Cynicism and Social Realism

Earlier this week Melanie examined the ways in which an assumed though unarticulated liberal ideaology was at work in Bogost's writing. In reading Galloway I was struck by the fact that his notion of Social Realism was necessarily critical. Galloway makes an illuminating assumption in crafting his concept of Social Realism.

In discussing Bazin's notion of realism Galloway inserts his own telling interpretation. Galloway claims that realism for Bazin "approximates the basic phenomenological qualities of the real world." This is a pretty logical assertion.

It gets problematic when Galloway defines "real life" as not simply a visual representation but also "real life in all its dirty details, hopeful desires, and abysmal defeats." This vision of real life is terrifyingly cynical yet, it forms the basis for Galloway's conception of Socail Realism. It is peculiar that the details of life must be "dirty." That desires should be "hopeful" hardly discounts the fact that the represent a lack in the first place. It seems cynical hyperbole to claim that all defeats should be abysmal. This notion of the real is problematic. I'm sure many people would concieve of the "real" in cheerier terms. Even for the marginalized and oppressed does life not also contain fulfillment? Success? Delightful details?

Galloway goes on to claim that "Because of this [realism as a phenomenological approximation of a dirty, defeated and at best hopeful real world] realism often arrives in the guise of social critique." It is out of this cynicism that Galloway can go on and explicitly tie realism with social critique, going so far as to claim that "the realist game designer" must "capture the social realities of the disenfranchised" (84). This claim that realism must be critical stems from a view that a realistic representation of life is necessarily negative because life itself is inherently grim. While I think the notion of social realism is highly promising, I do think that some of Galloway's assertions about how oppression and realism are causally linked is worthy of a second look.