I have been a fan of Leigh Alexander's work for quite some time. I discovered her writing in a variety of video game magazines and on websites like Kotaku and often found her think pieces about diversity, LGBTQ rights and representation refreshing against the often toxic bro video gamer commentators online.
The book is slight in size but very personal and informative.
’Breathing Machine’ is a slim memoir/ state of the online nation discourse and follows the evolution of video games through the lens of Alexander's own life. For those not interested in gaming, the book also looks at the evolution of the internet as it is a candid look at 'growing up internet'. It is an honest and remarkably frank look back at how this disruptive technology affected the formative years of Alexander but also, in the wider context, the world. It had me searching my memories for this period of my life and I found myself having some nostalgic recollections of these halcyon simpler times. The myriad of search engines, horribly pixelated images, annoying propriety video plug-ins, poorly created websites with badly optimised wallpaper and the sound of the dial-up-modem still haunt my dreams, but were a very real part of my youth.
I like how Alexander talks about the onset of the internet as a mystery box, full of wonder and seemingly secret content that just seemed out of reach. Her recollection about typing in hell.com and finding an abstract art installation is wonderful as I'm sure we all have a few moments like that that we can recount where we came across a website that was at once unsettling yet intriguing. The ‘Donnie Darko’ website was my version of this and even now, the mystery of how to access all its contents still remains in memory.
Alexander also looks at the negative side of this digital revolution, where often the ignored and under-appreciated nerds from school grew up to be worse than the jocks that often bullied them. The geeks shall indeed inherit the earth. This is a broad sweep but I definitely recognise this in some people I still know from my time at Secondary school. Even now, though they have grown up and have jobs, families etc they still command a presence in the online world but not always in a conducive or practical way. I know Alexander has faced much vitriol and criticism for her work and nearly all of it is unwarranted in my opinion. In the shadow of #Gamergate, we know that there is a small contingent who are angry at multiculturalism, representation and anything else that challenges their homogenous world view. Indeed, Alexander was ahead of the curve when she wrote this book in 2014, seeming almost prescient on her view of how this toxic online marketplace would lead to wider social issues.
This book is a must read for those seeking to look back at the formative years of the internet in the 90s and early 2000s, and for those interested in how Alexander grew up surrounded by video games.
For further reading I'd also like suggest offworld.com or the hardback book, ‘The Offworld Collection’ which was co-authored by Alexander. It is required reading for anyone who wants to have a deeper and more meaningful understanding on what video games can mean. It is a fine anthology book and the variety and depth of essays is remarkable. It looks at how games can deliver ethical social and political commentary.
Alexander understands that many game makers are acutely aware that in these increasingly complex times games have the power to open a new world to us, to introduce us to new ideas, cultures and experiences that we would maybe never otherwise encountered.
LINK: My One True Gaming Constant in My Life- Nintendo
LINK: The Offworld Collection- Book Review