SAME OLD RUSSIAN ENEMY? - A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF RUSSIANS IN CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE - DIVA
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Same old Russian Enemy?
A Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Russians in
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Danny Ivan Lazarov
Peace and Conflict Studies
Bachelor Thesis
FK103L, 15 credits
Spring Semester 2020
Supervisor: Katrine GotfredsenAbstract Stereotypes and threatening images are present in much of our modern entertainment media often going unnoticed for the effects they may have on society. One media which is relatively new and unexplored when it comes to these stereotypes and images of threat is the video game media. This thesis explores how stereotypes are created and maintained within video games and how securitization efforts affect entertainment media, in order to pursue these aims the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is analysed with a content analysis built on the theories of othering and securitization, in order to see how the Russians are portrayed within the game. The analysis shows that the image attached to Russians is overly negative compared to other people in the game, and the common threats which they pose is going to war with the West. Based on these findings, the thesis concludes that video games do reproduce securitization discourses and create stereotypes. Key Words: Media Portrayal, Stereotyping, Othering, Video Games, Russian Stereotypes, Call of Duty Word Count: 13599
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Research Aim ......................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Research Categories ................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Delimitations .......................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Peace and Conflict Studies Relevance ..................................................................... 3
1.5. Thesis Outline ......................................................................................................... 4
2. Background and Plot Synopsis ....................................................................................... 5
2.1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Plotline ................................................................... 5
3. Previous Research .......................................................................................................... 9
3.1. Mass Media and Stereotypes/Prejudice ................................................................... 9
3.2. Portrayals of Out-groups in Media ........................................................................ 10
3.3. Media Portrayals’ Influence on Society ................................................................. 10
3.4. Possible Solutions to Problematic Portrayals Within Media................................... 11
3.5. Stereotypes of Russians in America ...................................................................... 12
4. Theoretical Overview ................................................................................................... 14
4.1. Othering/stereotyping............................................................................................ 14
4.2. Securitization ........................................................................................................ 15
5. Methodology and Research Design .............................................................................. 16
5.1. Method ................................................................................................................. 16
5.2. Material ................................................................................................................ 17
5.3. Codes .................................................................................................................... 18
5.3.1. Characterization ............................................................................................. 18
5.3.2. Threat ............................................................................................................ 19
6. Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 21
6.1. Characterization .................................................................................................... 21
6.1.1. Aggression ..................................................................................................... 21
6.1.2. Superiority and Sexism .................................................................................. 22
6.1.3. Cruelty ........................................................................................................... 23
6.1.4. Cowardly ....................................................................................................... 24
6.1.5. Cold Blooded ................................................................................................. 256.1.6. Positive Traits ................................................................................................ 25
6.1.7. Alcoholism .................................................................................................... 26
6.2. Threat ................................................................................................................... 26
6.2.1. Death ............................................................................................................. 27
6.2.2. War and Proxy War ....................................................................................... 27
6.2.3. Occupation and War Crimes .......................................................................... 28
6.2.4. Military Strength ............................................................................................ 29
6.2.5. Weapons of Mass Destruction ........................................................................ 29
6.3. Discussion............................................................................................................. 30
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 32
8. Reference List .............................................................................................................. 35
8.1. Literature Sources ................................................................................................. 35
8.2. Digital Sources...................................................................................................... 37
8.3. Material sources .................................................................................................... 37
9. Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 381.Introduction
Entertainment media has become one of the main sources of leisure for many people in today’s
world, coming in many different forms such as television which is broadly consumed and the
increasingly popular video games, which have become a trend in recent years. Video games
have become one of the biggest forms of entertainment for the younger generations being
enjoyed and consumed en masse. While there have been large debates and some research
around video games and their effect on society, these discussions have mostly been focused on
the violence aspect of games and their link to aggression in youths. This correlation has,
however, not been proven. Research within this field is a hotly debated topic with no clear
consensus on the issue (Van Looy et al. 2015). Some researchers indicate that there is some
correlation (e.g. Anderson et al., 2010), while others maintain that the topic and research
published about the debate is often of very poor quality and very politicized (e.g. Ferguson,
2013). This has meant that the field of video game research has been limited to the individual
psychological effects on players, and topics such as the effects which games can have in
enforcing or creating stereotypes within society have mostly been overlooked. While overall
field of media studies is large and many studies have been made on its possible effect on
society, video games have largely not been scrutinized for their possible damaging effect which
they could have in creating stereotypes and enemy images which are consumed by people.
This study will focus on one stereotype within the video game media: stereotypes applied
to Russians. The reason why studying the portrayal of the Russians within media is important,
I argue, is because the cold war that lasted from 1945 to 1990 left a stereotypical view of the
Russians as villains or the so called “bad guys”. This stereotype can often be seen in western
politics when parties justify an increase in military spending. This stereotype is often reinforced
and created by mass media from news sites discussing the threat which Russia possesses to the
Western world though their meddling in the US election of 2016 to portrayals of them as
villains in films such as Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Rambo, Rocky IV. This study will
focus on one specific game which has chosen the Russians as one of their antagonists. The
game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) a new first-person shooter which has been met
with much praise for being a return to the roots of the series. This thesis will seek to explore
1how the Russians are represented within the game by answering two main questions: What are
some common characteristics that the Russian characters have in the game? And the second
question being: what type of threat that the Russians in the game exhibit?
1.1. Research Aim
This thesis seeks to fulfil two aims. The first and the most important will be to explore and
understand how video games can act as transmitters of stereotypes within our society. This is
done to see primarily how stereotypes are created and maintained within video game media
and to study what forms they take and what messages they convey to the audience. By
achieving this aim this thesis seeks to gain an understanding of what kinds of messages exist
within video games surrounding their portrayal of minorities within society and in turn seeks
to contribute to the research around video game media and stereotypes. The second aim of this
study will seek to understand how a securitization effort might affect media, with the purpose
to gain insight of the relationship between media and politics. This will be achieved by looking
for threat within the storyline of the video game and by exploring their meaning and grander
implications.
As stated before to operationalize this aim this thesis will seek to answer two main
questions; How Russians are portrayed within Call of Duty: Modern Warfare? and what type
of threat the Russian government and people pose on the story of Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare?
1.2. Research Categories
To achieve the aim that was stated in the previous section, the analytical framework of this
essay will be a content analysis which will be performed on the material. The analytical
framework will be broken up into two categories which are Characterization and Threat. These
categories were chosen from the theoretical framework which is based on othering/stereotyping
and securitization. The theoretical framework of the thesis will be further discussed in chapter
four and the analytical framework will be presented in further in detail in chapter five.
21.3. Delimitations
To limit the scope of this study it will focus only on the newest Call of Duty in the series. This
is to ensure that this thesis will have a clearer structure and be able to provide a more detailed
picture of how Russians are portrayed in the newest game of the series and make it manageable
to complete a full analysis in the timeframe given. Another limitation which this study faces is
that it will not be able to show what impact that the shown stereotypes have on the audience.
It will only explore these stereotypes in the frame of the game and not outside it. This is both
a limit because of method chosen for the study because it would be hard to identify if a certain
stereotype is picked up from the game or some other source. While these are limits, they do not
undermine the goal of understanding how the Russians are portrayed. However as will be
further discussed in chapter three, some research points towards a possible effect that these
stereotypes could have on people and society.
1.4. Peace and Conflict Studies Relevance
While the cold war might be a distant memory to many people in the world, today its effect on
society is still being felt. Russians are still villainized in Western and particularly US media-
from movies to local news. From popular news station Fox News constantly presenting news
stories from Syria about the Russian troops bombing and attacking Syrian rebel strongholds
focusing more on the Russian government involvement within the conflict and less the Syrian
government which it supports (McKay, 2019), to constant reporting on Russian meddling in in
the US elections of 2016 (Pappas, 2018) showing them as masterminds manipulating elections
and governments around the world.
This idea of stereotypes and norms which persists after war or in this case the cold war, can
be attributed to what Johan Galtung Calls negative peace the idea that violence does not end
when the peace is signed between nations but instead lives on in the form of cultural violence
(Galtung, 2013, pp 173). Cultural violence is according to Galtung the aspects of culture who
promotes or make direct and structural violence acceptable. This culture comes in many forms
such as media in general (Galtung, 2013, pp 41). In a sense this means that media can be used
to create an environment where violence is justified and feels right to the perpetrator. With this
idea of negative peace it could be argued that while at the moment the stereotypes and ideas
which are spread by the media might seem to be passive and neutral, used for entertainment
and not for war, they can easily be turned into something negative creating an enemy image
3which is one of the requirements for armed conflict to be justified according to Louis
Oppenheimer (2003, pp 2). While this study does not deal with this problem directly, by
highlighting these forms of cultural violence it brings awareness of their existence making it
possible for them to be further debated and researched in future papers.
This thesis is also highlighting the relationship which at times is forgotten between media,
public culture, and politics and that everything can be political. This theme is explored in the
book War, Politics and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film by Marc Di
Paolo (2011). Di Paolo explores how different political discourses and ideas show up in comics
and films. From stories such as Batman fighting against Osama Bin Ladin to Superman fighting
the KKK (2011, pp 49, 138). His book shows us that entertainment media can be influenced
by politics both reflecting important political discourse’s but also important political events
such as the Punisher being influence by Middle Eastern conflicts and the Vietnam war (Di
Paolo, 2011, pp 115). This means that all entertainment media can be influenced in the same
way, from films to video games making the studying of entertainment media important as to
understand how and what political discourses are spread by video games.
1.5. Thesis Outline
This thesis will be broken up into six major chapters. After this introduction chapter follows a
background chapter in which the Call of Duty series is discussed and explored and a short story
synopsis is given in order to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the material used
for the analysis. The third chapter will discuss previous research on different topics around
media and public culture, which is explored to give the reader an understanding of the debates
and research that exists in the field around this topic. The fourth chapter will deal with the
theories which will build the foundation of the analysis conducted in this thesis. The fifth
chapter will explain the method used to conduct the analysis of the video game. It will also
present the codes and categories which will become the base and structure of the analysis. The
sixth chapter will contain the analysis which will be split into two main sub-chapters, the first
dealing with how Russians are characterized and the second dealing with what threat they pose
within the game. The seventh and final chapter will conclude this thesis and answer the research
questions.
42. Background and Plot Synopsis
The Call of Duty series was created by Infinity Ward Studios an American game design
company. They created the first Call of Duty in 2003 which was set during the second world
war and offered a campaign which played out both on the western and eastern fronts showing
both the American side of the war as well as the Russian. The game was a major success and
spawned two more games set during the second world war. In 2007 the company decided to
change the series with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare is set
in an unmentioned Middle Eastern country and deals with fighting terrorists in the desert, but
also a reawakened Russian militarist state controlled by ultranationalists who are striving for
world domination. The selling point of this new game was a new setting and modern weaponry
from the Colt AR 15A3 assault rifle to drone airstrikes controlled by the player. Call of Duty
4: Modern Warfare spawned 2 sequels following the story started in Call of Duty 4 each being
more successful than the previous. After the Modern Warfare “high” the company suffered
some mediocre reception of their following titles none seeming to match the popularity of the
Modern Warfare series. This prompted them to return to the series and in 2019 they released
the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare a remake of the series with a similar setting to the
originals but a new story to drive the game.
2.1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Plotline
The plot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare starts in 2019 and is mostly set in the fictional
country of Urzikstan a country which in 1999 was invaded and occupied by Russian forces.
One can make many comparisons between the fictional country of Urzikstan and the real world
country of Syria, it has elements of the Syrian civil war where there are western sponsored
rebels fighting an independent anti-western fundamentalist terrorist group both of which are
fighting for the control of their country and against the Russian occupation of their country.
This three sided fight does invoke imagery from Syria and also in general the war of terror
from the fact that the fundamentalist group is named Al-Qatala a nod towards the real terrorist
group Al-Qaeda and that the Urzikstan is positioned in a desert region with people who speak
Arabic which invokes the idea of Iraq and the wars that where fought there. All of this means
5that while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare might be considered fiction it is clearly drawn from
real world events and locations much in the same way as comic stories take inspiration from
real life events (Di Paolo, 2011).
The main story starts with a US operation in Russia lead by special agent Alex he is tasked
with stealing Russian gas weapons preventing them from reaching Urzikstan. While the
mission seems to be a success during the extraction the US forces are attacked by an unknown
third party losing the gas weapons to an unnamed Urzik force. 24 hours later Al-Qatala a Urzik
fundamentalist militant group which shares some similarities to real life groups such as ISIS
and Al-Qaeda sends suicide bombers into Piccadilly Circus in London leading British Sergeant
Kyle Garrick and SAS captain John Price to fight against the terrorists in the streets. Captain
Price is recruited by the American secret service to deal with the threat of the gas weapons in
Urzikstan and retrieve the weapons before an international crisis is started between Russia and
the West. In Urzikstan agent Alex is sent to meet with John Price’s contact Farah Karim. Farah
is the leader of the Urzikstan Liberation Force (ULF) a western sponsored rebel group fighting
against the Russian occupation of their country. She agrees to help them recover the weapons
if they give her aid in fighting against the Russian occupation. What follows is a joint operation
where Urzik forces with the aid of US air support take out the main Russian airbase in
Urzikstan. With the Russians main airbase destroyed in the region, the USA and ULF launch
a joint attack on an Al-Qatala stronghold capturing their leader “the Wolf” in the process. “The
Wolf” however escapes after an assault by Al-Qatala on the American embassy. To recapture
“the Wolf” Farah, suggest an ambush along the highway of death a place in which the Russians
bombed and killed Urzik people while they were fleeing during the war in 1999. The ambush
is a success but while the ULF forces are fighting Al-Qatala forces, Russians come and ambush
both groups with armoured personal carriers killing most of the Al-Qatala forces and closing
in on the ULF forces. While fighting against the overpowering Russian forces Farah’s brother
is revealed to have stolen the gas weapons, and in desperation he releases some of the gas
killing all the Russian troops in the area and knocking out both Alex and Farah before escaping.
After the mission it is revealed through a flashback the reason for Farah and her brother’s
hatred towards the Russians. During their invasion in 1999 the Russians committed many cruel
acts against her people because they wanted revenge for a terrorist attack committed in their
territory, the Russians used gas weapons in the city and while trying to escape the city Farah’s
father is killed by a Russian soldier, afterwards while trying to sneak out of the combat zone
Farah and her brother are captured by General Barkov who imprisons them. Farah is later freed
6during an escape attempt several years later where she meets the then young SAS Lieutenant
John Price. With weapons from the prison she starts a resistance against the Russian forces
forming the ULF from which The Wolf will later split off from forming his own resistance
group Al-Qatala believing that all foreign influence in Urzikstan must be removed.
Back in the present we find out that after escaping with the rest of the gas weapons Farah’s
brother has joined up with the remaining Al-Qatala forces and has gone into Russia planning
to use the gas there. In response the USA designate the ULF as terrorists not wanting Russia to
trace a terrorist attack to a US sponsored militia. Agent Alex decides to abandon the US secret
service instead choosing to continue the fight in Urzikstan against the Russian occupation
together with Farah and her forces. In order to fix the situation Captain John Price suggests
sending himself and a few chosen men to hunt down Farah’s brother in Russia to stop him from
releasing the gas.
After two missions involving sneaking around in Russia and kidnapping an Al-Qatala
enforcer John Price finally catches Farah’s brother who justifies his actions with the fact that
his target all along was the Russian facility producing the gas which is used to kill his people.
While the main characters agree with Farah’s brother, the means which he uses to try and
achieve the goal was to extreme. After capturing him and delivering him to the US military
they send him to the Russian government to await his punishment. But not wanting the injustice
to continue John Price goes to Farah and Alex telling them about the brother’s fate and his
plans to attack the facility manufacturing the gas. While Farah does not like the idea of
attacking Russia, wanting only to be seen as the defender Price convinces her that the best
defence is a swift offence leading to the group attacking the Russian facility. During the attack
Alex sacrifices himself to blow up the facility wanting to die for a true cause and while trying
to escape General Barkov is finally killed by Farah Karim ending his reign of terror in
Urzikstan. In the end credits we find out that after his death the Russian government disowned
Barkov’s actions pulling out of Urzikstan freeing the nation but it is also revealed that Al-
Qatala has a new found backer a Russian ultranationalist named Victor Zakhaev leading to an
escalation in the civil war for Urzikstan.
The important aspects to take from the plot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is that it is
centred around the Russian occupied country of Urzikstan, the main plot element is the gas
weapon stolen in the beginning of the story acting as a constant threat which the main characters
must find and neutralize. Many elements of the plot – from the Arabic speaking Urzikstan to
7the three-way civil war that plagues the country, are taken from real life events such as the
Syrian civil war. While the plot might be fictional, the game still tries to provide a realistic
modern warfare plot to the player.
83. Previous Research
3.1. Mass Media and Stereotypes/Prejudice
When it comes to the field of media and its influence on societal norms and in general
stereotypes and prejudice there has been a wide array of different research on the topic and
themes revolving around the relationship between mass media and stereotypes (e.g. Pickering,
1995,Ottosen, 1995, Sierra, 2019). Research around this topic often revolve around the study
of their creation within the media, how they exist within media and their enforcement through
media into society. In his book the nature of prejudice Gordon Allport writes “stereotypes are
socially supported, continually revived and hammered in, by our media of mass communication
by novels, short stories, newspaper items, movies, stage, radio and television” (1954, pp. 200).
His idea was that mass media is a tool in which stereotypes and prejudice are recreated and
spread throughout society in a sense it becomes the thing that keeps stereotypes and prejudice
alive in society. This idea of media’s situation in society as a spreader of stereotypes and
prejudice can also be found in the ideas of cultural violence by Johan Galtung (2013). Within
his theories on the three forms of violence, namely direct, systemic, and cultural violence.
Cultural violence is that violence which is the hardest to remove from society as it is often
unnoticed by the public. Cultural violence justifies the other two forms of violence. It is
constantly reinforced by society through our education centres and our media sources such as
entertainment media or news media. This cultural violence which exists in our society can often
create situations where direct violence can be justified against an outgroup and even made to
seem right or acceptable to the common person (Galtung, 2013, pp 41). In this way we can see
stereotypes which are spread through media as a sort of element of cultural violence as they
might be passive at the moment but they ingrain an idea of what characterizes an outgroup,
giving us an idea of both the positive and the negative traits which they possess which can later
be used to justify actions against said outgroup such as prosecution, war and murder. This
shows us the importance of studying stereotypes within all media in order to uncover these
stereotypes before they can be ingrained in society and later used for justification.
93.2. Portrayals of Out-groups in Media
Many studies have emerged over the years covering how certain groups are portrayed within
media (e.g. Adams-Bass et al. 2014, Mortensen, et al. 2019). The research on this theme often
focuses on a certain data set in the form of a media which is then analysed by the researchers
to gain a understanding of the message and image which is crated within the media about a
certain outgroup. One such study was made by Cherry A. Banks which conducted a content
analysis of the portrayal of Black Americans in six different television shows three with all
black casts and three with mixed casts of actors. Her results showed that the shows with all
black casts would often recreate negative stereotypes of black people which existed within
American society such as they are criminally inclined and poor, while racially mixed shows
would have a more positive portrayal of Black Americans (Banks, 1975). Race is not the only
thing which is often studied regarding stereotyping within media, sex is also something which
is studied in medias portrayal of gender. A study by Sarah Brabant found that in six different
Sunday newspaper comics even though women might have different personalities in the comics
they still exhibit the same stereotypes across the different comics all of them being the main
providers of food and working from home (1997). Much in the same way as these other studies
this thesis will also seek to explore stereotypes with media adding onto the fast amounts of data
and research on this topic.
3.3. Media Portrayals’ Influence on Society
While Gordon Allport (1954) did not provide much evidence of his claim about media’s role
in spreading and enforcing stereotypes in society. Many researchers have continued on this
idea and contributed to this field of research with experiments and thesis of their own. One
such researcher is Tomas Ford (1997) who conducted an experiment on white Americans. In
the experiment he showed a few clips from comedy shows to two groups of white Americans.
The first group was showed a show which derived its humour by using typical black stereotypes
such as black minorities being poor, criminal, and violent. While the other group got shown a
comedy featuring black people, but its humour did not derive from popular stereotypes. Then
the two groups where made to judge two criminal cases one where the perpetrator’s name was
Tom – a typically white name and one which employed the more commonly associated black
name of Tyrone. While there was little change in how many people found Tom guilty between
the two groups, the experiment reached the conclusion that the group that was exposed to the
10humour shows which derived its humour from typical stereotypes were more likely to find the
more commonly black named criminal guilty, while the group which was shown the neutral
comedy shows were less likely to think the same (Ford, 1997). The idea of stereotypes
spreading through media can also be found in a study by Amee Shah where she found that
people would often associate characteristics such as kindness, deceitfulness and even
someone’s supposed occupation to people from just hearing their specific accent when spoken
and that these assumptions could be certainly a form of stereotype. According to Shah many
of the assumptions were often acquired from the subject’s media consumption such as films
where they would hear characters speak with that accent. This would cause them to associate
that accent with a stereotype created form the character. For example, they would often be
attributing negative traits to German accents calling them “harsh”, “feared” and “unfriendly”
while deeming other accents such as Scottish to be “friendly”, “open”, and “trustworthy”
(Shah, 2019). While further research exists around the subject of media’s influence on society
one theme that is often highlighted/discussed is the difficulty to prove a direct correlation
between media and stereotypes. The only thing that can be drawn from most research around
this topic is the likelihood a change might occur in a person’s cognition. This is because of the
lack of a controlled environment in many of the experiments around this topic and the general
difficulty in pinpointing a stereotypes origin within society. But research on this topic does also
show us that media does play a part in how stereotypes are created within society meaning that
its important that we identify them within our media in order to open them up for scrutiny and
further research before they damage the public’s perception of an out-group.
3.4. Possible Solutions to Problematic Portrayals Within
Media
There is however also some research around the theme of media being used to influencing
people for the better working to remove their prejudice against an outgroup and reworking their
stereotypical knowledge of a group through positive portrayals within media. One such
research project by Edward Schippa et al. (2008) found that by exposing people to the show
Will and Grace which featured two none stereotypical positive homosexual characters within
it a positive change would occur. People who would watch the show regularly would start to
rethink their stereotypical and prejudiced position on homosexual men. Their results also found
that many of the participants who viewed the show would also form an understanding of gay
people based on the two characters from the show viewing them as accurate representations of
11gay people and they would in turn think of them better in general. The study also found that
many of the participants who were prejudiced towards gay men before the study did also have
little to no contacts who were gay, and that watching the show had a larger impact on their
levels of prejudice then the people who had some friends (Schippa, Gregg, Hewes, 2008). From
their research we can get an understanding that by realizing and changing how groups are
portrayed within media and giving people positive representations of outgroups, general
prejudice against said outgroup might change and typical stereotypes of outgroups might be
subverted. These types of research show us that there is a possibility to subvert negative
stereotypes within our society through media by giving people who have no contact with an
out-group a substitute. This means that research around this topic is important as it could be
one of many possible ways of starting to subvert cultural violence within society.
3.5. Stereotypes of Russians in America
Going from the broader research around stereotypes and media portrayals, there exists some
literature revolving around the existence of the stereotype of the Russians within the United
States of America (eg. Silverstein, 1989, Kriesberg, 1946, Gerbner, 1989). One such study by
Walter G, Stephen (1994) was set out to test ways to measure stereotypes within Russia and
the USA. The study found that Americans often viewed the Russians as disciplined,
hardworking, orderly, conservative, obedient, serious, aggressive, strong, competitive, proud,
and patriotic. Many of these attributes where also within the Russian stereotype of the
American people seeing them as proud, patriotic, materialistic, independent, aggressive, self-
confident, and competitive. But one thing the study did find however was that while the
Russian view of the American people where similar between the different test groups, the
American view of the Russians changed between test groups (Stephen, 1994). According to
Stephen this might be because of the lack of information American students have about the
Russian people or Russia in general. This he compared to the Russian students who had more
of a general understanding about America and its people allowing them to form a uniform
opinion and stereotype of them. This means that the findings surrounding the American view
of the Russians is not as uniform as the one Russia had over the Americans in the study
(Stephen, 1994). Another study by Elza Ibroscheva (2002) continued the topic of Russians
portrayal within America. Her study focused on the American view of the Russian people and
how it has changed since the end of the cold war. Another aspect which is covered in her
research is also how mass media affects the perception of the Russian people (Ibroscheva.
122002). The method used in the study was surveys which were distributed to a range of different
participants. The study found that the most common attributes Russian people were given
included: disciplined, efficient, tough, hardworking, secretive, obedient, criminal, hard
drinking, cunning, machinelike, insecure, vicious, aggressive, cold-blooded, belligerent, and
hostile (Ibroscheva, 2002). The study also found that since the end of the cold war more positive
stereotypes have become leading in the portrayal however the negative stereotypes do still exist
within the minds of the people. Furthermore, Ibroscheva also found a correlation between
people who consumed media and had a negative understanding of the attributes which the
Russian people had. This however seems to be a weaker correlation as its hard to prove what
kind of relationship is between media and negative stereotypes and what other factors might
influence a person to gain that negative stereotype against Russian people so further studies
would have to be made around that subject according to Ibroscheva (2002). These studies
however do give us a general idea of what the Stereotype of the Russians is in the USA. This
information will be used as a base for the child codes which will be used in the content analysis
on the stereotype of the Russians in Call of Duty and will be covered in detail in chapter five.
134. Theoretical Overview
The purpose of this section is to inform the reader of the theoretical framework which will be
the basis of the content analysis and to justify why these theories where chosen. This analytical
framework will be built on theories and ideas which were presented in the previous research
section. The two theories are othering, a theory which focuses on the creation of an out-group
which in turn defines your own in-group and securitization, a theory focusing on threat analysis
and how something becomes designated as a threat. Out of the theory of othering the concept
of stereotyping is the central focus which will be taken from the theory. Stereotyping is a
concept focused on the creation of common understanding of how a person or group is usually
viewed by the society which can be both negative and positive. This stereotype can later be
spread through the media as was mentioned in the previous research section on subheading 3.3
“media portrayals influence on society”. The second theory which will build the analytical
framework of this essay is Securitization – a theory which focuses on the efforts of states and
other actors to make something or someone into a threat to security in the eyes of the public.
Out of these two theories the codes which will be used to analyze Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare will be extracted.
4.1. Othering/stereotyping
Othering is the theory which will be used to address the first aim of this thesis that of finding
and analyzing stereotypes with video games. It is defined as the process of identifying a group
or individual who do not follow the norms of the in-group or deviates from the in-group.
Othering is used to form an “us”, as well as to create inclusion, exclusion, and division in
groups (Oppenheimer, 2006). Othering can take many forms such as prejudice, stereotyping
and discrimination (Dovidio et al. 2003, pp 5-7). This study will focus on the stereotyping
aspect of othering since the other two, prejudice and discrimination are more focused on
studying inter-group relations and not the groups understanding of each other. Stereotyping is
a concept where an image is created of what is believed to be common characteristics of a
group of people. These characteristics can be things such as behavioral traits to more personal
traits such as occupation or appearance (Dovidio et al. 2003, pp 7). These traits do not need to
14be negative but they do generalize groups of people to make it easier for us to process the
information we get with the downside being that it can easily lead to the other two concepts of
prejudice and discrimination as stereotypical characteristics become the basis of the
mistreatment (Dovidio et al. 2003, pp 8). Stereotypes can be as mentioned in the previous
chapter spread through media sources which is the core reason of why it was chosen as one of
the main theories that the coding of the game will be based on. It will be used in the analysis
of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare as it is a form of entertainment media. Another interesting
use of othering is that of the creation of an in-group which is different from the out-group. This
means that characteristics which are often exhibited by an out-group will be opposite to the
ones shown by the in-group so by understanding how the Russians are portrayed within the
game we can get an understanding of how the western world views itself. The reason for which
othering is chosen as one of the main theories is due to its central location when it comes to the
field of portrayal often forming the basis on which most research in this field is conducted.
4.2. Securitization
Securitization is a term coined by Danish professor Olea Weaver. Securitization is a theory
developed in Copenhagen and focuses on how a political entity designates something or
someone as an active threat to the security of the nation justifying actions that need to be taken
against that threat (McDonald, 2008, pp 565). The theory covers many different aspects from
what audience the message is trying to reach to the tools used to make something into a threat.
These aspects are not relevant to this thesis as the audience of the video game is anyone who
buys it meaning that it is not targeting a specific audience. Also, since it is not produced by a
group with a clear political agenda the tools which are used by said groups are not relevant to
the understanding what threat is produced by the Russians. The aspect of this theory which will
be used however is the understanding of how something, or someone is designated as a threat
within media (McDonald, 2008, pp 566). While Call of Duty is not created by a politically
inclined party there is an argument which can be made that its apart of a wider securitization
effort against Russia so it can still be considered political in nature furthering an agenda outside
of its own intent. The game then becomes a piece of a larger puzzle and can serve as a portrayal
of how securitization efforts against Russia is affecting society. That is why by using the theory
of securitization in the content analysis of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare we can search for
this portrayal of the Russians as threatening and specifically look for themes of threat within
the game.
155. Methodology and Research Design
This section will guide the reader through the content analysis method which will be used to
answer the research question, first a section where the reasoning behind choosing content
analysis will be presented then a presentation of the material that this study will mainly be
using and lastly the codes which were briefly presented in the last section will be explained
and justified
5.1. Method
To answer the research questions this essay will make use of a qualitative case study of the
video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). To process the material this study will
employ the content analysis method to extract the data which will form the basis of the analysis.
To accomplish this, we will be making use of a descriptive content analysis which according
to Kimberly A. Neuendorf, focuses on describing and finding specific messages and themes
which can be extracted from a specific text or data set (2002, pp,53). This specific form of
content analysis was chosen to explore the stereotypes which appear within the game Call of
Duty: Modern Warfare meaning that we want to discover what messages in the form of
stereotype the game produces. This is done by braking down the data found within the game
into codes which will later be analyzed, these codes are broken into three distinct sizes the first
is the category which informs larger meta theoretical aspects of what is being search for in the
data. The second tier is the mother code which starts to narrow the search from the theoretical
side to a more physical code which can be searched for. Finally, the third tier is the baby codes
which are specific variables related to the mother codes which are searched for in the data.
While a content analysis is most often attributed to and used in quantitative research
this essay will be making use of it as a qualitative tool for text analysis. Russel Bernard writes
abouts qualitative text analysis within his book Research Methods in Anthropology:
Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (2006). While most steps for conducting the content,
analysis stay the same between the qualitative and quantitative versions of a content analysis
they deal with different problems and things which they need to keep in mind while doing their
research. There are two main challenges that face a qualitative content analysis the first is the
16issue of coder reliability and the second is the tendency to generalize the results of the analysis.
The first issue of intercoder reliability is the issue of having multiple researchers who are
codding the same text and who might have different opinions and ideas of what each code
means and where they fit in (Bernard, 2006, pp, 512). While this is a serious issue for thesis’s
which have multiple researchers conducting the coding, since this thesis only has one
researcher intercoder reliability is not an issue. But this thesis will still seek to make the coding
scheme clear to the reader by going into detail about why and how each unit of measurement
was chosen, this will be covered in section 5.3.
The second challenge that often faces a qualitative content analysis is that of sample size and
the problem of how much the sample represents the thing you are researching (Bernard, 2006,
pp 509). This is not something which is a problem for this essay as the research question is
centered on the chosen sample as this thesis is only seeking to understand the sample and how
it represents Russian people and not how video games in general do so. Generalization is a
common trait of a content analysis especially quantitative ones, this is something which this
essay will not seek to do, since while it can analyze what’s within the game it cannot generalize
all works of fiction and their portrayal of Russian only how specifically Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare portrays the Russian people.
The reason a qualitative content analysis was chosen as the method for this essay instead of
other methods is because of its strengths. One of which is its ability to be used in order to test
theories and hypothesis on a specific data set (Bernard, 2006, pp 510) in this case we shall be
using it in order to test the theories of othering and securitization on Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare. It is also a tried and tested method often being used by many researchers who seek to
uncover and understand the messages and stereotypes which exists within a media (e.g. Banks,
1975).
5.2. Material
The data for the analysis will be taken from the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare the focus
will be on both the named characters and the unnamed characters that appear throughout the
games story. The focus will be on the dialogue in the video game between the different
characters but on other aspects of the game such as visual or actions taken by the characters in
the game will also be codded. The process of codding the video game will be conducted on
video clips which were recorded by the researcher while playing the game this is done so that
17rewinding and re-watching a section is made easier. This is done in an effort to make sure no
codes are missed or misinterpreted by the researcher during the coding process.
5.3. Codes
The codes of the content analysis will become the basis of which the analysis will be structured
from and conducted. The codes will be both inductive and deductive meaning that the
categories and mother codes which are the themes and more general variables which we are
searching for will be taken from the theories presented in chapter four while the baby codes
which are the more specific variables that are being searched for in the game will be created
from previous research on the stereotype of the Russians explored in subsection 3.5. The codes1
which will be taken from the theories are the categories: threat and characterization while the
mother codes will be subtle threat, active threat, positive traits, and negative traits. The baby
codes which are the smaller more detailed codes will be taken from the game itself and from
the previous research around the subject of the stereotype of the Russian people within
America.
5.3.1. Characterization
One important aspect of a stereotype is that of character traits which make up the stereotype,
stereotypes are in their core just a set of data which we tap into to get a quick understanding of
a person we see based on prior information about people from that group. These character traits
can take many forms from personality traits to common occupations attributed to the
stereotype. To this effect the codes which will be used to note down these characterizations
will focus on two main mother codes these being positive traits and negative traits. Positive
traits will be positive characterizations which were found in previous studies on the stereotype
of the Russian in America these traits are:
discipline which will be counted every time a Russian character is shown to be orderly
and loyal to their commander, efficiency which will cover whenever the Russians are shown
to be very good at something, bravery which will cover whenever Russians show signs of
bravery and courage, intelligence will account for their portrayal as smart, just will be focused
on their moral compass doing actions because of justice and right, honesty which will cover
1
See Chapter 9 Appendix for full list of codes
18whenever a Russian character is described as being trust worthy or when they speak the truth,
strong which will be counted whenever Russians are shown to be strong in a positive light.
Negative traits will also be taken from the previous research these are: aggression which
will be counted whenever a Russian is shown to be violent within the game, cold-blooded
which will be counted whenever Russians show a lack of emotion to acts which invoke emotion
from others, cruel which will be counted whenever Russians are either described as cruel by
others or are shown to commit cruel acts against others, hard drinking which will cover
whenever a Russian character is described or shown to be a heavy drinker of alcohol. By
looking at what characteristics the Russians have in the game we can get an understanding of
what are some of the common stereotypical traits which western societies have of the Russian
people shown in the game.
5.3.2. Threat
While it is quite obvious that the antagonists of a war centric video game will exhibit some sort
of threat what this category will seek to understand is what kind of threat the character poses
within the game, threat of death or more subtle ones like planned invasions. This will allow us
to explore what are the most common threat assumptions made within the game. The codes
which will be derived from the theory of securitization will be focused on threats which will
be the main theme. This theme will be split into two mother codes: active threat and subtle
threat. An active threat will be defined as actions which exhibit a clear sign of threat to the
main characters. These kinds of threat are: the threat of death which will be counted whenever
a Russian character threatens a person with killing them, the threat of occupation which will
be counted whenever the game discusses or shows the horror of a Russian occupation, the threat
of war which is focused on whenever a possible war with Russia is discussed by the characters
in the game and finally the threat of war crimes which will be counted every time Russia or
Russians are shown to commit war crimes within the game in the form of targeting civilians,
executing people without trial or using illegal weapons. Subtle threats will be considered as
actions which propose a future threat which are not active but give the idea of a possible future
actions these codes are weapons of mass destruction which will count whenever a Russian
weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is discussed within the game, military power which will
be counted whenever Russian military power is either shown or discussed by the characters in
the context of how great it is or how threatening it is and proxy wars which will be counted
whenever proxy wars between Russia and another western nation are mentioned within the
19plot. By counting these different variables, we can get an understanding of what types of threats
are the most common within the game and what threats are less common.
206. Analysis
This section will deal with the analysis of the codes and data which was extracted with the
content analysis. It will be broken down into two main sections each dealing with a specific
theme from the content analysis, the first section will deal with the characterization of the
Russian characters within the video game, and the second section will deal with the threats that
Russia and Russians exhibit in the plot of the story.
6.1. Characterization
Characterization is an important part of any storytelling; it is what creates a character and
effects how they are remembered and what impact they leave on the audience. Within Call of
Duty: Modern Warfare many different traits are used to characterize the Russians within the
game’s story.
6.1.1. Aggression
One such attribute often shown by the Russians is aggression. The Russians exhibit aggressive
behavior or commit violent acts a total of 13 times within the game. Russian characters would
often be depicted to engage in unprovoked attacks and demonstrate brutality towards both
civilians and the main characters. This is exemplified during the ninth mission “hometown”
where we see how an unnamed Russian soldier who has his face covered with a gas mask bursts
into Farah’s home while her family is trying to escape a Russian attack on her city. The soldier
says nothing during the exchange, but he threatens the family with his gun ready to shoot at
any moment. Farah’s father tries to stop him by pushing him away to save his children by
giving them time to hide, the Russian soldier then brutally kills Farah’s father by shooting him
multiple times in the chest leaving him to slowly bleed to death. The soldier then precedes to
hunt for Farah and her brother with the clear intent of killing the two children only being
stopped by his superior ordering him to capture them instead. During his search Farah stabs
him multiple times in the legs with knifes she finds around the house. Each time she does, the
21soldier attempts to harm her by trying to strangle her or hit her with a full force punch. After a
few rounds of this, the soldier catches Farah and starts to strangle her to death but is stopped
by her brother leading to a moment when Farah takes the Russian’s gun and shoots him. In this
scene the Russian character remains faceless with his face covered by a gas mask his body is
well built and giant, looking at it from the perspective of a child which Farah is in this moment
he looks more like a monster then man. This is just one of many different examples of Russian
characters who exhibit aggressive behavior. Aggression is seen throughout the Russian focused
missions in the game where Russian characters often hit civilians or in general threaten them
with violence. This constant aggression paints a picture of the Russian soldiers as men who
often solve all their problems through violence, during the game Russians would often threaten
a person or outright attack them before ever considering negotiating with them. This makes it
seem that while the Russians are aggressive, they are also impossible to reason with. If we
compare that to the Arabic terrorists of Al-Qatala who are the game’s secondary enemies they
are shown to have their aggressive moments but, they are also shown to have a more
methodological and planned approach to violence, they are also not as explicitly show as
violent compared to the Russian moments often appearing more methodological and planned
and less animalistically brutal like the Russians.
6.1.2. Superiority and Sexism
Another prevalent characteristic is that Russians within the game often view themselves as
superior to everyone else, especially the Urzik people who they are occupying. They are also
shown to be sexist believing that women cannot be fighters. Within the story there is a total of
8 times when Russian characters explicitly call others either a savage or question their position
because of their gender. Russian characters often treat the Urzik people like savages and call
them animals in one line when discussing the reason, they keep some of them alive instead of
just killing them all. The soldiers say “free labor, the women serve, and the men work till they
die, He [General Barkov] told us, learn to use every part of the animal.” Another soldier says
in the same conversation that he refuses to get killed by women, and after learning that the
rebels are led by a female general, he calls them animals. This dialogue exemplifies many
different conversations within the game whenever the Russians are talking about the Urzik
people, they often compare them to savages or to animals justifying their actions against them
in this way.
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