Skip to content

Ideapocket

Just another WordPress.com site

the hungerartist apllied to

 

a stay away from interent for the period of the exibition,its in a sealed cube,people cannot see inside they get a link of the webcams,later on it is all exibited as a film.it should capture all the real feelings of beening away from interent,in my case it is used not for gaming but (maybe 2 people should perform it, one a person that is in love with interent gaming,and me who is in love with intenet information) it also has this bigbrither effect with the doubt in whats real emotion, is beeing away from the interent real sadness real confusion..real dullness..and how do diffeerent people deal with this,also a question that is there is that of who can take off 2 weeks of their life?

an artist and a useless geek? it shows the role of a citizen that is not supposed to do nothing for 2 weeks or 3 weeks..

 

its a response to the killings of the young chinese internet addicts ,but there should also be a layer of cencorship in there..

 

Jane Macartney, Beijing

 

Fourteen young detainees overcame their guard and fled a boot camp regime of

physical training and psychological treatment designed to cure their

addiction ? to the internet.

 

The group, aged 15 to 22, staged their mass breakout by grabbing a duty

supervisor when he was in bed and immobilising him in his quilt.

 

He shouted for help and they apologised before tying him up. They then made

their way in groups of three to the home town of the leader of the group.

 

The addicts made their break from the Huai?an Internet Addiction Treatment

Centre in eastern Jiangsu province last Wednesday, complaining that they

could no longer endure its ?monotonous work and intensive training?.

 

It is the latest incident to highlight the sometimes brutal techniques

employed at camps across China to wean young people off the internet. A

15-year-old boy was beaten to death last year days after he was admitted to

a camp. Last month a court sentenced two instructors to up to ten years in

jail for the incident.

 

The China Youth Association for Network Development estimates that about 24

million Chinese adolescents are addicted to the internet, many to gaming

sites.

 

For the recent escapees freedom proved short lived. A taxi driver alerted

police after the young men were unable to pay the fare. There was little

sympathy from their exasperated parents either, who had paid 18,000 yuan

(?1,830) for their children to receive six months? treatment at the camp.

 

Most insisted that their children should go back to the camp at once and

since the breakout all but one have been returned.

 

One mother wept at the police station when she described how her son once

spent 28 consecutive hours playing online games. A camp official justified

the methods used to cure the addiction, saying: ?We have to use military

style methods such as total immersion and physical training on these young

people. We need to teach them some discipline and help them to establish a

regular lifestyle.?

 

The camp requires its ?inmates? to be up at 5am and in bed at 9.30pm. During

the day they must undergo two hours of physical drills, as well as courses

in calligraphy, traditional Chinese philosophy and receive counselling.

 

Yang Guihua, the mother of the youth who orchestrated the escape, said that

her son must return and defended the treatment. She said: ?I don?t think

there is any problem with the training methods at the centre. They are for

my child?s own good.?

 

? China underscored its commitment to keeping a tight grip on the internet

yesterday, vowing in a new White Paper to block anything deemed subversive

or a threat to national unity.

 

It said that it wanted to boost internet usage to 45 per cent of the

population in the next five years but gave no indication that it would ease

the Great Firewall, which blocks websites such as Facebook, YouTube and

Twitter.

 

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7145877.ec

e

 

___________________________

 

I never paid much attention to the machinima genre so far. The FILE Machinima section of the FILE festival in Sao Paulo proved me how wrong i was. Many of the movies selected by Curator Fernanda Albuquerque de Almeida are indeed little gems. I’ll just mention Wizard Of OS: The fish incident by Tom Jantol, a short based on Nikola Tesla’s notes on his experiment with a mysterious antivirus device he named “The Wizard of OS” and Clockwork, by Ian Friar aka Iceaxe. Set in the totalitarian Republic of Britain, Clockwork tells the story of a police officer on a mission to track down an “undesirable”.

4874949892_81fbbd56bc.jpg
Image courtesy FILE festival

The movie that received most attention from both the public and the members of the File Prix Lux however is War of Internet Addiction, a machinima advocacy production that voices the concerns of the mainland Chinese World of Warcraft community. Although the machinima was created with WoW players in mind, the video strikes a chord with the broader public by pointing the finger to the lack of Internet freedom in the country and conveying a general feeling of helplessness.

00acinacsewelooose.jpg

The main frustration of mainland Chinese WoW players is that the access to the game has been limited and interrupted for months because of a conflict between two government regulatory bodies. The video also denounces battles and issues that took place in China over the previous 15 months or so: electroshock therapy for purported internet addiction (the Health Ministry has mercifully asked for the treatment to stop); the government’s attempts to enforce installations on all new pc sold in mainland China of the Green Dam Youth Escort filter; the competition between the county’s primary game servers over licensing renewal rights, etc.

0a2serocgarbage.jpg

Players are also tired of being stigmatized by mainstream media as ‘addicts’ because of their love of game or simply because they tend to spend hours in front of their computer. The character of the villain of the film, Yang Yongxin, is actually based on a psychiatrist who used shock-therapy to treat so-called “Internet Addiction.”

internetaddiction.jpg

Within days of its release the 64-minute video was banned from a few video sites in China, but that didn’t prevent the movie from becoming even more popular on-line than Avatar nor from winning the Best Video award in the Tudou Video Film awards for online films and animations in an awards ceremony that some see as China’s version of Sundance. The machinima also received an honorable mention at FILE Prix Lux. Not bad for a zero budget film made in 3 months with the help of 100 volunteers who cooperated through the Internet.
Watch the full version on Warcraft movies

Warning! Many of the jokes, memes and references in War of Internet Addicition are hard to grasp if you’re not familiar with Chinese net culture. Fortunately, a public document listing the background information has been posted posted online.

Interview with Corndog, director, script writer and coordinator of the movie, on WSJ.

See also: Homo Ludens Ludens – Gold Farmers.

Previous entries about FILE festival: Heart Chamber Orchestra, Scrapbook from the ongoing FILE festival and Feeding the Tardigotchi. The FILE exhibition is open until August 29, 2010. Address: Fiesp – Ruth Cardoso Cultural Center – Av. Paulista, 1313, São Paulo – Metro Trianon-Masp.

 

 

Jean Shao and Kaiser Kuo

This game is no mere game. This virtuoso machinima “shot” entirely within virtual the World of Warcraft land of Azeroth is one of the most humorous, poignant and downright moving satires we’ve ever seen in China. The War of Internet Addiction (网瘾战争) is a many-layered creation that takes a good bit of unpacking. It’s a gutsy and surprisingly direct criticism of Chinese Internet censorship that touches on dozens and dozens of the major memes that created so much buzz on the Chinese Internet in 2009. At the very least, it should put to rest any assertion that Chinese lack creativity. Surprisingly, this hasn’t been written about as of this time in the mainstream western media, though Chinese media has reported on it fairly extensively. We’re frankly surprised that it hasn’t been “harmonized” yet.

Directed by someone calling himself “Corndog” (性感玉米, Xinggan Yumi, literally “Sexy Corn”) and dubbed by over 20 gamer volunteers, this home-made hour-long virtual fable-cum-political satire was produced in only three months using in-game footage from WoW’s China and Taiwan edition. The movie was first released on January 21, 2010, and quickly spread online even as Avatar was taking control of 3D screens across China. More than 10 million Chinese netizens have watched this movie on their low-resolution computer screens. More than a few Chinese netizens have hailed The War of Internet Addiction as more valuable, and more entertaining, than Avatar.

Appreciation for the clever subtleties in this video is heavily dependent on your understanding of current Chinese Web culture, and the fast-changing society. To really follow it, you need quite a bit of context. You have to be pretty clued into a whole lot of recently popular Internet memes, have a good sense for what’s happened in the realm of Chinese Internet regulation and particularly as concerns online games and the controversy over “Internet addiction,” and have an ear for the homophones and puns that are so prevalent among Chinese netizens.

Never fear. There are plenty of resources out there to guide you through this. To understand words like “River Crab,” Brother Chun worship, loneliness, “tea sets” and all the other obscure references you might want to check out this public Google doc for really thorough annotation. It’s really indispensable unless you’re a near-native Chinese speaker, WoW player, and total Internet junkie. Or refer to some of our previous posts on Youku Buzz like this one. Recently, an editorial in Caixin Online called “Memes for the Masses also provides a lot of context for this stuff. And if that’s not enough, There’s an English subtitled version that’s quite well done here or, if you have a good VPN, on YouTube here (for part 1; the other parts are in the Related Videos to the right).

Bill Bishop, who saw this a few weeks ago, wrote an excellent summary of the story.

The film tracks the fight between The9 and Netease over the renewal rights to Activision Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, the requirement that skulls be removed from World of Warcraft (hence the Skull Party), the bureaucratic battles between GAPP and the Ministry of Culture over the re-approval of WoW in China, the money-obsessed Uncle Yang and his Internet addiction camps and electro-shock therapy, and the attempts to impose “Green Dam Youth Escort” software on Chinese web users. The movie concludes with an impassioned speech calling for Chinese World of Warcraft players to end their silence and raise their hands in protest to fight attempts to harmonize China’s Internet and keep them away from World of Warcraft, followed by an agreement between the warring bureaucracies-GAPP and MOC–to put aside their dispute and go after Netease for more money.

Watching this you’ll realize that it’s not just about World of Warcraft, but about the relationship between young, tech-savvy netizens and a paternalistic, authoritarian state.

The “impassioned speech” toward the end of the movie moved many viewers to tears, but there is more. Below is my selective translation. I decide not to write my comments explicitly, as I feel compelled to respectful silence when reading and hearing lines below.

When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we face such a distorted version (of the game as the fight for interests lingers on), all we can feel is helplessness. You make no mistake, yes, we are indulging, but not in the game itself. It’s the feeling of belonging, and four years’ friendship and entrusting (in this virtual community we can not give up)…We persevered no matter what …

We know it’s impossible, but we still swim tirelessly to the North Pole, to the edge of the (global) map, to the place where there is no water, but we still can’t see that icy land! In the past year, I, just like others who love this game, diligently go to work on a crowded bus, diligently consume all kinds of food with no concern of whatever unknown chemicals (they may contain). We never complain that our wages are low, we never lose our mental balance due to those big townhouses you bought with the money you took from my meager wage. We mourned and cried for the flood and earthquake, we rejoiced and cheered for the manned space flight and the Olympics. From the bottom of our heart, we never want to lag to any other nations in this world, but in this year, because of you, we can’t even play a game we love whole-heartedly with other gamers all over the world.

We swallowed all the insults (as we are forced to go to overseas servers and caused other gamers’ inconveniences). Why can’t we be entertained at the cheap rate 40 cents an hour? Just because we are here?”

You taught me since my childhood that a house of gold or silver is never as good as my own tumbledown home, but what’s the reality? You forced me to live temporarily in my own country. Why is it so hard to grant me to simply dwell in my own country spiritually?

Thanks to all you so-called Brick Owners (砖家, a homophone for 专家, expert) and Shouting Beasts(叫兽, a homophone for 教授, professor), aren’t there enough eulogies, cosmetics and anesthetics? Everyday, you have nothing else to do but enjoying your prestigious social status, and pointing at us from an ethical high ground. Have you ever wondered why five million gamers are collectively taking this Net poison (as you so describe our addiction to the virtual game), and the deep-rooted social reasons that are covered?

We naively believed that here there are only gardens, that we can touch the ideal if only we work hard enough. When we look up to those servers on the top of the pyramid, we are forced to hold the Happiness bestowed from you. We retreat into the so-called freest Internet on earth, communicate at low cost, and salve the pains in daily life with the game. It’s just like this, but they, for the sake of interests, they are exploiting in every possible way…we are so accustomed to silence, but silence doesn’t mean surrender.

We can’t stop shouting simply because our voices are low; we can’t do nothing simply because our power is weak. It’s okay to be chided, it’s okay to be misunderstood, it’s okay to be overlooked. But it’s just I no longer want to keep silent.

I feel obliged to quote from some real gamers as I myself used to be unfairly biased due to my lack of understanding of Chinese gamers. I believe there are indeed real game addicts, but I also now believe independent and smart gamers like Corndog are not just a bunch.

As Gamer Elwing confessed: “I was laughing and sighing all the way while watching (the movie), then when the movie was into 49 minutes, I cried, so caught myself by surprise.” “Any comment is superfluous.”

A real thoughtful and independent generation is letting out their voice, maybe finally, so critiqued by Long Wu Shou on Tianya.

“For each entertainment to gain popularity, there must be a capability to fulfill players’ real desire, and this is humanity, culture and civilization.” “The most important reason (that the online games attract especially the young and disadvantaged group in China) is that the virtual world has more humanity and civilization to offer than the reality!” “They find it easier to find freedom, equality, respect, and self-fulfillment (in the virtual world). It will only be more suitable if to describe this phenomenon as they are indulging in the game rules based on freedom, equality and respect to individuality rather than in the game! The gamers, the indulger, in this sense, are also the rebels, the (conscience) holders, and the observers. They have the rights to announce: the real charm of the game is the rules that are deep in humanity and high in civilization! It can not be a beautiful world without a good set of game rules; there can not be an attractive game without a good set of rules. This is the same for both the virtual and the real world.”

Copy and paste this HTML to embed the video in your blog: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMTQ3MDMwNDQ0/v.swf

« Friday Fan Fave Fives for the Week of February 5, 2010

Friday Fan Fave Fives for the week of Feb 12 »

 

33 Responses to When the Virtual Clashes with the Real

  • b2677955c23901bf1fbe9d6094cc7ac6.png Cathy Barbash
    February 10th, 2010 at 4:42 pm NPR reported on this last week.
  • Chinese Satirical Machinima Movie More Popular Than Avatar – PSFK
    February 11th, 2010 at 11:30 pm […] to the commentary, Jean Shao of video site YouKu says: More than a few Chinese netizens have hailed The War of Internet Addiction as more valuable, and […]
  • » World of Warcraft spelers in opstand tegen Chinese overheid
    February 12th, 2010 at 7:04 am […] Een emotionele oproep aan het einde van de film brengt vele kijkers tot tranen: “We can’t stop shouting simply because our voices are low; we can’t do nothing simply because our power is weak. It’s okay to be chided, it’s okay to be misunderstood, it’s okay to be overlooked. But it’s just I no longer want to keep silent.” […]
  • ‘War of Internet Addiction’ Wins Hearts and Minds – China Real Time Report – WSJ
    February 12th, 2010 at 4:39 pm […] all of the inside-jokes and references made in the film. To help, some viewers including Bishop, Kuo and other reviewers and gamers eagerly dissected the film and documented their analyses on public […]
  • When the Virtual Clashes with the Real | China Elections and Governance
    February 12th, 2010 at 11:28 pm […] reading at Youku Buzz. Related ArticlesFebruary 12, 2010 — Govt mulls new regulations for online storesFebruary 11, 2010 […]
  • Social Gaming Roundup: World of Warcraft, Booyah’s MyTown, Patents and More
    February 13th, 2010 at 8:23 am […] Chinese version can be found at Youku’s Buzz blog. English subtitles can be found in seven parts on YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, […]
  • ‘War of Internet Addiction’ Wins Hearts and Minds in China | Finley & Cook, PLLC
    February 13th, 2010 at 4:04 pm […] all of the inside-jokes and references made in the film. To help, some viewers including Bishop, Kuo and other reviewers and gamers eagerly dissected the film and documented their analyses on public […]
  • WoW players against harmony | Junjie’s China blog
    February 13th, 2010 at 9:33 pm […] Check this Wallstreet Online article. DigiCha has an article with more references. Kaiser Kuo also commented on “war on internet addiction”. Apart from a moving, well made movie about important Chinese issues, it also offers interesting […]
  • 59bc887fca38fa8a9900dd05e6f9c63f.png 79429214
    February 14th, 2010 at 2:13 pm 中国让世界笑了
  • d23c4cf16a0b57343d07ce553591d021.png Ta Chaple
    March 10th, 2010 at 7:26 pm outstanding post !! quite highly ideas
  • WoW machinima as a form of satirical protest!? | 八八吧 :: 88 Bar
    April 18th, 2010 at 2:11 am […] highly recommended: Youku Buzz’s commentary (English) on the video. by Jason Li, in Mainstream. April 17, 2010 – 11:11 am « Tips about R&D for […]
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction | Tecnologia
    April 19th, 2010 at 4:59 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction | Juegando
    April 19th, 2010 at 5:26 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction | Affiliate Program
    April 19th, 2010 at 8:16 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction | Venture Capital & Angel Investors Lists News and Jobs
    April 19th, 2010 at 8:21 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction | Syamsurian.com
    April 19th, 2010 at 9:33 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • 8c20c9292c118a760568097fb476c062.png Waneta Riva
    April 21st, 2010 at 11:48 am Lectures and advice only go so far. Addictions are such a subject I think we have only begun to understand. The addict is told a million times their addiction is wrong they know this. But the chemical connection the power of the mind is immense.
  • db1862cfb0f34ed4d6a2bfce7054b511.png Kerri Hearon
    April 21st, 2010 at 4:10 pm Pleasant Post! Do you mind if person takes out your sharing knowledge on your posting article, but zero take part in a commentary. In fact, most people aren
  • e2d6f583d802923f71fe7e2b9107f8b8.png Carson Vinti
    April 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm I like to read your blog a couple times a week for new thoughts. I was wondering if you have any other niches you write about? You’re a very interesting writer!
  • 196f7e389e2f23225618a873d8cdbbb2.png Josefina Terlizzi
    April 23rd, 2010 at 1:26 pm I feel like I’m always looking for interesting things to read about a variety of niches, but I manage to include your blog among my reads every day because you have compelling entries that I look forward to. Here’s hoping there’s a lot more top-notch material coming!
  • c496db22a4ceda9d0b7392be291ff678.png sexy lingerie
    May 1st, 2010 at 6:28 am Wow man, I never new this, thanks.
  • ffb622f3570a21db4338883ec3218645.png Deangelo Nuchols
    May 7th, 2010 at 1:14 am Exceptional site, where did you come up with the info in this write-up? I’m happy I found it though, ill be checking back soon to see what other articles you have.
  • 78d69dd6d27e9e28a7733db25587de70.png Body Lingerie
    June 14th, 2010 at 2:38 pm Fascinating, I’ve certainly not noticed this…
  • The Chinese Matrix and the War of Internet Addiction « Gadget Fee
    July 12th, 2010 at 2:38 am […] following is an English translation reprinted with permission by Kaiser Kuo and Jean Shao. When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we […]
  • 03a244b38b4c6fe1f6f6c4758ce02465.png Santos Pridmore
    August 6th, 2010 at 9:28 am You really can’t. An IP server normally requires a server to install. But you can set up a VPN connection between two computers. You can also try to set the vpn connection between the two routers. This is easier and the information is contained in the router manual. If you just want to access information on the other computer try remote desktop. this works well through two routers connected by vpn
  • 5e66a99237e953121ef8a518810e7edd.png Letting Agents Cardiff
    August 31st, 2010 at 7:34 pm It’s good to see sites with quality information and thanks for the share that you’ve gave. Usually, I’m quite surprised, but this information really has grabbed my attention.
  • 40b877d826f123004e6a88cb0d43a578.png high eq score
    September 22nd, 2010 at 6:05 pm You will discover definitely quite a lot of details just like that to take into consideration. That´s a amazing point to bring up. I provide you with the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly one can find questions like the one you bring up exactly where the most critical thing will certainly be working in honest very good faith. I don´t know if most excellent practices have emerged around things just like that, but I am certain that your job is clearly identified as a fair game.
  • 8a8a31aed0a952de50b4e25a93692a4d.png Tierra Kinkade
    September 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 pm I believe the details written in your write-up is actually superb. I’ve been operating on a preliminary study venture regarding this subject and your weblog truly aided with quite a few considerations that I’d. I’m creating a time period paper for school and I?m currently subsequent quite a few blogs for overview.
  • fad98fb21329aeca9b20ed0853b86dd0.jpg Takako Covitt
    September 24th, 2010 at 3:38 am “Google is wonderful, it is the heart of all the data! Laughing We are ready to ask regardless of we would like, and yahoo will answer them. Like correct now, I’m browsing, searching for entertainment and data, and at last observed your posting. It give me what I looking for. Appreciate it within your posts, this really is very helpful.”
  • c8b660ffce2e18358baf8335d45b4b86.png buy proxy
    September 30th, 2010 at 5:24 pm Very nicely written..I wish I could write as well as you!
  • f6f5376c538b0711ecaee25a3aaaa180.png Sale
    October 6th, 2010 at 5:20 pm I know this is really boring and you are skipping to the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks – you cleared up some things for me!
  • 62798802223931811278e36b396b85f8.png Douglass Fayad
    October 11th, 2010 at 7:41 pm It is clear to me that I mustn’t simply try to do the same old things touching on it as much as possible.
  • 0805144214ab981796ae468adfbe1d8a.png Darwin Casserly
    October 12th, 2010 at 1:18 pm I am starting to to wonder if there is really any future, the system seems to corrupt to overcome in its current condition.

 

 

 

 

War of Internet Addiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

65px-Zhongwen.svg.png This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

War of Internet Addiction (Chinese: 网瘾战争) is an anti-censorship machinima advocacy production on behalf of the mainland Chinese World of Warcraft community, aesthetically notable for being made entirely in in-universe style. A protest against internet censorship in China, it was first uploaded by video creator nicknamed “Sexy Corn” onto Tudou.com, within days of its release it was banned from a few PRC video sites such as Youku.com[1], but has since struck a chord with the wider public beyond the gaming community, eventually becoming more popular on-line than Avatar.[2]

The 64-minute[3] video expresses the frustrations of mainland Chinese WoW players being restricted to mainland servers and presents their grievances and normal feelings to the real world, inasmuch they are often marginalized as being Internet addicts dwelling inside virtual worlds.[4]. While the video was considered to be bold and rebellious by the Chinese government, it won the Best Video award in the 2010 Tudou Video Film awards.[5].

220px-Green_Dam_Youth_Escort.png

magnify-clip.png

The abortive Green Dam Youth Escort internet filter is the primary target of the machinima’s satire.

Contents [hide]

  • 1 Major themes and players
  • 2 Oil Tiger Machinima Team
  • 3 Allusions and references
    • 3.1 Blue electric lighting
    • 3.2 Room 13
  • 4 Kannimei’s speech
  • 5 External links
  • 6 Additional source
  • 7 References

[edit]

Major themes and players

The video agit-prop vigorously satirizes the travails of mainland Chinese WoW players over the latter half of 2009 using the technique of personification; the game itself serves as both stage and a framing device. The numerous conflicts and issues addressed include: electroshock therapy for purported internet addiction; the Chinese government’s attempts to censor the internet with mandatory installations of the Green Dam Youth Escort filter; the corporate battle between the PRC’s two primary game servers, The9 and Netease, over licensing renewal rights; and finally, the bureaucratic in-fighting between the governmental organs General Administration of Press and Publication and the Ministry of Culture over control of the game. Along the way the video also satirizes and/or parodies numerous Internet tropes, memes, in-jokes, running gags and clichés which are specific to, and endemic to, Chinese net culture[6] as well certain elements of American pop culture. (Obvious take-offs on certain aspects of the Terminator franchise, for example, bookend the main action of the story, but at one point major characters engage in poetic battle by doing the dozens in Chinese couplets.) Furthermore, given its production of political satire by game engine, War of Internet Addiction counts, not only as an heir to the roman à clef tradition, but as an influential machinima à clef in its own right.[7]

[edit]

Oil Tiger Machinima Team

This is the third movie by Oil Tiger Machinima Team, released on Jan 21st, 2010. Two days later it was banned on all major Chinese video sharing websites.[8]

During an interview the producer Corndog (Chinese:性感玉米) stated that up to 100 people were involved in the production and that it took three months to make and cost zero dollars, as all the staff were volunteers.[4]

Corndog elaborated that because the production team were all born in the 1980s, they all grew up playing computer games. They had specifically chosen on-line games as their medium for economic reasons, since outdoor activities involve higher costs. World of Warcraft‘s superior quality plus the emphasis on team co-operation all gave them a sense of belonging.

In another interview Corndog remarked that he had made the video for fellow WoW players and that he hadn’t expected it to resonate with a wider audience. That said, “The last part of the video moved many people, including those who do not play the game, since we actually live in the same society and we are facing the same Internet environment,” he said in an emailed response to questions from a Phoenix TV reporter last month. The strong response “should make decision-makers ponder.”[9]

The entire video uses the graphics and characters of the on-line version of World of Warcraft (WoW) and includes audio (theme music from Terminator 2: Judgment Day and BonJovi‘s Bells of Freedom) added by the game’s fans from Taiwan and mainland China.

[edit]

Allusions and references

[edit]

Blue electric lighting

Near the beginning (and in some later scenes) there is blue lighting accompanied by low-pitched transformer humming sounds, a foreshadowing of the electro-shock therapy offered by Yang Yongxin, who ultimately proves to be the archvillain of the piece.

[edit]

Room 13

In the video there is discussion about a torture chamber by the name of Room 13, where the suave and evil Uncle Yang would apply electric shock therapy to WoW players to cure them of their “Internet addiction.”[10]

Room 13, a place I will never forget, in there, I had experience of ten thousands swords went through my heart, when the electric shock was applied to me, I wished I was dead.

[edit]

Kannimei’s speech

Near the end of the video rebel leader Kannimei, a blue-skinned minotaur, gives a long and impassioned speech (in effect breaking the fourth wall) about the hostile censorship environment facing WoW players, a speech which actually moved some gamers to tears.[9][11] A selective translation:[12]

“When we work hard for a whole day come home to an apartment with a monthly rent of 2000 RMB, we face such a distorted version (of the game as the fight for interests lingers on), all we can feel is helplessness. You make no mistake, yes, we are indulging, but not in the game itself. It’s the feeling of belonging, and four years’ friendship and entrusting (in this virtual community we can not give up)… We persevered no matter what.

“We know it’s impossible, but we still swim tirelessly to the North Pole, to the edge of the (global) map, to the place where there is no water, but we still can’t see that icy land! In the past year, I, just like others who love this game, diligently go to work on a crowded bus, diligently consume all kinds of food with no concern of whatever unknown chemicals (they may contain). We never complain that our wages are low, we never lose our mental balance due to those big townhouses you bought with the money you took from my meager wage. We mourned and cried for the flood and earthquake, we rejoiced and cheered for the manned space flight and the Olympics. From the bottom of our heart, we never want to lag to any other nations in this world, but in this year, because of you, we can’t even play a game we love whole-heartedly with other gamers all over the world.

“We swallowed all the insults (as we are forced to go to overseas servers and caused other gamers’ inconveniences). Why can’t we be entertained at the cheap rate 40 cents an hour? Just because we are here?

“You taught me since my childhood that a house of gold or silver is never as good as my own tumbledown home, but what’s the reality? You forced me to live temporarily in my own country. Why is it so hard to grant me to simply dwell in my own country spiritually? Thanks to all you so-called Brick Owners (砖家, a homophone for 专家,expert) and Shouting Beasts(叫兽, a homophone for 教授, professor), aren’t there enough eulogies, cosmetics and anesthetics? Everyday, you have nothing else to do but enjoying your prestigious social status, and pointing at us from an ethical high ground. Have you ever wondered why five million gamers are collectively taking this Net poison (as you so describe our addiction to the virtual game), and the deep-rooted social reasons that are covered? We naively believed that here there are only gardens, that we can touch the ideal if only we work hard enough. When we look up to tho seservers on the top of the pyramid, we are forced to hold the Happiness bestowed from you. We retreat into the so-called freest Internet on earth, communicate at low cost, and salve the pains in daily life with the game. It’s just like this, but they, for the sake of interests, they are exploiting in every possible way…

“We are so accustomed to silence, but silence doesn’t mean surrender. We can’t stop shouting simply because our voices are low; we can’t do nothing simply because our power is weak. It’s okay to be chided, it’s okay to be misunderstood, it’s okay to be overlooked. But it’s just I no longer want to keep silent.”

After this cri du cœur Kannimei reverts to in-game style and calls for other WoW players to signal their defiance by raising their hands to add their energy to his against the robot-like archvillain Yang Yongxin (who had dismissed the appeal in ironic flanged tones with “Nice speech —but useless.”) Kannimei again addresses his fellow players throughout the World of Warcraft: “Please raise your hands up. I need your strength,” he says. “When they blocked YouTube, you didn’t act. When they blocked Twitter, you didn’t act.” The climax is thus a mixture of Dragonball-Z and Martin Niemöller. Uncle Yang is killed, but his spirit of repression lives on; in the epilogue the fictional Skynet is, in a final crossover, strongly hinted to be analogous to the real-life PRC Green Dam Youth Escort.

[edit]

External links