This week was very interesting for the simple fact of how I felt I was reading and watching a part of my life in the passages from "Post Human" as well as "Second Skin". Its really weird talking about this just because the general public all have the same perspective that anyone who plays warcraft is a geek or weird, and this video doesn't do my arguement and justice, however the game is extremely competitive. The people in "Second Skin" are taking this a little to far in my opinion, because they are in a documentary and for the purpose of it being succesful they needed to spice it up a bit.
The person who wanted to kill himself because he couldnt face his family due to losing his business, girl friend, and house is pathetic. I use to play during the school year probably 7-10 hours a day, and I still obviously went to school, had a job, and played a year round sport in high school. The only thing that really bugged me about Second Skin was how everyone they showed were overweight. The video itself is a perfect example of the Post Human passages in culture jam, but just to be repetitive "some" online games are just an escape from reality and create a world with a better reality than your own, and instead of taking the time to better your own life you can have a new life after 2 hours of downloading a game.
Its kind of funny because one of the quotes from "the cult you're in" expresses how I got hooked.
"You light up a Metro, a designer cigarette so obviously targeted at your demographic... which is why you steered clear of them until one day you smoked one to be ironic, and now you can't stop." This quote isn't exactly how it happened but I remember it perfectly from lunch in high school, the lunch table I sat at just joked about one of my friends for playing warcraft and I made fun of him also, not to be hurtful but just because that's what my mentality was at the time, but after playing it for the first couple of weeks I was addicted.
I agree that for this documentary they picked the most extreme cases possible so that it would be more shocking and interesting to viewers.
ReplyDeleteWow, so you feel like -Second Skins- somewhat stereotyped the gamer? I'm glad you had a strong reaction to the film, and I enjoyed your real-life connections. I'd be interested to hear more in class about maybe how you would have made the documentary less stereotypical.
ReplyDeleteGamers do come in all shapes and sizes (and levels of education and occupation). I found myself similarly hooked to an MMO when I was in graduate school. I somehow managed to make a 4.0 every semester, so it took me awhile to realize there was any problem. I think much of what the people admit in the documentary is pretty honest. The demographic may be a bit more varied, and cases less extreme, but it is an interesting glimpse into a world that few people truly understand...and many people underestimate. I applaud your honesty here!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about how most gamers are depicted as nerds or weird when in all actuality its just a game.I also liked how honest you were and how you really expressed yourself.An I found it interesting that you gamed for 7-10 hrs and still found time to study, maintain a job, and play a sport.I crown you as the Ultimate Multi-Tasker! (lol)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on how its pathetic that someone would want to kill themselves over a game. I think that our society has become so dependent on technology to make us happy
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