{"id":993,"date":"2019-03-27T23:05:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T03:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/?p=993"},"modified":"2019-03-27T23:05:52","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T03:05:52","slug":"artist-statement-thoughts-and-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/03\/27\/artist-statement-thoughts-and-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Statement: Thoughts and Prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thoughts and Prayers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The inspiration behind the twine game Thoughts and Prayers\u00a0<\/em>came in the wake of the New Zealand Mosque shooting. Too often people turn to social media to try and create \u201cchange\u201d or empathize with those who suffered from tragedy. These people, especially those with large followings always say the same thing when something happens. \u201cMy thoughts and prayers are with those in (fill with national tragedy).\u201d What do these posts really do though? My theory is that they are a way for us to feel included. Those that posts these things don\u2019t really care about fixing or preventing whatever happened, but they want people to know we are thinking about it. They also know that if they say nothing they will appear ignorant or out of touch. So they sent their halfhearted, \u201cthoughts and prayers.\u201d Those thoughts of course go nowhere, and due to the frequency of these atrocities they often fall on deaf ears. I wanted to show the triviality of these post. I struggled with how to properly do so, and I decided that the best way to show how worthless they are was to turn them into currency.<\/p>\n

In Thoughts and Prayers,\u00a0<\/em>you are a bot reprogrammed to collect as many of these T+P (Thoughts and Prayers) posts as you can without getting caught or running out of time. I wanted the player to want to win, despite what the implications of winning entailed. The two most important aspects of the game for me were that the player felt immersed in winning, and that they saw the triviality of T+P posts.<\/p>\n

I drew inspiration for my game from JFK: Reloaded. <\/em>In this FPS the player takes on the role of Lee Harvey Oswald, on the fateful day he assassinated JFK. You see through the scope of Oswald\u2019s rifle and do your best to line up your shots with JFK and those in the motorcade\u2019s heads. The game itself is pretty difficult to do properly and the player quickly finds themselves trying to shoot the president over and over as they attempt to get a higher score. The harder they try the more they forget that they are reenacting an actual national tragedy through the lens of the man who committed it. Seeing as my game lacked the visuals or mechanics of JFK: Reloaded<\/em>I needed a way to transform text into an immersive experience. I did this through satirical writing. The narrator is your creator, and only friend. He encourages you and jokes around with you while you commit these atrocities. In practice the narrator was able to pull out smiles from players as they either enjoyed the catchphrases or paradoxical nature of the dialog compared to the work being done. Either way the player was successfully distracted from their morality.<\/p>\n

I also looked towards the reading we did in class on trolls, specifically those that troll or make fun of death and or the deceased. This is not a new form of humor as dark humor has been around for centuries<\/a>[1], but the disrespectful way we address tell our jokes is something unique to our time.<\/a>[2]I wanted to find a way to talk about tragedy without playing into this trolling level of disrespect. I didn\u2019t want to make things too specific or offensive so I had to be careful with my word choice, a topic I will discuss in the next paragraph. I knew that if I went too radical with my structure then the message would be completely lost. In many ways I used the examples and readings from class as a baseline of things to avoid. This attempt to avoid offense lead me to write the disclaimer page that the game opens with.<\/p>\n

With the question of morality being addressed and the confines of my linguistic limitations established I needed a way to ensure that my societal message came across properly. The point system did work to trivialize the posts, but it alone didn\u2019t make a strong enough statement. I again turned to satire and tried to turn real events into \u2018game talk\u2019 calling school attacks, \u201cstandard\u201d and movie theatre attacks, \u201cAmerican classics.\u201d Though they were still called attacks, they were also used in tandem with works typically associated with good events, such as \u201cfantastic\u201d and \u201copportunity.\u201d These adjectives help to show the commonality of these tragedies and the absurdity that goes along with their regular occurrence. Nothing you do in this game is really that far-fetched. With the Nuke mission being the only exception. In fact, you\u2019re rewarded for choosing the more dangerous routes outside of just the recognizable ones. The narrator will encourage you to make bold decisions and will respond positively to successful attacks. This was done ironically, but also as a way to give the player positive reinforcement and encourage further play.<\/p>\n

Outside of the gameplay the game was inspired by a recent trend of celebrities and politicians on social media. It seems that after every tragedy or disaster there is an outpouring of tweets and Facebook posts that offer up digital \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d to those who have or are suffering. The only thing I can think of when I see these posts are how little effort they take. A celebrity was probably drinking their coffee and reading their newsfeed when they heard about whatever event that occurred. They then switched over to their account and tweeted out, \u201cmy thoughts prayers are with the people of _____.\u201d \u00a0After that they likely just went back to their news feed and continue scrolling. It is now an expectation for public figures to do this, so much so that when they don\u2019t say anything they make more news than when they do. One question I has was, what is the difference between sending out a tweet and internalizing an event? The conclusion I came to was that in the grand scheme of things there isn\u2019t really much of a difference. So then why do we do it?<\/p>\n

Part of it is the world we live in. This harks back to a discussion we had in class several weeks ago now, where we discussed if we were now in a new age of death. In some ways we are, because we are desensitized to it. We came to a consensus in class that our constant exposure to death has made it so we can\u2019t live a life of constant empathetic misery so we have to block it out. Never before have we been so consistently exposed to death as we are now. Mass shootings and natural disasters gain national attention for no more than a week before the public loses interest. All that was done and all that is left behind are the tweets of sympathy and condolences. Nothing changes because we simply are not motivated by these events anymore. Why is that though? According to an article by TIME magazine it is because the frequency in which these events occur triggers a mental block in our brains that prevents us from being consumed by them.<\/a>[3]\n

The TIME article opens with a very powerful line that I found very motivating while I was working on my project.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt took only 23 days for the U.S. to witness its<\/p>\n

11th school shooting of the year, during which a<\/p>\n

Marshall County High School student killed two<\/p>\n

of his classmates and wounded more than a dozen others.<\/p>\n

The Jan. 23 assault, in Benton, Kentucky, was<\/p>\n

the second shooting of the week. It was only a Tuesday.\u201d<\/a>[4]\n

 <\/p>\n

Mass shootings, terrorist\u2019s attacks and disasters have integrated themselves into our everyday lives. If you watch the news every night you are berated with stories of atrocities, that either occurred or were prevented. The sheer exposure has made it so, \u201cwe have absolutely become numb to these kinds of shootings.\u201d<\/a>[5]These events are hard to grasp by themselves, the psychology of it is often too complex to understand even when the appropriate amount of time is allowed. Dr. Bruce Harry, spoke to TIME magazine about this question stating, \u201cBecause these things are so overwhelming, our central nervous system basically shuts down past a point.\u201d<\/a>[6]We push things out of our mind because we cannot mentally come to grasps with them. That still bears the question, why do we wish people our thoughts and prayers if we ourselves cannot even comprehend what has happened?<\/p>\n

The easiest answer is that we as human are empathetic, social beings and when we see grieving we feel the need to respond. Social media is the most convenient platform do this through, especially when the tragedy occurs on the other side of the country or even world. Clearly thoughts and prayers aren\u2019t working though, so why do we still send them even though they clearly fall upon deaf ears? I hypothesize that public figures in particular send these messages to stay relevant and appear up-to-date. A very interesting study was done by several psychologists here in the US about the fear of missing out on social media. Nearly 70% of adults admit to feeling fears of missing out in their daily lives.<\/a>[7]Social media has increased the \u201cFOMO\u201d levels in adults exponentially as there is now an endless, constantly changing, supply of new information that we are exposed to.<\/a>[8]Never before has humanity been so connected. The study found that irritability and anxiety around FOMO increased with social media exposure.<\/a>[9]People felt the need to know what others were talking about, as well as the need to ensure that others knew that they knew what they were talking about. This creates a competition and hierarchy of sorts, who knows and who doesn\u2019t. In a sense it also asked the question of, who cares and who doesn\u2019t. This can, in part, explain why public figures feel the need to write a message on social media instead of taking action. They care less about the event itself and more about people\u2019s opinion towards them in response to the event.<\/p>\n

I am always left frustrated by responses to these atrocities as it is never about the victims. A sentiment that my classmates share based off the subjects they chose for their Haunted Media Projects. The responses also never lead to any real change, just more talk that gets overlooked within weeks of making headlines. The New Zealand shooting really pushed me to make this game because the call for change after the attack was instant and effective. People sent thoughts and prayers as they always do, but more importantly the government and people of New Zealand reacted and created new regulations on guns. It made all the tweets that Americans send out seem even more worthless. I even include a note about the New Zealand shooting at the end of the game. I felt as though it served as the perfect example for how America should\u2019ve been reacting to these tragedies all along and helps to solidify the primary messages of my game. With all this in mind I created Thoughts and Prayers.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abel, Jessica. \u201cScial Media and the Fear of Missing Out: Scale and Development and \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assessment. Journal of Business & Economics Research, <\/em>Vol. 14 no. 1, 2016.<\/p>\n

Ducharme, Jamie.Here\u2019s Why You Can Shut Out the Shock of Mass Shootings.<\/em>TIME Magazine, NY, 2018<\/p>\n

Phillips, Whitney. \u201cLOLing at Tragedy: Facebook Trolls, Memorial Pages and Resistance to \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Grief Online.<\/em>\u201d First Monday<\/em>, Vol. 16 no. 12, 2011.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [1]Jesters in a King\u2019s Court often held the job of telling the King news that no one else dared to deliver. They would do so in a humorous way to lighten the news and hopefully spare themselves from any harm. One famous instance of this was in 1340 when a French fleet was destroyed by the English. The Jester of the French King\u2019s court told him the English sailors, \u201cDidn\u2019t even have the guts to hump into the water like our brave French.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [2]Phillips, Whitney. \u201cLOLing at Tragedy: Facebook Trolls, Memorial Pages and Resistance to Grief Online.<\/em>\u201d First Monday<\/em>, Vol. 16 no. 12, 2011<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [3]Ducharme, Jamie. Here\u2019s Why You Can Shut Out the Shock of Mass Shootings.<\/em>TIME Magazine, NY.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [4]Ducharme, Jamie<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [5]Ducharme, Jamie<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [6]Ducharme, Jamie<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [7]Abel, Jessica. \u201cSocial Media and the Fear of Missing Out: Scale and Development and Assessment. Journal of Business & Economics Research, <\/em>Vol. 14 no. 1, 2016. 33.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [8]Abel, Jessica. 33.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 [9]Abel, Jessica. 34.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thoughts and Prayers The inspiration behind the twine game Thoughts and Prayers\u00a0came in the wake of the New Zealand Mosque shooting. Too often people turn to social media to try and create \u201cchange\u201d or empathize with those who suffered from tragedy. These people, especially those with large followings always say the same thing when something …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haunted-media"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paB9Ga-g1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":999,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions\/999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}