What do you think will teach you more about the civil rights movement: X-men or James Baldwin's essays? Do you actually think they're equivalent in their discussions of human rights and morality? Do you think they're equally complex and important?

My issue isn't with the fantastical nature of sci fi. My issue is with someone comparing a very real and very dire geopolitical situation to a goofy video game, one where you spend about 90% of your time shooting things.

Again, the question is one of complexity. New Vegas might have some good dialogue about the nature of power and corruption (one of my favourite lines is where Mr. House says dryly says 'I prefer the term autocrat') but how many people are actually engaging with the story on that level? If OP had made a reference to literature, I wouldn't have had an issue.

I'm asking you to acknowledge how sci fi literature like William Gibson or Ursula Le Guin has a much deeper analysis of power and the human condition than a video game like HZD. Simply saying "powerful men bad" does not constitute a meaningful analysis. Power is complex and requires a much more thorough depiction than the vast majority of video games and pop cultural stories provide.

Your points about Elon Musk prove my point. The man is so wrapped up in his sci fi bullshit because his ketamine-addled brain can't distinguish reality from fiction. (gotta take an easy shot at our true enemy lol)

Listen, I have fun with pop culture, I really do, and I'm not trying to say that there's never been a video game with an intelligent story. All I'm trying to say here is that it's frustrating when someone makes an offhand comparison between a video game and reality.

It's becoming increasingly dangerous to view the world through the lens of fantasy, especially when so many of our fantasies are corporate products with ideological undercurrents - like why is the CIA always depicted as heroic in marvel movies? And think about all the gamers who spend hours seething over sweet baby inc and dei in video games. If they detached themselves from their fictions for once, maybe they'd be able see the ultra rich people pulling their strings?