So as part of my degree I was encouraged to look at symbolism in games, and whilst I didn't actually plan to look at FFVII, as I began to think about the entire thing I was actually pretty shocked at the similarity that 'The Planet' has to the real world.

For instance, Midgar, the dystopia where the game kicks off, is so similar to the United States (or perhaps what a Japanese company would percieve the US to look like) that it's actually a little shocking:

Concerning Midgar:

  • A capitalist city/country run by a President who is seen as having too much power
  • Plagued by terrorism from misguided people who want to get their point across using the wrong methods. These attacks involve bombings.
  • The media is very one-sided, one television channel seems to have been very pro-ShinRa whilst the other being anti-ShinRa (these channels only appear once or twice).
  • Wasted vast amounts of money on rather pointless space travel
  • Huge divide in wealth, very much a two-tier class system
  • Largest military in the world, who seem to get involved in the wrong situations
  • The biggest threat to the environment, what with the Mako reactors and all of the emissions from basically everything found in the city.
  • No real choice as to who runs the state, (think about it, in the US it’s basically a choice between two men)
  • Feels the need to police the world
  • Carrying weapons around seems to be the norm. Nobody is surprised to see a man with a gun on his arm until the party arrives at the Gold Saucer, one of the only areas not directly controlled by ShinRa.
  • ShinRa 'invades' Corel in an attempt to take the Mako energy, or basically steal their non-renewable energy sources
  • Despite not actually needing it at the time, the government commissioned the largest, most powerful weapon in the world, designed to level cities (Sister Ray).
  • Went to war with an Oriental country and basically reduced them to a tourist destination

Now I understand that some of these points may have been intentional, however I doubt that all of the points where intentional. And by looking at the list as representing Midgar rather than the USA, makes you feel horrified by the city. Irony?

The biggest coincidence that I've seen is the nature of the terrorist attacks in Midgar, which actually seem slightly prophetic. Two major sources of wealth are attacked in a very short period of time and the results are the death of thousands, and complete destruction of the almost identical structures.

Yes, I am comparing Sector's 1 and 5 Reactors with the Twin Towers. The similarity is strenghtened still by the way the government in both worlds deal with the attacks (the US starts a war in order to destroy Al Qaeda, ShinRa drops the Sector 7 plate. Both are done in order to destroy the terrorist organisation that caused the damage).

It's certainely a huge coincidence, has anybody else ever noticed this, or anything similar?

NB: This thread isn't designed to be critical of the USA. There are enough discussions on the Internet for that.