In "Sons and True Sons," the Viennese media guerrilla group Total Refusal examines the connections between toxic masculinity, gaming culture, and the 2021 storming of the US Capitol. In a live gaming lecture, they question the parallels between the video game "Tom Clancy's: The Division 2" (2016) and real-life extremist movements – and highlight the dangers of hypermasculine self-empowerment. A brief overview of the game: Set in a 2010s Washington, D.C., rocked by a smallpox pandemic and chaos, players must liberate the city from rival factions. The similarities between the game's depiction of the civilian militia (True Sons) seizing control of the digital seat of Congress and the emergence of paramilitary, crypto-fascist groups in 2021 are uncanny. Inspired by this, the live gaming lecture overwrites the game's version of the Capitol storming. Total Refusal explores the crisis of liberal democracy and hypermasculinist self-empowerment within and outside of gaming spaces.
With the live gaming lecture “Sons and True Sons,” HAU is partnering for the second time with the A MAZE. / Berlin Festival. Get your extra ticket via our ticket shop -> special event tickets.
