the Lessons of Film Theory

Quick history lesson. As some of you may know, the 1970's gave us some of the most deep, evocative and overall incredible films. Films from "The Godfather" to "Jaws", from "Taxi Driver" to "Star Wars". Now, I don't know all that much about the history of film, (admittedly I'm getting a lot of this information from this video), but I can tell you that one of the major reasons for this is that the directors creating these incredible projects had all studied "Film Theory" when they were college. They didn't just study how to get the lighting to work for them, but also how the lighting added to the theme and feeling of the story itself. In other words they looked deeply at how the elements of film interacted with one another and a genuinely unique experience. The reason I bring this up is because the best way for video games to advance as an art form is for them to be studied, looked at and understood by academics as, if not art, at least as something with a theory to be studied and postulated about.

I'm sure that there are people out there who don't think this is a good idea, people who played "Braid" (the classic, oft cited "art game"), thought is was boring and went back to "Call of Duty 4". And to you I say, fear not: there will always be our FPSs. Studying something legitimately doesn't in any way take away from the fun that it holds. Studying the anti-corporate and messianic subtexts of "Robocop" doesn't make it any less of an awesome movie (trust me). And likewise, studying what makes Halo or Call of Duty tick doesn't make a day killing people on line any less enjoyable. It couldn't hurt either way. Nothing has ever benefitted from not being studied

Let me try this whole thesis thing again (plead read this, Mr. McCormick)

It recently occurred to me that I don't really have that much of thesis for this report, which is bad. So let me give this a try. Here's my thesis:

"I think that video games are both culturally relevant enough as a medium of art and have evolved enough over the years and have an interesting enough of a history to be considered something studied academically as a form of art the way someone studies both film and literature theory."
Please let me know what you think.

The blunt awkwardness of my argument

The more I pursue this particular topic, the more I realize just how tough it is to describe the particulars of why games can be enriching, especially when it comes to what it is that games do that other mediums don't. I suppose the main reason I haven't been providing particular examples of statistics is that video games are such volatile issue that needless to say, they tend to range from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "a definitely reasonable doubt" in my experience. And these aren't just extremes like angry old people on the "are" and young people as "aren't" as to whether this or that video game caused this or that school killing, or controversy. Upon googling the topic "violent video game study", for example, on the first page you get both a PBS and CNN study on opposite ends of the spectrum. In essence, this is such a hotly debated topic that even major news media is arguing over it. But let's say, hypothetically, video games somehow have negative effects (at the very least there's clear evidence that World of Warcraft does) then, let's face facts, there are plenty of things in this world that are possibly harmful, if not clearly addictive, yet have flourishing sub cultures based on them. And no, I don't mean the whole movement of people trying to legalize mary-jane, although that is something of a noble goal. I mean people like wine connoisseurs and the people like we read about in that last article we had to read for this class.
The main source of the controversy is, in not just my opinion, that it's just a reaction from people who don't understand it or haven't had much experience with it having a visceral reaction to something new and scary to them. Like rock and roll, or violent movies. Heck, although I have my doubts that I could find a decent source, even books at one point.
All of that being said, it's hard to deny the cultural impact that games have had, especially now that a good generation has gone by that grew up to video games. This goes without saying the incredible community that has formed up among fans (as tempting as it is to use "gamer", this doesn't really hold up), people who share their love of video games with one another and engage in almost philosophical arguments on internet forums. Hell, if you doubt the cultural significance of video games then just follow this link for iam8bit. Trust me, it's a sight to see.

Violence in video games

I suppose if I’m going to do a project about videogames, I’m inevitably going to have to bring up the issue of violence in videogames. This always comes up whenever someone talks about videogames, and is one of those elephant in the room kind of deals. The thing is though; videogames are no less violent than many movies that come out today. And not just the schlocky bad action/slasher films. There are plenty of movies, which are classics not only in spite of their violence, but also because of it, films such as “A Clockwork Orange”, “Silence of the Lambs”, “Black Swan”, and “Straw Dogs”.
            Heck, there’s plenty of violence in the bible. Entire civilizations getting wiped out by the hand of god, violent civilizations filled with rape and murder (Sodom), the appeasement of god with blood sacrifices. Ask a clergyman—or rabbi or imam—any of these things, and he (or she) will confirm it all. Just as an example: “God decides to kill Moses because his son had not yet been circumcised.”

            All of that being said, I do somewhat understand the arguments being perpetuated by many conservative media sources. You yourself aren’t killing the fictional people—not that videogames always encourage just that, look at “Portal”—so I get that. But you know where else children, and even adults, do pretend killing. Usually when playing with their water gun or with their favorite Lego toys, just think about it that way. Not to mention there are very few times where violent videogames are specifically marketed at children. In fact if you look on the boxes of most videogames there will usually be an “e”, “e10”, “t”, or “M” in the corner, and not particularly hidden, like, say the warnings on cigarette boxes. You’ll know a videogame is violent based solely on the fact that there is a very clear “M” in the corner of the box, and you’ll know that a videogame is probably something that shouldn’t be played by kids.

What video games do on their own.

I suppose if I’m going to try and explain why videogames deserve a little respect as it were, I suppose I should explain my philosophy in regards to this kind of thing.

            I’ll start by reminding you that each medium out there—each way we can experience a story, whether it be a book, a movie, a play, even a graphic novel—has something completely it’s own to offer the person experiencing it. For example, the way Holden Caulfield talks in Catcher in the Rye and the words he uses tells us more about his distaste for the adult way of life and “adult” ways of acting than any movie could. Conversley, there’s no way a book could adequately show us how much Alex DeLarge’s lease on life has changed from a world full of eccentric and usually sexual images to one bland and cold as portrayed in “A Clockwork Orange”.

            Videogames are no different. You’d think that videogames would just have cut-scenes that explain everything that’s going on, but there’s a phrase for games like that in the videogame world: doing it wrong. You see, unlike many of the above listed, there’s gameplay in videogames and just what goes on during that gameplay tells you a lot about world itself, the character you’re playing as, or the. There are a number of classic fourth-wall breaking examples, which videogames will often site. For example, there is a boss fight in “Metal Gear Solid” in which the boss shows reads the memory card in the Play Station you’re playing on, and will occasionally switch the controller from one port to another, giving you the feeling that the boss fight has spilled from the videogame’s world into our own.  Or, in a number of games, “Beyond Good and Evil” for example, there will be announcements playing while you explore the world, which allows for the feeling that the world is one way or another without interrupting the flow, unlike a film which would have to actually show the announcement going on for it to become relevant. And there are a whole slew of examples. The list could go on

Introduction

I'd begin this post by apologizing about how there, but well, there's no real point in starting that way now is there? So, as you may be able to guess based on the title of this blog, my thesis statement is going to be something like, say, "I believe that video games have just as much importance culturally and as an art form as any of the other mediums that express stories out there.” And while I do somewhat feel like the kid who always wants to write an essay on why marijuana is legalized, I feel it was the only one that I thought I’d be best suited for, due to an advanced knowledge of videogame culture and the like. Although at this point I feel like I should get down into the nitty-gritty if you will.

         If you’ve ever played a modern videogame, you’ll know that they can be epic affairs. They feature worlds that seem to literally team with life and magic, and feature deep, twisting, engaging narratives that can be anything from a deconstruction of objectivism (Bioshock) to the existential contemplations about the nature of videogames themselves (Braid). I can’t blame people who think what I’m saying is crazy, but if those people ever played videogames in their life then chances are they know what I’m talking about when I say that videogames immerse us in a world unlike any other, a place which can only be seen in this virtual world crafted on the blood sweat and tears of people who care about what they do for a living. Not to say that every videogame is a piece of art in and of itself, but that they’re just as important to popular culture and can be just as insightful as books, movies, or any other number of way used to empart a story or a sense wonder on their audience.