A Response to Stahl's "Have You Played the War on Terror?"

Reading Stahl's article I couldn't help but consider my own history with respect to military themed video games. I have played my fair share, and although I never considered joining up as a result, I have to admit that video games have certainly played a role in shaping my conceptions of the military. Even for the great majority of us who view these games merely as another form of entertainment rather than as persuasive arguments favoring a potential career choice, it is difficult to deny that they do at the very least serve to shape our images of what the military does and why it does it. To think that the military itself puts so much energy into attempts to influence those images is a little bit frightening. It is almost Orwellian.

I accept Stahl's argument that military themed video games have had positive results on recruiting. The fact that the military has poured so much focus into them is evidence enough. However, I am interested in the ways such media influences those of us who do not join the armed forces as a result of playing. Do we become more inclined to accept military activity as something that is normal or even necessary when otherwise we might not? Is state violence or even simply the military itself seen in a more positive light by society as a whole because video games (not to mention other forms of media) convey these as perfectly reasonable and just means to solve our problems? Perhaps intangibles such as these are as important to the military and those favoring warfare as other more obvious and measurable benefits.