Psychoanalysis of Video Games (from 3/03/10)

Freud believed that human beings were driven by more than just pleasure. He felt that repetitive behavior was used by humans to not only generate pleasure (the satisfaction of completing an objective such as drinking whiskey or solving a math equation) but also as an attempt to cope with some of the more traumatic aspects of life such as death and rejection. He saw how games were used by children to act out experiences that caused them fear or anxiety such as going to the doctor, or losing a parent to a war. The pleasure was gained by having an active role in the action. When the child is a passive member of the experience he or she feels out of control, but when they are active in the role playing experience they feel empowered.

This can be said of modern video games. Children that grow up in urban areas sometimes can feel anxiety regarding the violence that surrounds them in the form of gangs or abusive fathers. These same children very often play violent video games where they can shoot others and remain safe as long as they are the most tactically skilled. The randomness of gang-violence is removed from their life and replaced with a structure that entails survival as being possible as long as one is equipped with the best strategy. The children are repeating the behavior they have observed around them in order to cope with the trauma of not being able to control the violence in their daily lives. In addition, it can be said that American children grow up learning about how America has subverted other nations (such as the indigenous people of this land) in order to serve its own needs for material growth. As a result many Americans yearn for power and control because they feel it is a God given right. The reality of our society, however, dictates that only a select few shall have power and control. As a result, these video games where one is in control of who dies and who lives offer an opportunity for those born into poverty to subvert and control, if only within a virtual medium. In this sense the children are repeating America's behavior of using death and destruction to protect itself.