The Game Plan 03.28.08: The Greatest Video Game Anti-Heroes...Ever (Part 2)
Posted by James McGee on 03.28.2008
The anti-heroes keep on coming with one of the most controversial games in recent memory.
It's an election year, so as we get closer to November, you're likely to hear people talking more and more about choosing between "the lesser of two evils." Part cynicism and part unfortunate reality, it seems that we can seldom choose between right and wrong nowadays…just varying degrees of wrong. Perhaps that is why anti-heroes are so popular. In an age where so many people see goodness as a figment of imagination, where else can we look for heroes except in characters that would traditionally be called villains? The subject of this week's column earned his place in history by being a vile human being who benefits from having even viler enemies. I am not a huge fan of Rockstar's Manhunt series (for various reasons), but I can't deny that the first game and its protagonist give players a lot to think about when it comes to the nature of evil. It's a disturbing tale of human deviance at its worst, and it attempts to shine a clearer light on the clichéd notion "the lesser of two evils." I'm James McGee, and here's The Game Plan.
Arthur had Excalibur, Cash has a big ol' meat clever. The similarities are uncanny.
Even as I write this article, I have a hard time thinking of James Earl Cash as a hero in even the most rudimentary sense. But a lot of the characteristics are there. For one, he is the protagonist of Manhunt, which I suppose makes him the "hero" by default. He is a man placed in a situation he didn't ask for, performing against his will for a deranged voyeur. Cash is set to be executed for crimes unknown to the audience, and a mysterious benefactor offers him freedom in exchange for participating in his sick entertainment. This director sets Cash up in a series of "scenes" where he must creep through decrepit environments, stealthily killing other men for the amusement of his captor. He is essentially fighting for his life, which makes it easy for gamers to sympathize with Cash, and to forgive his many moral shortcomings. When the director turns on him, Cash's adventure isn't just about survival, but also bringing down an evil even greater than his own. I may be stretching here (and a part of me hates to even draw the comparison), but the reluctant hero accepting his destiny for the greater good is an iconic motif in countless stories—everything from King Arthur's legend to Harry Potter relies on it. The man and his methods may be questionable, but at the most basic level, Cash's story is clearly that of a hero.
As I've said before, a hero is defined by his villains, so it helps Cash's case that his enemies are so nasty. Ultimately, he is admirable simply because he is less deplorable than the other characters in the game. To his credit, Cash rarely lashes out at innocents, as all of the various gangs ("Hunters," as the game calls them) have their own, reprehensible quirks that make them pretty difficult to sympathize with. Whether it be the general brutality of the Hoods or the sadly believable racist chatter of the Skinz, gamers should have no trouble picking Cash as the lesser evil in all but a few of these situations. You could argue that the mentally disturbed Smileys aren't fully responsible for their actions, but their psychosis is so frightening that it's still difficult to take their side.
What would you do if these guys came running at ya? Offer them cookies?
But the tangible threat of the Hunters is nothing compared to the evil mastermind behind Manhunt's high-concept take on snuff-films. Acting as Cash's combination savior/nemesis, Lionel Starkweather (brilliantly voiced to skin-crawlingly sadistic perfection by Brian Cox) is one of the most disgusting characters in any medium. The director honestly enjoys all the pain and suffering Cash inflicts on others, spouting his praise in increasingly gleeful, explicit detail ("I haven't been this turned on since…Well, let's not go there"). Cash's good points may be few and far between, but there is absolutely nothing redeeming about Starkweather. He is manipulative, cowardly, sadistic, disturbed…an all around creep and general waste of oxygen. He's a great villain, because players love to finally give him what he deserves.
So if Starkweather and the Hunters are clearly the villains of the story, why is it so hard to sympathize with Cash? It all goes back to that choice between the lesser of two evils. While Manhunt is a basic retelling of Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," it isn't quite the same case of an innocent bystander being pulled into someone else's sadistic fantasy. Very little is ever divulged about Cash, but never is it even suggested that he's innocent. Players are never lead to believe that Cash has been falsely accused of his crimes, and his actions through the course of the game certainly support the idea that he is a violent individual, capable of horrendous acts. As I have said, the Hunters are far from sympathetic, but what of the policemen Cash faces late in the game? The chief may be in Starkweather's pocket, but the officers themselves are simply doing their job—trying to bring down a notoriously violent mass-murderer. Yet, Cash treats them with the same cold brutality as the gang members. All the brownie points he earned earlier for sparing innocents seem to be dwindling away now.
One of Cash's kinder, gentler executions.
Granted, Cash is still fighting for his life against the police, which makes it hard to condemn him. Nonetheless, his methods are suspect. If you'll recall last week's article about Kratos, I have a hard time with that old chestnut that claims "the ends justify the means." Players aren't required to kill every last Hunter to clear a level, but they are rewarded for doing so (which may say more about the players and designers than Cash himself, but that's walking a fuzzy line, so humor me). Cash can easily save his skin with quick, quiet mercy killings. Yet, he always seems to find the most brutal means of dispatching his adversaries (glass shards to the eye, crowbar through the throat, etc.). The fact that he's in this situation against his will doesn't seem to dull the pleasure Cash receives from killing…so is he really that different from Starkweather?
Cash's true colors come out in his final confrontation with the director. Now, revenge is one of the easiest motives to sympathize with, so I'm not going to argue that there's a certain perverse satisfaction in finally turning a chainsaw on Starkweather, leaving his insides dripping all over his outsides. No one but the most deranged sicko would ever suggest that the director didn't deserve to be brought down for his actions. But what would be the truly heroic way of accomplishing that? At this point in the story, Cash has already turned over evidence to the media, exposing Starkweather and the police chief. He could have allowed due process to take its course from there, but he instead took matters into his own hands. Cash was more concerned with revenge than justice, and while that may be a very human reaction, it isn't very heroic.
Some people (myself included) have accused Rockstar of being exploitative and deviant with their focus on morally corrupt games like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt. But, you have to give the company credit for hitting players in the face with these kind of issues and letting them reach their own conclusions about the nature of right and wrong. James Earl Cash is a victim in one sense, but far from a hero. You may not like him…I'm not sure if you should even respect him…but you have to admit he gives you something to think about. If nothing else, his antics should recall the words of Max Lerner: "When you choose the lesser of two evils, remember that it is still an evil."
