I. An interrogation of masculine and feminine representation in one of the most successful apps in history.
Certainly, the power and influence of the ever-present,
ubiquitous “app” in contemporary, digital culture cannot be understated. And further,
they cannot, nor should they be, overlooked as ineffectual or benign presences.
App technology has become so pervasive and has become so thoroughly enmeshed into
our daily activities, that it’s hard to even imagine our lives without them.
Yet, it’s literally been only a few years since the “big bang” of applications really
occurred, and the cultural as well as global changes that accompanied it are profound
– both in the amount of changes they have brought, as well as their impact on
millions and millions of people’s everyday, daily lives.
Of course, prior to Apple’s App Store, there had been distribution
websites that connected application programs with consumers. Indeed, apps have
actually been commercially available to the public since the early ‘90s, but
those first wave applications (as well as the sites that mediated them) were relatively
clunky precursors to the more streamlined applications (and purchasing
platforms) as we now know them today. As mentioned above, the big bang of app
technology exploded onto the market when, in 2008, Apple introduced its App
Store in conjunction with the release of their updated iPhone 2.0. Since then, the
terms “App Store” and “App” have seemingly become part of everyday vernacular –
globally. (App Store iOS). Reportedly, there are as many “App Stores” and corresponding apps as there
are countries – each with their own specific governmental allowances and/or
restrictions. But casting that wide of a net is beyond the scope of this project
in its present incarnation. I would like to expand on this research project in
the future in order to encompass a much broader, more cross-cultural, analysis
of the discourse and rhetoric of apps. Therefore, at present, I will be
limiting this project to a singular app (one of the highest grossing apps of
all time), Candy Crush Saga, and will focus primarily on the United States/North
American user.
That said, before beginning the crux of my argument, and for
the sake of transparency, I would like to include the fact that I am both an
iPhone owner, as well as a current player of the game Candy Crush Saga.
However, neither of these factors will influence my critical examination of
this app, nor the platform(s) it utilizes. Indeed, I feel that it is incumbent upon
us, as users, to keep a critical eye towards the digital technologies and
applications that we interact with on a frequent basis, because often, although
our apps are seemingly benign or purposed for “entertainment only,” they nonetheless
communicate with us, and we enter into certain dialogue(s) each and every time
we engage with them. And due to the staggering frequency of contemporary app usage,
they undoubtedly have the capacity to not merely reflect, but also participate
in and co-create, our personal as well as cultural experiences. Therefore, in
the portion of this ongoing research that follows, I intend to interrogate and
investigate one category of the many, layered discourse(s) that this singular game
communicates to its users, and how, citing numerous visual examples, its
rhetoric promotes a feminine subordination and privileges a dominant masculine hegemony.
So, without further ado, let’s join “Tiffi” and “Mr. Toffee” in their world of candy….
Introduction video to Candy Crush Saga