November 18th marked the 10th anniversary of Whiplash, a popular game released for the Xbox and Playstation 2 in 2003. Due to its plot, the game has reached a whole new group of gamers—those who follow animal rights and fight against animal testing.
The story follows a long-tailed weasel named Spanx who is chained to a rabbit named Redmond. Although, players can only assume the role of Spanx, they can use Redmond as a tool. The goal of the game is to work together with Redmond to escape from Genron, a product testing facility.
Does this game call us to action?
The second goal of the game is to free the other animals from the facility and cause as much damage to the lab as possible. By destroying the lab and causing more than 6 million dollars in damages, players are rewarded with special content at the conclusion of the game.
Although the game does bring awareness to this generation about the horrors of animal testing, I can’t help to feel that the game does nothing but that. If I had to remake the game, I would like to see players assume the role of a human and not of an animal, because in reality people are the ones that have to make the change, not the animals—unless we have an extraordinary fictional bird named Paulie to help.
Why animals?
Perhaps the game developers felt that if players assume the role of animals, they would be aware that there is no one truly jumping out from their seats to make a difference when it comes to animal testing. But then, they might not have thought about it that way when they were creating Whiplash.
In either case, I would like to believe they were using the game as an artistic method to make us think about all the ingredients they used while creating Whiplash, and why.
What can we do?
For one, I don’t think destroying a whole bunch of lab equipment is going to solve anything. In addition, I don’t think that people who say, “I’m not using this item because it was tested on” solves anything either. I think that if people want to make a difference to stop animal testing, we need to fight. Fighting doesn’t mean following in Spanx and Redmonds destructive nature, but it calls for other means.
Sitting at home and telling yourself you aren’t going to do or use something because it has been tested on doesn’t do anything but convince yourself that you are making a change.
Share your thoughts
Have you played or heard of Whiplash? If you have, what has your experience been with it and what do you think about its plot? Sure, it can bring awareness to an issue, but is it truly making an impact in animal rights?
Also, why are Spanx and Redmond chained? Do you think this game is a bit ironic? I mean, you’re fighting for animal rights as an animal and yet you’re abusing a rabbit the entire time. The rabbit is as I said merely a “tool” to use. The rabbit is completely objectified. Share your thoughts with us below!
Published: Nov 22, 2013 01:14 pm