The New Panopticon: A Close Look at Half-Life 2

Patreon - In this video, I examine the themes and narrative of Half-life 2 in detail, discussing how the game relates to Foucault’s concept of the Panopticon, and how the game carries political and social themes about fascism, authoritarianism, societies of control, and how people form resistances against said political systems and ideologies. As well, I will relate the themes of the game to the contemporary zeitgeist of its era, with the newly developing Iraq War and the surveillance state that was implemented in the US after 9/11. This video will discuss some heavy topics, including non-graphic images and discussion of genocide, the Holocaust, and torture conducted by US Military during the Iraq War. This video is split into sections for viewer convenience: 0:00 - Content Warning 0:40 - Introduction (Half-life 1) 11:02 - Half-life 2 (Intro Part 2) 16:44 - The Panopticon 24:39 - Welcome to City 17 34:45 - The New World 40:57 - The Combine 48:32 - Familiar Faces 59:14 - Ravenholm 1:06:34 - The World Outside: Highway 17 1:19:24 - Nova Prospekt 1:36:25 - The Citadel 1:49:22 - Freedom (Outro) Information Sources: -Scripps News, “How The Military Is Boosting Recruitment Through Video Games“ - -Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish, 1975. -Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control.“ -Nathan Jurgenson - “Film Review | Ondi Timoner (2009) We Live in Public.“ | Surveillance and Society -Doug Rossinow, The Reagan Era: A History of the 1980s -Thom Hartmann, “Reaganomics Killed America’s Working Class“ | Salon - -Sacrifice Zones: My original learning of this term was from the book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco. I no longer have the book so further citation isn’t really possible, but simple google searches can learn more about the concept for those interested! -Ben Jackson, “Intellectual Histories of Neoliberalism and their Limits.“ Excerpt from The Neoliberal Age? -Holocaust Enclyclopedia, “Great Depression“ - -Alex Ross, “How American Racism Influenced Hitler“ | New Yorker -