Total Refusal presents ‘Sons and True Sons’, a live gaming lecture in which the connections between toxic masculinity, meritocracy, and the Storming of the US-Capitol in 2021 will be explored.

‘Sons and True Sons’ illuminates how the narrative of the video game ‘Tom Clancy's: The Division 2’ (Ubisoft, 2019) inadvertently anticipated the events on January 6th 2021, as well as an examination of Steve Bannon's strategic engagement with male gamers. The parallels between the game's depiction of the civilian militia (“True Sons”) taking control of the Capitol in a digital Washington, D.C., and paramilitary crypto fascist groups (“Proud Boys” or "Oath Keepers") are indeed remarkable. Inspired by these uncanny similarities, the live gaming lecture re-storms the Capitol, exploring the narrative decay of liberal democracy on the example of mass media culture. In the lecture, the border between hyper masculine self-empowerment both inside and outside gaming spaces will be further blurred.

The live gaming lecture will take place on Saturday April 13th.