Squad Up for the Propaganda

Yesterday my son asked me if he could play COD

Such a violent game, for a kid that age-- dear God!

I told him no way buddy!

He said Bruh, that's so not skibidi

So I said, how about a different game, son?

And he said The whole squad plays fortnite, they say it's real fun

I mean,

Cartoons and goofy emotes?

Dancing as godzilla or thanos?

This game was clearly made for kids

That means it must be SAFE for kids

So I told him, get on the headset

And he said, haha, bet!

They had lots of fun, shooting the shit

And they had lots of shooting AT shit

Then I heard him say, I'm cooked-- someone get these kids!

And the next minute, Yo, this SMG's so rizz

I asked him what the hell he meant by that

He rolled his eyes and said It's, like, the best gun, no cap

I told him I think your slang is coming unhinged

He looked at me like he thought I was cringe

I said, Rizz means charisma-- so that made no sense

He shrugged and said, It's GOATed, that's all I meant

Then he went back to the mic, with zero delay

And told his bros Great job guys, we ate!

Then: Yo, fam this game is so lit

Wanna ready up or you guys ready to quit?

*

This morning my son said when I grow up, I'll be an army guy

And I've got a pretty good guess as to why

The game told him guns totally bop

The game told him guns hit different

The game told him guns really slay

And he'll feel so much cooler if he actually holds one someday

And I know Fortnite is made by Epic Games

But the NRA and the Army must love it all the same

***

***

Author's note:

I don't actually mind FPS games, they can be pretty fun. But I do think it's really uncomfortable how fortnite seems to be designed to directly target young kids, in terms of aesthetic and design.

Odd target audience considering it's entirely premised around simulated gun violence.

Also, I don't see any sources that demonstrate funding from the military or government directly towards the game studio, but it feels so uncanny that I have a hard time believing that it's not propaganda.

And even if it's really truly just an innocent attempt to make a fun game, the US Army 100% sees its existence as an opportunity to drive recruitment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Esports

To me it's pretty weird that the military has marketing campaigns like this. Even if game studios aren't specifically making these games just to target kids with pro-war propaganda, the military is using these games to that end.

Doesn't even feel covert.

Oh, and though I am an old guy, I'm not trying to bash gen alpha's slang. I just thought that would be a fun way to exaggerate the communication gap between parents and their kids.