Overwatch Colonization: Oppression and Enslavement by Humanities Core Ancient Empires said:
In the video game, “Overwatch,” there is a war between man and robot called the Omnic Crisis. Overwatch was an organization created to end the Omnic Crisis and stop the robots that turned against humans. The omnics had almost taken over the world but with the help of Overwatch they were eventually beaten and forced back into submission. However, my question asks, “Is the Omnic Crisis a war of robots gone bad or robots awakening from slavery and rebellion?” Through narrative and cinematography, Overwatch holds themes of colonization, slavery, and rebellion with the omnic as the colonized and Overwatch as the colonizer.
In the story, there is a religious omnic group called the Shambali. The Shambali claimed to experience a “spiritual awakening” after meditating in nature, where the believe that they were more than just artificial intelligent and, like humans, had souls. They believed that humans and omnics can exist in harmony. Their leader, Tekhartha Mondatta, sought to heal the wounds caused by the Omnic Crisis a generation earlier and bring back societal harmony. After the message was spread, Tekhartha Mondttta later became assassinated by Widowmaker—another character within the game. Within this short story, there are great similarities to the Civil Rights Movement lead by Martin Luther King Jr. As you may know, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American activist who was the main figure of the Civil Rights Movement and his role in the advancement of civil rights without violence. He was later assassinated in a hotel in Memphis Tennessee by James Ray—a confirmed racist. The Shambali group is symbolic of Civil rights groups. In parallel, Tekhartha Mondatta is Martin Luther King Jr. and Widowmaker is James Ray. With these parallels created, we can go to say that Widowmaker, who is a terrorist, is also a potential “racist.” Racism is circulated around the idea that a certain group is below another and doesn’t have the same rights or privileges as another. In this case, Widowmaker is an advocate for the omnic as a lower class who should be submissive to humans, and uses force to advocate for this idea. Tekhartha Mondttta is the civil rights activist for the omnic, who was the most important voice for the equality movement.
In conclusion, Overwatch is not a video game about a heroic group of people stopping evil robots from taking over humanity. Overwatch is a story about the enslaved, who tried to form a revolution from oppression, but lost and are back in submission. This topic relates to the topic “Empire and Ruins” through the similar themes of enslavement, colonization, oppression, and assimilation.
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Works Cited.
10/08/2016, Robert Purchese Published. “Yes, Overwatch Has a Story. Here’s Everything You Need to Know.” Eurogamer.net. N.p., 08 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.
Martin Luther King, Jr. | America’s Library – Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.
Wiki, Overwatch. Overwatch Wiki. Gamepedia, 03 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.