applied to the examination of living populations by comparing observations of behavior with peoples' explanations of their own behavior, and in the past through the archaeological examination of artifacts, sites, and texts.(2)

According to Malinowski, an anthropological investigation of social behavior must account for what people do, what they say they do, and the laws and ideals that lead them to do what they do.(3) Meyers applies this to BioShock by noting that the player must engage with these three levels of behavior to some degree whether they are aware of it or not. Like an anthropologist looking at culture or society, if we are willing we can examine Rapture through the same lens and see the multiple layers of storytelling that lie under the surface of BioShock, waiting for an inquisitive player to draw them out.

Importance of BioShock

Social

Central to Meyers' argument is the idea that the tenets of social anthropology or ethnography can be applied to digital worlds like Rapture in the same way that they are applied to societies of the real world. By taking notice of the various levels of social interaction that the player observes and becomes involved with, we apply the same ideas to the analysis of the game that Malinowski applied in his famous observation of life and society in the Trobriand Islands.

Political

BioShock's story and setting are heavily entrenched in the Objectivist ideals of Ayn Rand which assert that the agency of the individual rather than church or state is the most important driving force in a society. According to Meyers, this objectivist theme is found in BioShock at all levels and is the driving force in the goals and motivations of its characters. This might not be immediately apparent to the player, but it often has a significant impact on the way that the player interprets the actions of the story's main characters by the end of the game.

My Thoughts

Katy Meyers brings up some good points about the application of anthropology in an artificial world. Having read about Malinowski's ideas on anthropological observation firsthand in Argonauts of the Western Pacific, I would tend to agree with Meyers that the methods of observation described in that book can be applied to any society, real or not. But I guess that that point could easily be argued against, since the world of Rapture is not real, but is instead a product of the imaginations of the writers at Irrational Games. It could be said that whatever anthropological observations we draw from BioShock are simply those that the creators wanted us to arrive at. But I guess those observations are still valid.

I've played BioShock several times and might even call it one of my favorite games. In my opinion, few other video games have ever been able to combine such a thought-provoking story with a so thoroughly fleshed-out setting as Rapture. Like Meyers says, the objectivist theme pervades BioShock's narrative at every level and made the interactions of the player with its characters that much more memorable. Walking through Rapture's streets and halls is like examining a perfectly preserved archaeological dig site. The signs of past social upheaval and open warfare, combined with signs of the shattered peace of daily life, like food rotting on a table or an overturned baby carriage in the street combine to create one of the most poignant and memorable settings I have ever experienced. Additionally, the insight that the player can gain into the backgrounds and personalities of BioShock's main characters by examining the various levels of anthropological narrative that surrounds them further fleshes out Rapture, making it that much more complex and believable. It is these levels of interaction through which the player engages with the world that sets BioShock so far apart from the other mindless shooters.


Works Cited:

  1. Wikipedia contributors. "BioShock." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Jun. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2013.
  2. Meyers, Katy. "Anthropology of Social Behavior in BioShock." Play The Past RSS. Play The Past, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 05 June 2013.
  3. Wikipedia contributors. "Bronisław Malinowski." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 May. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2013.

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