''War of Internet Addiction'' (}) is an anti-censorship
machinima
Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...
advocacy production on behalf of the mainland Chinese ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' community, aesthetically notable for being made entirely in
in-universe
A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...
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
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
video sites such as Youku.com, but has since struck a chord with the wider public beyond the gaming community, eventually becoming more popular on-line than
''Avatar''.
The 64-minute 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.
While the video was considered to be bold and rebellious by the Chinese government, it won the Best Video award in the 2010
Tudou
Tudou, Inc. () is a Chinese video-sharing website headquartered in Shanghai, China, where users can upload, view and share video clips. Tudou went live on April 15, 2005 and by September 2007 served over 55 million videos each day.[agit-prop
Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...]
vigorously satirizes the travails of mainland Chinese WoW players over the latter half of 2009 using the technique of
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
; the game itself serves as both stage and a
framing device
Framing may refer to:
* Framing (construction), common carpentry work
* Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime
* Framing (social sciences)
* Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the focus ...
. The numerous conflicts and issues addressed include:
electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
for purported
internet addiction
Problematic internet use or pathological internet use is generally defined as problematic, compulsive use of the internet, that results in significant impairment in an individual's function in various life domains over a prolonged period of time. ...
; the Chinese government's attempts to censor the internet with mandatory installations of the
Green Dam Youth Escort
Green Dam Youth Escort () is content-control software for Windows developed in the People's Republic of China (PRC) which, under a directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), was to take effect on 1 July 2009, as ...
filter; the corporate battle between the PRC's two primary game servers,
The9
The9 Ltd. () is a Shanghai-based online game operator which had the exclusive licence to operate and distribute World of Warcraft in China (launched in June 2005, it has since become the largest online game), a licence it secured after successf ...
and
Netease
NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile game ...
, over licensing renewal rights; and finally, the bureaucratic in-fighting between the governmental organs
General Administration of Press and Publication
General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP; ) is the administrative agency responsible for regulating and distributing news, print and Internet publications in China. This includes granting publication licenses for periodicals and book ...
and the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
*Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
* Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
over control of the game. Along the way the video also satirizes and/or parodies numerous Internet
trope
Trope or tropes may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept
* Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device
* Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
s,
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
s,
in-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...
s,
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
s and clichés which are specific to, and endemic to, Chinese net culture as well as certain elements of American
pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
. (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
The Dozens is a game played between two contestants in which the participants insult each other until one of them gives up. Common in African-American communities, the Dozens is almost exclusively played in front of an audience, who encourage the ...
in
Chinese couplets.) Furthermore, given its production of political satire by
game engine
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
, War of Internet Addiction counts, not only as an heir to the
roman à clef
''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship ...
tradition, but as an influential ''machinima à clef'' in its own right.
Oil Tiger Machinima Team
This is the third movie by Oil Tiger Machinima Team, released on 21 Jan 2010. Two days later it was banned on all major Chinese video sharing websites.
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.
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
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'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."
The entire video uses the graphics and characters of the on-line version of
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
(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.
Allusions and references
Blue electric lighting
Near the beginning (and in some later scenes) there is blue lighting accompanied by low-pitched transformer humming sounds, a
foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about upco ...
of the
electro-shock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...
offered by
Yang Yongxin, who ultimately proves to be the archvillain of the piece.
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".
Kannimei's speech
Near the end of the video rebel leader Kannimei, a blue-skinned
minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
, gives a long and impassioned speech (in effect
breaking the fourth wall
Breaking or breakin' may refer to:
Arts
* Breakdancing (also breaking), an athletic style of street dance
* ''Breakin, a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film
* "Breakin, a twelfth-season episode of the American animated television se ...
) about the hostile censorship environment facing WoW players, a speech which actually moved some gamers to tears.
Reception
''
China Daily
''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Overview
''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
'' placed the film on their list of the best ten Chinese films of 2010.
References
Footnotes
Sources
Background info and list of references to Chinese pop culture and contemporary events*
网友自制史诗<网瘾战争>">ttp://media.people.com.cn/GB/40606/10851211.html 最震撼大片不是<阿凡达> 网友自制史诗<网瘾战争>www.people.com.cn
80后来了,80后在这里 作者: 南方周末评论员 戴志勇 2010-02-03*{{in lang, zh}
推荐一个令人致敬的视频:《看你妹--网瘾战争凯迪社区 猫眼看人
External links
Background of the productionWar of Internet Addiction Video:With English subtitleWar of Internet Addiction, translated segments on the China Digital Times*
ttp://www.china.org.cn/english/health/243323.htm Net addicts need help from school and homebr>
Chinese hospital gives internet addicts shock therapyCure your Children’s Internet Addiction with Electric Shocks Aversion Therapy 14 May 2009 Shock therapy for Internet addiction halted. Posted by Eric Mu, 14 July 网瘾战争 War of Internet Addiction – Are World of Warcraft’s Travails In China Much More Interesting Than Google’s?24 January 2010
Internet censorship in China
World of Warcraft
Machinima works