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Bioshock Infinite: A Thematic Analysis

H

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
Andrew. said:
If people come in here who havent gotten that far, they might be pissed.
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Why would you read a thematic analysis before finishing the game? It would be like walking into a thread called "I thought the ending meant X, Y and Z" and then complaining you weren't there yet.
 
A

Andrew.

Banned
hey_it's_that_dog said:
Why would you read a thematic analysis before finishing the game? It would be like walking into a thread called "I thought the ending meant X, Y and Z" and then complaining you weren't there yet.
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If youre talking directly to me, Ive already finished it twice.

You never know about people round here though...
 
H

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
R1CHO said:
Spoilers
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BenjaminBirdie said:
Holy moly, seriously. If I hadn't finished the game I'd...

wow
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jbartee said:
that screenshot should really be hidden behind a link. Massive spoiler imo, even without context.
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Jibbed said:
We need spoiler tags all up in this shit.
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R1CHO said:
Spoilers
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BenjaminBirdie said:
Holy moly, seriously. If I hadn't finished the game I'd...

wow
Click to expand...

jbartee said:
that screenshot should really be hidden behind a link. Massive spoiler imo, even without context.
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Jibbed said:
We need spoiler tags all up in this shit.
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LiK said:
Spoilers need to be in title.
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Hellsing321 said:
Probably would be a good idea to ask a mod to put a big SPOILERS in the thread title.
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Are you all serious?

Thematic analysis is the ultimate spoiler. Who needs to be told that explicitly?
 
G

Gartooth

Member
Read it yesterday and I really love that analysis. Overall I just have oodles of love for this game's story due to how brilliantly crafted it is, and how it allows everyone to find details and draw conclusions about the game. This will go down as one of the most talked about endings in a game, and for all the good reasons.
 
D

DatDude

Banned
Like I was trying to say in the other thread. The racial social themes aren't meant to be taken literal as columbia's view of racism...but it's should be looked at more metaphorcially like in siilent hill where the city and it's chaos is really a mirror of the chaos that is occurring in booker.
 
D

dan2026

Member
People who bitch endlessly about spoilers are the worst.

It says thematic analysis in the damn thread title!
 
J

jbartee

Member
hey_it's_that_dog said:
Are you all serious?

Thematic analysis is the ultimate spoiler. Who needs to be told that explicitly?
Click to expand...

It's just basic courtesy. It takes two seconds to be mindful and spoiler tag, and could potentially save a (granted, somewhat foolish) person from seeing something they don't want to.
 
M

Marcel

Member
It's a good analysis for sure, but it sometimes borders on imposing his own meaning without strong evidence. Also, blaming 'modern conservatism' is a real flimsy thesis considering what the author probably means is American neoliberalism. Conservatism as an international philosophy is different and should have been addressed for the clarity of argument.
 
D

DatDude

Banned
dan2026 said:
People who bitch endlessly about spoilers are the worst.

It says thematic analysis in the damn thread title!
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No but you seee they need SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

to get the message across

no wonder some people didn't understand the ending :/
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
Most of the analysis here is sound, but the political angle he forces everything through dosen't have much support in the text. It feels forced.
 
R

Remachinate

Member
Although I agree that the interpretation in the article seems somewhat forced, I'm glad to see this sort of thing is being attempted. We need more literary analysis of games like B:I; I plan to take a stab at it once I find the time for a second playthrough.
 
T

Tummi Gummi

Member
BlastProcessing said:
Most of the analysis here is sound, but the political angle he forces everything through dosen't have much support in the text. It feels forced.
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I think it has a certain amount of support from the text. The major problem is that Infinite itself is a pretty rudimentary depiction of the era. It's fine as an interesting backdrop to the central narrative, but falls apart if read as an accurate characterization of the major social and political movements it draws from.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Marcel said:
It's a good analysis for sure, but it sometimes borders on imposing his own meaning without strong evidence. Also, blaming 'modern conservatism' is a real flimsy thesis considering what the author probably means is American neoliberalism. Conservatism as an international philosophy is different and should have been addressed for the clarity of argument.
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The article is all about America, and within the context of America, the author's usage of "conservatism" was just fine.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Despite what appears to be evidence of the plot of the game changing significantly over the course of its development, all the pieces end up fitting together into an incredibly pleasing thematic whole, and I feel like both the degree to which the choices made in the design of the game are influenced by the intended social commentary and the originality of the presentation are both completely unprecedented in games as a medium.
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DMMMcqD.gif
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Now, how does this tie into the political commentary that I am claiming exists behind the plot of Infinite? Booker and Comstock represent two different ways of looking at the American past. Comstock represents an America that has forgotten to regret the atrocities of its past. Booker represents an America who has clung to regret and allowed it to consume them. The fact that they inhabit two entirely different parallel universes is no mistake. They reflect the different schools of thought in American politics that are so separated in perspective that they appear to inhabit entirely different worlds.
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I didn't even look at it this way. Makes sense, but also sounds cray cray.
 
M

Marcel

Member
Zefah said:
The article is all about America, and within the context of America, the author's usage of "conservatism" was just fine.
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Connecting modern conservatism to historical racism and religion in an on the nose way cheapens the author's analysis. Whitewashing the past is not limited to just one political party or philosophy.
 
R

R1CHO

Member
hey_it's_that_dog said:
Does it not say Bioshock Infinite right there in the title? First words?
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Thematic Analysis it's not the same as storyline screenshot spoiler in your face.

We knew about the themes of Bioshock, about Columbia before release for example... it could be about the politic ideas of the city, or about the social issues or blah blah blah. You can talk about themes without talking about characters and storyline, or not?
 
N

Neiteio

Member
R1CHO said:
Thematic Analysis it's not the same as storyline screenshot spoiler in your face.

We knew about the themes of Bioshock, about Columbia before release for example... it could be about the politic ideas of the city, or about the social issues or blah blah blah
Click to expand...
Themes are part of the story.

No apologies are owed to those who can't deduce there'd be spoilers.

Ah, the hand-holding generation.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Voice of Reason said:
It's true.
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Sure it is.

Note that the “big bad”, Comstock, is already dead, and yet the game goes on. Instead, for the final fight you are standing in Comstock’s place, using Comstock’s tool of subjugation (the songbird) to defend Comstock’s airship from the people who are revolting against Comstock’s oppression. It’s meant to illustrate that for all the differences between Booker and Comstock, they’re both fundamentally the same person. Just because Comstock is dead doesn't mean things are over, because Booker and Comstock are one in the same, and both men were created by the same evil past.
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This is some serious reaching and completely misconstruing why you're they're in the first place.
 
Z

Zia

Member
Marcel said:
Whitewashing the past is not limited to just one political party or philosophy.
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Well, good thing then the game only is only taking a look at modern American politics and philosophies (in any meaningful way).


Crewnh said:
This is some serious reaching and completely misconstruing why you're they're in the first place.
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Care to explain, since I reached the same conclusion as the author?
 
R

R1CHO

Member
Neiteio said:
Themes are part of the story.

No apologies are owed to those who can't deduce there'd be spoilers.

Ah, the hand-holding generation.
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Whatever, i don't give too much of a shit, but a first reply screen shot didn't seem like the best idea.
 
V

Voice of Reason

Banned
Neiteio said:
Themes are part of the story.

No apologies are owed to those who can't deduce there'd be spoilers.

Ah, the hand-holding generation.
Click to expand...

No, he's got a point. People don't know what to expect from such a vague title. I shouldn't have blasted a screenshot at the first post.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Voice of Reason said:
No, he's got a point. People don't know what to expect from such a vague title. I shouldn't have blasted a screenshot at the first post.
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The title says it's an analysis of the game's themes.

Themes.

The messages in the story.

Story. The whole story.

Beginning, middle, end.

There will be spoilers.

Consider it a lesson!

But this argument is good since it'll keep bumping the thread and showing more people the great article in the OP.
 
R

R1CHO

Member
Neiteio said:
The title says it's an analysis of the game's themes.

Themes.

The messages in the story.

Story. The whole story.

Beginning, middle, end.

There will be spoilers.

Consider it a lesson!

But this argument is good since it'll keep bumping the thread and showing more people the great article in the OP.
Click to expand...

Great. Thanks for the info.

The other day i was talking about the themes and the setting of the game with my friends without spoilers of the storyline.

But maybe it wasn't the theme, maybe it's just that english is not my first language, good to learn something new every day.
 
M

Marcel

Member
Zia said:
Well, good thing then the game only is only taking a look at modern American politics and philosophies (in any meaningful way).
Click to expand...

The author saying that BI only takes issue with 'conservative' values is a little simplistic as well as an unfortunate sidelining of the harmful effects of neoliberalism that the game is also portraying through the character of Fink.
 
H

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
R1CHO said:
Thematic Analysis it's not the same as storyline screenshot spoiler in your face.

We knew about the themes of Bioshock, about Columbia before release for example... it could be about the politic ideas of the city, or about the social issues or blah blah blah. You can talk about themes without talking about characters and storyline, or not?
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be a very good analysis if it wasn't supported by evidence from the game.

Look, I get that an article like this could have been written before the game's release, just based on what previews have said about the game's themes. But the game was released, people have played it, everyone's talking about the story and whether it works and what it means. The best assumption is that this analysis is based on the actual game content and not holding things back to avoid spoilers.
 
H

Hellsing321

Member
Marcel said:
The author saying that the game only takes issue with 'conservative' values is a little simplistic as well as an unfortunate sidelining of the harmful effects of neoliberalism that the game is also portraying through the character of Fink.
Click to expand...

But he doesn't say that the game only takes issue with "conservative" side of thought. He talks about how the Vox Populi and Fink tie into its critique.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
R1CHO said:
Great. Thanks for the info.

The other day i was talking about the themes and the setting of the game with my friends without spoilers of the storyline.

But maybe it wasn't the theme, maybe it's just that english is not my first language, good to learn something new every day.
Click to expand...
Sure, it's possible to talk about some themes without spoiling certain plot points, but anyone who's concerned about spoilers should see the word "themes" and assume the discussion will include talk of ALL the game's themes -- including those contingent on spoilers.

This is not a thread for people who haven't finish the game. So everyone play it and join the discussion!!
 
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