Busy week here at EMB Westside. I failed to game almost entirely, with the exception of a few Fable quests in which I have realized something both reassuring and disturbing. The hot shit about Fable was that you could perform any quest as you liked - for good or for evil - and your outward appearance as well as “civilian” reaction to you was reflected accordingly. Supposedly this was a world that didn’t judge you for good or evil, you simply were one or the other. I started a second character with the full intent of becoming a shameless cad, killing traders instead of rescuing them, marrying multiple women, and consorting with known communists. Unfortunately I couldn’t bear myself after a few evil missions and I resorted back to goody-two-shoes behavior, limiting my capriciousness to breaking barrels in public and sleeping in other people’s beds. I did pay the fines, though, the law is the law after all.
It occurs to me that this sort of behavior implies an inability to separate myself from the video game within. It bothered me so much that civilians recoiled from my digital avatar that I recanted my evil ways, despite the fact that no one in the real world would ever know that I helped imaginary bandits raid a non-existent farm. On one hand, it seems I’m a highly scrupulous fellow with a high regard for the law, a stance viewed with favor among the civilized nations. On the other hand, my inability to separate my emotional response from the game implies a certain blurring between fantasy and reality that leads eventually to the “GTA made me do it” defense. I don’t know that there’s anything to be said about such a problem, as my neurosis for good digital behavior coincides quite neatly with what people want out of my actual behavior. I have yet to decide if I’m really just that scrupulous, or if I’m afraid that evil deeds in video games will lead to evil deeds in real life - a position certain media buffoons tout highly. I will say, however, that I have never felt the urge to headbutt a brick to see if a gold coin will pop out; a digital action I performed endlessly as a child.
As for the Rock, I did see “Doom” this weekend. I was a little dissapointed there wasn’t more lead involved - the movie was more “Alien” than “Aliens” - but I don’t feel that my nine dollars was wasted. Indeed, renting this movie for four dollars would be more of a waste, as seeing it in the dark on a huge screen increased its entertainment value several-fold. The Rock was appropriately scene chewing and resorted to “the People’s Eyebrow” to express his disdain for monsters on many occasions. Nothing says disdain like “the People’s Eyebrow.”
