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What Is Authenticity In Popular Culture

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Video games have become a key element of popular culture, because they have attracted players from many different cultures and age groups. Video games have come a long way since Pong and Spacewar. Since the first video games, there have been innovations in this industry nearly every year, always striving to defy the impossible. Today, the newest generation of gaming consoles are extremely powerful, and with this comes the ability to make games that are increasingly realistic and advanced. Because of this advancement in video game technology, video game genres have expanded to include racing, shooting, adventure, horror, and so many more. Many of the games today even feature a historical element. To the outside viewer, it may seem as if these …show more content…

In Holtorf’s work he writes that, “a monument may be considered authentic not only if it closely resembles an ancient structure in form and design but also if its spirit and feeling are those of an ancient building […] authenticity is arguably the single most import property of archaeological finds and exhibits” (114). Although Holtorf is writing about authenticity as it pertains to archaeology in museums, his argument can still apply to authenticity in video games, as both are experiences that help one to connect with the past. Authenticity is important because it is what truly connects people to the past. Just because a person goes to a cultural heritage site that is accurate does not mean that they will be drawn to it. However, since authenticity is subjective, as long as the person feels like they are getting an experience similar to that of those that they are connecting with, they will have a greater experience with the past than if it were simply accurate. Because authenticity is subjective, two people who encounter the same historical element may not have the same experience. A great example of this is a case study that was written by four scholars titled, Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. In this case study, the four scholars wrote about their experience playing Assassin’s Creed, a stealth video game that takes place during the Crusades. They argue that playing video games, such as Assassin’s …show more content…

Historical inaccuracies can show up in the invention of characters, dialogue, and events, which are created to make the history more entertaining. This is a great concern for historians, as these inaccurate mediums of entertainment misrepresent history and give people a different idea of what the past was like. In Fagan and Rose’s work they write that, “media have a simple motivation: They want something that will capture eyes for newspapers, magazines, websites, and televisions and ears for radio. The profit motive and an ignorance about archaeology can easily lead media astray” (173). Archaeology, for example is a field that has been subject to a myriad of generalizations in contrast to war video games, due to the inaccuracies of video games, movies, and television. The key inaccuracy is the centralization of treasured objects in pop culture. Mark A. Hall, a history officer at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery in Scotland, wrote an article on archaeology in popular cinema. Hall spends a good amount of time talking about the issue of treasure in archaeology. He writes that, “the quest for treasure as an archaeological motivation is common in films” (164). We see this quest for treasure in films such as Indiana Jones and National Treasure. We also see this quest for treasure in video games such as Uncharted and Tomb Raider. In these games, players

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