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[PATV] Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 1, Ep. 15: Facing Controversy
Dog
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
This week, talk about standing up for our medium.
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This is one of the times I wish these shows could be longer because I believe there is so much more to be said.
First, what they said: Why would you go forward with a decision so obviously controversial and then back out later? Did they think that they would just throw the Taliban thing out there to test the water, see how bad the backlash would be? That's just stupid. Six Days in Fallujah is a tragedy. It probably represented the single most significant chance for our industry to rise above the "child's toy" label and give us legitimacy as an art form. The chance to tell a story that is tragic, meaningful, and most importantly, relevant. But Konami ditched at the first sign of trouble, and set us back years.
But we, as "gamers" have a responsibility too. We have a responsibility to act maturely if we want recognition as a legitimate art form. Yes, I realize that it's downright laughable that Fox News has the audacity to claim that anything they air is "fair and balanced" when they devote all the talking time to the side they agree with and almost none to the other side (did you see the Mass Effect interview where their "expert" talked for like 10 minutes and Geoff Keighly was given enough time to speak maybe 3 sentences?). But our responses of hate mail, threats, "amazon bombing", etc, are not helping. Sure, some of it may be the fringe, but every time something like this happens, there are hundreds of amazon bombs, hundreds of tweets and death threats. They can't all be the same 200 guys doing it over and over, its more widespread than that. It's the normal people doing it too, and it sets us back just as much as any Fox News story or jittery publisher.
This comes into play especially in cases of moral dilemmas. It's one thing to see a character in a movie struggle with a personally challenging decision, when the audience has had 45 minutes to an hour or so see them develop their background, and come to a conclusion. It can be powerful to watch that protagonist's adaptation into who they are, even if it's from an outside perspective. How much more powerful, then, would those same moral dilemmas become if the protagonist is a reflection of the audience itself? Creating branching decisions based on audience input and reactions creates a whole extra gamut of possible connections and emotional experiences, tailored to each member that picks up the medium. If kitschy crap like Transformers can be seriously considered, by real, serious art critics as meaningful, how much more, then, for games like Mass Effect 2(and to some extent 3), or Heavy Rain?
And, if you want to tell a story in your own right, why not? Linear storylines are just as easily done in games as they are in movies, or books. In some ways, the audience creates a greater attachment for the characters, again, because of the control put in the player's hands. They're not just reading about the activities, or just watching, the players are DOING these things, PARTICIPATING in the life-defining moments of these heroes. Even abstract storytelling, or just emotional responses are doable within the confines of games: look at things like Braid, flOw, and Journey.
It may be in it's infancy right now, but I think gaming has the potential to be fine art, in it's own right. Maybe even better than current media; after all, all current forms of media are trying, struggling to try and touch the audience in some manner. Games do the same thing, then invite you to touch right the hell back.