Cyclops — Matz & Jacamon
The success of Survivor encouraged studios to bring out reality shows that delve into every aspect of our lives — no matter how mundane or intimate. We’re delighted when Gordon Ramsey brings the competing chefs in Hell’s Kitchen to tears. And we watch Big Brother with all the pleasures of a peeping Tom. Basically, its voyeurism minus the guilt where one man’s Reality is another man’s Entertainment. So, where should we draw the line between Reality and Entertainment? Should we even bother drawing a line?
Those are just a couple of questions that come to mind when you read Cyclops, the latest from the Matz — who previously turned out The Killer series.
Cyclops is set in a future where televised war streamed in real-time from cameras in soldiers’ helmets is the latest television phenomenon. It is a future where war has become privatised, and the United Nations contracts out peace-keeping operations to private militia sponsored by TV networks and Studios. And the soldiers are the TV stars.
The story begins with the recruitment of Douglas Pistoia, the protagonist, into Cyclops — a militia unit owned and sponsored by Multicorp Inc. He’s young, married, and, against the protests of his wife, signs on because the money is good. Multicorp is a television network that’s just been awarded the UN Peacekeeping contract in a war-torn South American country.
The Cyclops team wears state-of-the-art armour which doesn’t just protect the wearer from bullets, but also applies basic first aid and has a camouflage capability which can render the soldier invisible. (I want one!)
Early on, Douglas is earmarked by the network biggies as a possible ‘hero’ for the TV audience. As such, he’s given a leadership role in a unit of veterans with strict orders to make sure that Douglas remains unhurt in battle. In the very first op, Pistoia rescues a wounded soldier while under fire, and becomes a favourite with the audience. Thrilled by the TRPs, Multicorp sends him out into more conflict zones where, once again, Pistoia comes across as a hero.
With his rising popularity, Douglas is given a handsome contract and, when he’s not fighting, lives the life of a celebrity. With fame, come the women and strains Pistoia’s relationship with his wife. Soon, the team realizes that some of the places they’re sent to are actually ‘safe zones’ which have already been cleared out, and the network is just ‘protecting an investment’. Digging deeper, they realize that Multicorp is actively creating conflict in various countries just to keep up the show’s ratings. The rest of the story is about how the Cyclops team rebels against Multicorp and takes down the network.
That may sound very much like Andy Diggle’s The Losers. But here’s the real kicker.
When you’re reading the book, you’ll see a parallel to the ongoing military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you’ve been following current events, you’ll note how the US deployed paramilitary units in war zones and the how much higher the civilian casualty rates were in those areas. The very idea of putting cameras on soldiers for direct transmission is just a step further than the current ‘embedding’ of journalists with deployed troops for frontline reporting — which, as a concept, has come under fire from independent reporting media for biased news reporting.
Cyclops is more than just an action story about mercenaries. It’s a story about a very possible evolution in Warfare and Entertainment. And if you feel I’m over-thinking this, read this interview of Matz and Jacamon.
