Really? "Our" capitalist society? I seem to be living in a very different society than you. Because in my case, exploitative practices by companies attempting to tear the most money out of their consumers has in fact led to continual collapse of said companies. That is has been government interference (in the form of subsidization and bailouts) that have kept these companies going, rather than capitalism, which is, by definition, private, not government control of businesses. Which, by the way, also leads to a very interesting argument that Shinra cannot be based on capitalism at all, since Shinra is the government of FFVII's "world".Originally Posted by kotora
Um, no. The story has nothing to do with capitalism. The story is a multilayered, multifaceted one that has a great deal of character development and a number of different focuses. Shinra isn't about capitalism and the raw acquisition of wealth at all, it's about acquisition and control of power, which is a very different thing. Heck, the game sums this up for you perfectly in the Shinra building, as explained by both Rufus and his father.FFVIIs dialogue provides the bare minimum to carry a story. There is very little to no depth nor development to most characters. But that is not important to the quality of the game. It presents us a very distilled, pure story about capitalism. This is an experience that Squaresoft - now Square Enix - has not proven to be capable of emulating or repeating.
President Shinra ran the world with money. He used money as a tool, not to get more money, but to control the populace. He would write off huge projects (including an eighth of Midgar itself) simply to manipulate people's feelings and keep them under control. He didn't care about the money itself, only how it let him control the people.
Rufus, on the other hand, had a different method of operations. He controlled people through fear and military might. The Shinra army, the Turks, SOLDIER. They're his tools, and he uses them to control the populace, much like the vast majority of dictators in the real world.
And this is simply one aspect of the game's story. It is not the heart of it, nor is it the only part with merit. And, admittedly, the storyline aspect of the chase of Sephiroth up until the Temple of the Ancients is relatively shallow. But story is not the only thing going on in this game. You're completely ignoring world building, including aspects of it that you use to make your own case. Corel, Junon, Cosmo Canyon, Wutai. These places have very little impact on the "story", but they have a huge impact on defining the world that the game is building, and defining the bounds of Shinra's corruption and lust for control.
Final Fantasy VII stands as a piece of art anyway.Unfortunately, this representation is shoved into the background the second Sephiroth is introduced, a pretty-haired bore not even in control of his own actions, a puppet driven entirely by a powerful alien entity. The story is warped into a magical goose chase, and while we are treated to various obscure and exotic locales, imagery and plot elements, the experience as a whole feels vapid and shallow, because there is nothing behind it. Action and excitement exist, but their purpose is superficial - it exists because it entertains, not because it has true purpose or merit. Art becomes kitsch. In order to take back the art, we have to reject everything that happens after the Midgar portion of the game, especially the Sephiroth plotline. If we do this, Final Fantasy VII stands as an impressive piece of art, retaining relevance to modern issues and challenging ideals in a unique format.
You say that there is no character development? What about when Cait Sith challenges Barret on his status as a terrorist? What about Cloud's entire mental breakdown and his internal battle with Septhiroth's will? What about Cid, the fulfillment of his dreams and his realizations about Shera and Shinra? What about Red XIII and his interactions with his family and Bugenhagen's death?
Then too, what about the world itself? What about the richness of its development, and the questions it asks about the world merely through the way it's built? It was the world of FFVII that prompted you to ask many of these questions, not the story. It was Midgar's slums and high rises, Wutai's decline after the war, Corel's troubles, and Junon's slums and police state that led to this, and anything that can inspire so much thought merely through how it sets itself up certainly has an argument for being "art".
There's more to a game than its story, and there's more to a story than its political commentary.
If anything, FFVII's story is one of corruption, in almost every area of society, and explored from different angles. The various stories within the game all resonate to this theme:
-Hojo and Gast highlight a story of corruption in science, of jealousy and lust for results corrupting and destroying the truth of science. Gast shows the benefits of science, the discoveries which lead him to understanding of the knowledge of Jenova, of the threat it presents, and the nature of the WEAPONs. But Hojo represents the opposite. He destroys Gast and denies his work, throws away truth because it was the work of the mentor he despises, and his lies, poor methodology, and inherently flawed results throw the world into a downward spiral.
-The Turks, Heideggar, and Scarlet reflect stories of corruption in the military. Again, we get different sides to this debate. The Turks, trying to be professional, do their jobs, and get on being decent people. While Heideggar and Scarlet are megalomaniacal leaders obsessed with warfare and superweapons, whatever the cost to others.
-Reeve and President Shinra give us a view on corruption in government. Reeve is a government official who took a job and sticks with it just because he wants to help people, and sees this is one of the only ways he can do so. Whereas President Shinra and Rufus see the government as a tool for the acquisition of power and control.
-Aeris and Sephiroth represent corruption of religion. Sephiroth is like a cult leader, convinced of his own superiority, of his "right" to claim whatever power he wants. Aeris, on the other hand, is a more traditional churchgoer, one of the few truly faithful characters in gaming, and also understanding of her own ability to help make the world a better place.
-Dio and Don Corneo give us a view of corruption of wealth on the individual level. Both use their incredible wealth for their own entertainment, yet there is a staggering difference between the two. Dio creates a theme park where people can come and relax in a world of hardships, while Don Corneo creates a hedonistic pleasure palace.
-And, of course, Shinra gives us the view of the corruption of corporations and the raw power of corporate greed. It's counterbalances are all over the place, but fairly minor, so it's hard to pin down specific ones. Palmer (as comical as he might be) and the space program are one example, a desire to use the corporate gains for a project that is beneficial and idealistic.
Corruption of corporations is only one of many, many themes addressed by this story. If anything, I'd say that FFVII's claims on the problems of corporate greed are one of the story's weakest points, because it offers very little in the way of serious counterbalance. It shows no alternative, offers little to no side of the good that corporations can (and have) done. For a major capitalistic corporation, you'd think Squaresoft would have had little trouble espousing the benefits of a corporation, yet they fall woefully short, presenting us with only an overly clichéd and flawed look at a single extreme of a very multifaceted problem.
Reply With Quote