Bioshock > Miscellany > Playlets
Playlets
The propaganda in Rapture takes many forms. One is a series of playlets between two characters, Jim and Mary. This is the Rapture analogy to the Harry and Louise
playlets in 1993 during the first attempt at nationalized medicine by the Democratic Party of the United States.
The playlets have the same structure: Mary has problems with an aspect of Rapture; Jim explains why that aspect is in fact good or okay.
on capital punishment
This explains to the public why Andrew Ryan enacted the death penalty for smugglers out of fear that they would expose Rapture's existence to the surface world. As a tape in the Jet Postal office in Port Nepture reveals, Ryan had a tough enough time getting the death penalty past the Council (Riots in the streets, they said
, Ryan sneered). Thus is this propaganda playlet, probably the first.
- Jim
- What's wrong, Mary? You look like you just heard some terrible news!
- Mary
- Capital punishment! In Rapture!! This isn't what I signed up for.
- Jim
- Now hold on there, pretty lady! The only people who face capital punishment in Rapture are smugglers; and that because they put everything we work for at risk. Imagine if the Soviets found out about our wonderful city, or even the U.S. Government. Our secrecy is our shield.
- Mary
- A little capital punishment is a small price to pay to protect all of our freedoms.
- Jim
- Now you're talking, Mary!
on the takeover of fontaine futuristics
After Frank Fontaine's demise
, his vast corporate holdings — the Fisheries, the electronics and other factories, the Little Sisters and plasmid business, the charity fronts — fell into Ryan's hands as Ryan nationalized Fontaine Futuristics. For the good of the city … he'll break it up in due time
, Bill McDonagh quoted Ryan as he resigned his place on the Government Council in protest. This is Ryan's feeble attempt to avoid the ensuing civil war.
- Jim
- Hey, Mary, everything okay?
- Mary
- Did you hear that Andrew Ryan took control of Fontaine Futuristics? I'm hopping mad!
- Jim
- Slow down there, little lady!
- Mary
- Sorry, Jim, but I'm real upset. We came to Rapture to get away from government muscling in on private business people.
- Jim
- Sure thing, Mary. But Andrew Ryan didn't take control of anything. The Government Council simply assumed stewardship of Fontaine Futuristics until all the Frank Fontaine's crimes and betrayals against the people of Rapture are sorted out. Pretty soon everything will be back to normal.
- Mary
- Really! Well, that's a weight off my shoulders.
- Jim
- Remember, Mary: Doubting the Council only emboldens the bandits.
on the little sisters
The Little Sisters began their gathering rounds at the start of the civil war. Obviously the sight of little girls extracting blood from dead splicers and drinking it is causing a lot of upset from upstanding citizens.
- Jim
- Hey, Mary, why so down in the mouth?
- Mary
- I don't know, Jim. I guess I just don't know how I feel about those Little Sisters.
- Jim
- The Little Sister? Gee, don't you know they're the glue that holds Rapture together?
- Mary
- Really?
- Jim
- You betcha! Ryan Industries has seen to it that they are bred to be as happy as clams while they do the work that keeps us safe from the bandits and terrorists. We all need Adam, and we all need the Little Sisters.
on splicing
Fontaine was not much of a salesman (he never needed to be), so plasmids did not become widespread until Ryan took over Fontaine Futuristics, and more so after the civil war broke out. Some people were going whole hog with the plasmids, with the resulting nausea and vertigo that presages their brains being destroyed — although nobody but Tenenbaum and some others knew what was happening.
- Jim
- What's the matter, Mary? You look like you could use a boost!
- Mary
- I don't feel so great. I'm dizzy, I'm nauseous, and sometimes I'm even seeing things that aren't there.
- Jim
- That's just the plasmid blues, Mary. You just need to slow down a bit on the splicing. Before you know it, you'll be as right as rain. Remember, a smart splicer is a happy splicer.
The problem with that fairy tale is that there is no safe level of splicing.
on normal life during war
War disrupts economic life. Nobody wants to buy or to sell or to work or to attend events, when doing so puts them in mortal danger. Natural reactions to war, to the fighting from Atlas and his followers, was threatening the collapse of Rapture's economy. Ryan had to try to stop it.
- Jim
- Hey, Mary! Going to the big game tonight? I heard Ryan's Raiders are playing.
- Mary
- No way, Jim! It's not safe! Haven't you heard? Atlas' bandits are everywhere.
- Jim
- Now hold on a second there! Remember what Andrew Ryan says: If you do that, the bandits win. Take your family to Fort Frolic and Arcadia. Go out and shop: It's the Rapture Way of Life.
Yes, and that Rapture Way of Life got a whole lot of trusting people killed by splicer attacks.
on apollo square
As the proles made up most of Atlas' followers, Ryan turned their quarter of the city into a giant concentration camp centered on the Apollo Square terminus. Hangings and brutality were the norm in the Square. Stories of those were leaking into the general public. Ryan attempted to suppress those rumors to keep up morale among the public.
- Jim
- Hey, Mary, what's with the sour puss?
- Mary
- Have you heard what's going on down in Apollo Square? I hear they're putting people in cages.
- Jim
- There you go again, Mary, listening to the rumor guard. Rapture Security is just rounding up the worse of the worse until the Council can be try them in a proper court.
- Mary
- People say there have been executions.
- Jim
- People say lots of irresponsible things. That doesn't mean you have to embolden Atlas and his bandits be repeating them. Remember, Mary, Rapture Security is our security.