When Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War's teaser trailer debuted on August 20th it concluded with the famous words, “Know your history or be doomed to repeat it.” Then, in a move of extreme irony, Activision went back on those words and altered the trailer to cut out footage of the Tiananmen Square protests, in order to appease Chinese censorship. Alone, it was an uncomfortable action given the current political climate in China, but things were made even worse when the official story trailer hit. Featuring a life-like Ronald Reagan as a central character, the trailer depicts the 40th president of the United States green-lighting "illegal" activities and potential war-crimes in the name of American freedom. If Activision is uncomfortable depicting Chinese atrocities, can they be honest about the American ones?
During Reagan's tenure as president, the United States foreign policy operated under what became known as the Reagan doctrine. Unlike the more passive Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan sought to end the Cold War with aggressive tactics, specifically arming anti-communist fighters in Africa, Latin America, and Asia to impede the spread of communism. This doctrine is credited by many as being instrumental in ending the Cold War, as it destabilized multiple communist regimes, but the actions taken under this policy were at times illegal and had terrible consequences.
The story trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War alludes to the illegalities of the Reagan doctrine as President Ronald Reagan meets with a group of covert operatives, including series regulars Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Jason Hudson. They discuss the pernicious threat of legendary soviet spy Perseus, who existed and was never caught. The operatives describe Perseus as “the single largest threat to the free world,” so the President doesn't hesitate in giving them permission to break the law, despite his adviser calling the actions “highly irregular.” President Reagan argues that the mission be done, by any means necessary, in order to “(protect) our very way of life from a great evil.”
How Black Ops Could Be An Opportunity For COD Games
While the implications of Black Ops Cold War's trailer are uncomfortable, they are accurate. Ronald Reagan famously called the Soviet Union “the evil empire” and saw it as the enemy of American values, so his stance in the game is realistic. The problem isn't the content but the tone, or the potential tone. The Call of Duty series has routinely contextualized it's action in history, but it hasn't dealt with the political or moral nuance of these actions very well. Call of Duty Black Ops 2, for instance, contained a mission where players fight alongside the Mujahideen, a Jihadi group backed by the Reagan administration. The group itself had many disturbing qualities, as detailed by the Guardian, and the implications of the United States' involvement with them still echos today. That is to say, Black Ops 2 depicts a complex, morally grey context, simply for the purposes of action.
One of the most famous and controversial outcomes of the Reagan Doctrine is the Iran-Contra Affair. The incident involved the United States illegally selling weapons to Iran and then using the funds to prop up the Contra rebel group in Nicaragua, who fought to overthrow the communist government. Reagan himself was never proven to be involved but high-ranking officials in his administration, like National Security Council Member Oliver North, were sent to prison because of the scandal. Aside from breaking American laws, the action had devastating consequences for those in Nicaragua. A Rolling Stone piece from the period shows, in heartbreaking detail, how the conflict traumatized thousands of innocent civilians.
Call of Duty is a series known as an intense, action-oriented shooter that honors the American military, but it ignores the horrors of America's past. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has the chance to rectify the series' approach, but if it wants to continue mining these terrible events for stories and settings then it must also take on some uncomfortable truths and deal with them openly and honestly.
Sources: ThoughtCo, YouTube, The Guardian, Rolling Stone