'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad has recently come under fire for overindulging in its political themes, despite Ubisoft claiming that political engagement was not their goal because it is "bad for business." This has sparked a debate about what makes a game political, and whether or not we even want apolitical games.
In a previous article on Elite Squad, I talked about the background of the controversy, and you can read that here. If you're curious about the debate, then here's an argument for what the term "apolitical" often means in practice, and why it might not be all that useful.
Politics in games; it is unavoidable, even if you can’t see it
Trending
Looking for Crossword hints & solutions? Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and Atlantic Crossword Answers
If you want to be able to understand and engage with any art piece, then the first step is to understand that politics will always be expressed to some degree, even if you don’t initially see it. "Apolitical" content is not actually absent politics, it simply has the appearance of lacking politics, because its politics maps well to your perceived status quo.
To understand how this is the case for Elite Squad, you only need to think about the art of the past. Gone with the Wind (1939), for example, was seen as "apolitical" at the time of its release despite portraying a racially stratified America in a positive light.
Another example, The Birth of a Nation (1915), was seen as political at the time of its release in some parts of the United States (Ohio, New York), but seen as largely representative of the status quo in other parts (South Carolina, Mississippi).
A Mississippi reviewer actually believed the most political part of The Birth of a Nation was a scene which showed Black people being educated, claiming (paraphrased): "SJW northern liberals ruined my KKK movie with their extremist lefty politics!"
Politics is fluid, what was once seen as extreme may eventually become the new status quo
However, this shows how the perceived status quo can change region to region and person to person, and is one of the reasons why aiming for the status quo, as Ubisoft suggests was its goal with Elite Squad, is not a winning strategy.
It is mostly disingenuous for any art to claim or aspire to be "apolitical," and it would be more accurate to say that their goal is to be close enough to the current status quo to avoid immediate controversy. Elite Squad, however, likely failed to account for the current political landscape in the country.
Aiming for the status quo can’t be considered safe at a time when protests against, and contempt for, the status quo are at an all-time high.
Therefore, it is highly likely that what is currently considered the status quo will change in the near future. This is why, now of all times, Elite Squad could never be considered an apolitical game. It would have been far more valuable to make an intentional political statement rather than stumbling into an accidental one which Ubisoft didn’t have the intention to defend.
Ubisoft’s stake in Elite Squad and its likely intentions
Ubisoft likely does not want to appear to be against the Black Lives Matter movement, and it almost certainly doesn’t want to appear in favor of government’s using secret kill squads to eliminate people who are seen as causing "civil unrest."
Nevertheless, Ubisoft found itself in a position of planning, creating, and releasing Elite Squad at a time when all these have unfortunate parallels in reality. American secret police grab protesters off the street and shuffle them into unmarked vehicles to be taken away. Additionally, protesters in general, and Black people in particular, have been maimed and killed by agents of the state with little to no consequences.
These are not apolitical occurrences, these are very political examples of people protesting current politics, and of a political entity using its power to oppress these protests. Under even the most generous interpretations, Elite Squad would still be a game about governments labeling a group "terrorists" to justify using excessive force to crush them.
Art does not exist in a vacuum, real life inspires and reacts to it in real time
One final thing to consider is what and why something might aspire to be considered "apolitical." The reason Ubisoft gives is that politics is bad for business, and it is true that products which map well to the status quo are easy for more people to find agreeable, which can increase profitability.
Elite Squad, on its premise alone, likely could not have avoided making some political statement. If we imagine at the most that Ubisoft had intentionally made Elite Squad more outlandish, perhaps by changing their evil organization from an "accidental" BLM proxy into something more like literal WWII Nazis attempting to resurrect Hitler and establish a Fourth Reich, they would have likely been met with similar accusations of making political content.
Even if Elite Squad made the most extremely safe and defensible political statement, that Hitler and the Nazis were bad, this could be seen as a comment on modern day politics due to the unfortunate surreality of the world we live in.
Given this catch-22, perhaps Ubisoft should concede the politicalness of Elite Squad, considering that it bears the name of one of the most famous authors in the "political thriller" genre. Instead, it should focus on simply making a political statement it could stand by. At least then, Ubisoft could readily justify Elite Squad.
Are you stuck on today's Wordle? Our Wordle Solver will help you find the answer.
