Shock Effect: A Libertarian Dystopia

    Although many video games are simple and id-driven, many do use narratives and plot themes referring to and/or criticizing real life ideas. The game BioShock places you in an underwater city-state known as Rapture. Rapture was built by several industry moguls who wanted to rebel against the New Deal policies and the mixed economic systems that became popularized in the Western world after WWII, in favor of older capitalist ideas and a system of unrestrained privatization. The primary founder, Andrew Ryan, has a name that is an obvious reference to Ayn Rand, and all of his philosophies are very similar (he even uses the term “parasites” when referring to undesirable members of society). 

     Rapture falls into chaos for two reasons. One reason was a product being released called “plasmids” which could rapidly splice someone’s DNA to give them superpowers. “Plasmids” required a resource known as “ADAM” and the users became highly addicted to the substance. “Plasmids” also had side effects that deformed individuals and caused major mental health problems.  Poorer communities in Rapture could not always afford “ADAM” as the upper class could and this, in concert with the second reason, exploitation, gave rise to a civil war between the two social classes following enormous crime waves in desperation for “ADAM.”

     Highly addicted and deformed citizens became known as “splicers” in both social classes. Because of the mental illness caused by the effects of the DNA altering drugs, the civil war devolved into a free-for-all anarchy where everyone stole whatever they could from their society and most institutions collapsed.

     Splicers, interestingly are both monstrous forms of upper-class people who have exploited people, and under-class people who are desperate and are blinded by rage and, in the end, become insecure, animalistic people desperately securing as much “ADAM” as possible. During the actual gameplay, they will attack and attempt to kill and rob you while shouting incoherent statements. 

     BioShock’s monstrosities and dystopia represent a resistance to changes in economic structure during the early 20^th century. Its monsters are a critique of crime and exploitative capitalism in the Gilded Ages that often resulted in workers storming factories and other forms of violence. Other aspects of Rapture, such as a popular drug distributed by large corporations turning people into monsters could also be a reference to the medical industry before the existence of institutions, such as the FDA, to have oversight over mass-produced products. BioShock was released in 2007 around the time when Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged was seeing a resurgence in popularity in the United States. One of the main antagonists, Andrew Ryan, saw New Deal programs, such as government assistance, regulations and social security, as helping the needy at the expense of the excellent creativity and ambition of the talented and was restraining to men.