User:Berna Bereit Master Thesis Public Moment2

Concept

screen on ground
two headphones
video covers a short exerpt of my thesis content

Audio Script

Title: Between real and realistic

Intro

[Intro-01] Video games have been around for over 40 years and developed into a mass medium. »In recent years, the video game has not only become the highest-selling mass medium, but also the starting point for a quasi-parasitic image production that works with it«.
[Intro-02] With the progress of technical possibilities and more sophisticated hardware and software, there has been a trend in game development towards immersive worlds with ever greater visual detail.
[Intro-03] By approximating increasingly realistic scenarios such as detailed flora and fauna and human-looking NPCs, an immersive world is created that appears to be congruent with our reality. The game worlds and narratives touch on themes such as justice, labour and morality, creating a link to discourses in the real world.
[Intro-04] This hyperrealistic trend does not recreate the reality of certain objects, rather the idea of it. An idealised image is created, which pretends to still be a real object. At the same time realism in game production is used to imply authenticity evoking »references to the audience’s reality in order to be able to then fantastically deviate from it«.
[Intro-05] Games and gaming have become anchored in most fields of our society and are increasingly used as a platform for social and political discourse. To understand how the visual and narrative design of games affect the perception of social realities and to what extent these representations stimulate reflection on labour, trade unions and historical events, I am diving into the game world of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Red Dead Redemption 2

[RDR2-01] Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in 2018 by Rockstar Games and is the third part of the Red-Dead series. Settled in the open game world in 1899 when the Wild West era of America is about to come to an end, players take on the role of Arthur Morgan. The game starts after a robbery went wrong in the western town of Blackwater forcing the Van der Linde gang, of which Arthur is part, to flee. A journey of robbery and fighting leads to internal conflicts that challenges Arthur’s ideals being loyal to the gang that raised him.
[RDR2-02] Red Dead Redemption 2 has received over 175 Game of the Year awards and more than 250 perfect scores , with the game particularly impressing with its complexity and richness of detail.

Central Union Railroad Camp

[CURC-01] Positioned halfway between Van Horn and Annesburg lies the Central Union Railroad Camp. As I walk through the camp, I can see two principal areas: The train tracks as places of work and the tents as places of rest.
Upon closer observation, it is evident that there is a stark contrast between the white men in leadership roles and the Cantonese workers, who are meticulously laying the train track.
These differences are clear not only in activities such as guarding and controlling the workers, but also in clothing and language.
The leadership roles are clearly distinguished by their elaborate clothing and boots, as well as their arms. In contrast, the cantonese laborers are distinguishable by their simple attire, including ¾ trousers, hats or caps, and shirts dirty from working. Some of them are wearing sandals.
[CURC-02] If I look at the various activities of the NPCs, a few recurring tasks stand out. The guards watch over the labourers and the camp 24/7, changing their position from time to time, but there is never a moment when they rest.
[CURC-03] The labourers are either lined up along the resulting train tracks, hammering away at the ground with pickaxes, or resting in the camp. The situations in which they rest are much more elaborate. Sleeping on the beds, sitting together at the table or campfire, squatting at the entrance to the tents or smoking standing up. As time goes by and the tracks are extended, the camp moves a few hundred metres up. Due to a group of thugs on behalf of wealthy businessman Leviticus Cornwall the construction work stands still with the workers resting endlessly in the camp and sharing their thoughts.

Historical Context

[CURC-04] Historically, the Central Union Railroad Camp is based on the first transcontinental railroad in the USA which was built between 1863 and 1869. The western part of the transcontinental railroad around Sierra Nevada was laid by 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese migrants. Being paid not even half of the wages as the white workers, 3,000 Chinese workers went on strike in 1867 demanding equal pay, shorter workdays, and better working conditions. This work stoppage was the largest labor action in the country at that time.
[CURC-05] When comparing the Camp to historic photographs, we can see a high visual similarity. However, the scenery lacks sufficient detail to make references to actual events. The fragmentary conversations of the NPCs show an awareness of the exploitative conditions and reveal a burgeoning unrest, but the game does not allow for the further development of collective action. Instead, the workers remain in a circular state between work and rest. They are portrayed as interchangeable and dispensable, their lives reduced to the value of their labour, as tools in the service of capital.

The Miners in Annesburg

[Mine-01] The Central Union Railroad Camp is just one example, when I ride north east along the coast, the mining town Annesburg appears. It was »established by German settlers who discovered the rich coal seams in the surrounding hills.«.
[Mine-02] In the mine of Annesburg the coal is dismantled and shovelled into mine-carts, which are then loaded onto train wagons via conveyor chains and transported away.
[Mine-03] On my first visit to the mine I came across 3 miners hammering on the wall endlessly while two people loaded what they thought was mined coal into wagons. However, as they turned their shovels to drop the coal, they paused and froze in that position for what felt like an eternity. At the front of the mine, I came across a man who constantly looked at the boxes in front of him and then returned to his notebook, while three men in the area above leaned against a pillar or sat on a bench and smoked.
[Mine-04] On my second visit to the mine, I expected a similar scenario, but was surprised. There are significantly more workers in the mine during the day, but this does not necessarily mean that more of them are working. Many of them stand around, smoke, sit on the floor, or walk around. If you get too close to them while observing, they quickly start moving as if I had caught them doing nothing. When I tried to observe a miner shoveling up coal that had already been removed, he remained in a crouched position. We kept glancing at each other, but he seemed to stare for minutes on end.
[Mine-05] Despite long periods of observation, no one speaks. Only when I bumped into one of the miners or moved in a creeping manner my strange behaviour was commented on as »There’s really something wrong with you!«.
[Mine-06] Only by observing the miners, little information can be gained, yet there are various newspapers covering insightful happenings of the lives of miners. In one article is written:
[Mine-07] »A HABIT AT THE MINE. WORKERS CALL FOR HIGHER PAY. OWNER SAYS MINE UNPROFITABLE.
[Mine-08] It appears from dispatches that workers at the coal mine in the town of Annesburg are asking for twenty cents on the ton over the cost of mining it. Workers say decent wages should be paid to the men who toil to mine the coal.
[Mine-09] Controversial mine owner Archibald Jameson has long argued that the mine is easily worked as there are immense stores of clear coal at very shallow depths. He says based on national market conditions he and other mine owners in the country have made almost nothing in profit for four years, in spite of substantial outlays.
[Mine-10] A common gripe of the workers is that conditions of the Annesburg mine are exceedingly dangerous and that Jameson is a carpetbagger who moved to the area and has long been exploiting the land and people. Jameson has stated repeatedly that he is one of the largest, most generous employers in the area and that workers' organizations have always been responsible for their own safety measures.« (to, C., 2025b)

Historical Context

[Mine-11]During the 1890s company towns to which coal towns like the fictional Annesburg also count, were a popular phenomenon that often existed in the East, Midwest and Upper South of the USA. In a remote location from urban centres and as a pragmatic solution, the town was built as a company headquarters where a single company owns all the buildings and businesses.
[Mine-12] During my first observation, a clear distribution of roles can be recognised. While male NPCs perform heavy physical labour, women in Annesburg are primarily engaged in reproductive activities like care and housework. Historically, women also played an important role in mining in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
[Mine-13] While women were also active in underground mining in Europe, in the USA tradition, cultural constraints and resistance from employers limited women's employment opportunities in mining. Nevertheless, in the 1860s, women were active in the extraction and processing of coal as prospectors, ore processors, miners, managers and mine operators. As »pitmen«, they financed the costs of prospecting, which gave them a stake in the mine.
[Mine-14] Annesburg is an example of the contradictions of industrial capitalism. The town's infrastructure appears progressive, but is built on the exploitation of the workers. The repetitive and meaningless tasks of the miners reflect Karl Marx's theory of alienation from 1844, in which workers are disconnected from the purpose and value of their work.
[Mine-15] In addition, the role of women is limited to reproductive work and prostitution, which portrays one reality of women's lives in the 19th century, but falsely reinforces the narrative that women were not an essential part of the labour market. By portraying workers' grievances as isolated and unsolvable, the game strengthens the idea that capitalism is an immutable system that cannot be challenged and changed.

Conclusion

Red Dead Redemption 2 exemplifies hyperrealism, blending reality and fiction to create an immersive, detailed game world. The Central Union Railroad Camp and Annesburg mine highlight how historical references and high graphic resolution enhance immersion, aiming for aesthetic and narrative authenticity.

However, the game falls short in addressing systemic issues, as interactions with NPCs and pre-programmed conversations avoid collective counter-movements or protests. Instead, it reinforces hegemonic structures by portraying workers as powerless against capitalism and individualizing labor struggles, rather than depicting them as collective movements.

Video

Here is a link to the video: https://youtu.be/jzs-MlHjvTo