I am tired of zombies. I am tired of Joss Whedon. I am tired of steampunk. I am tired of Monty Python. I am tired of zombies. I am tired of ninjas. I am tired of Batman. I am tired of bacon. I am tired of Star Wars. I am tired of Nintendo. I am tired of zombies. I am tired of Halo. I am tired of elves. I am tired of Cthulhu. I am tired of Boba Fett. I am tired of zombies. I am tired of pirates. I am tired of Battlestar Galactica. I am tired of mecha. I am tired of superheroes. I am tired of Star Trek. I am tired of “funny” bands. Have I mentioned that I am tired of zombies?
Most of those things I liked at some point. Most of them I still like in some way. But all of them I’m tired of. I’m tired of hearing about them constantly, having them shoved at me all the time. Even — no, especially — when they’re “creatively” mashed up with each other.
A million thanks to blizack of Dungeonskull Mountain for passing this article along. The article perfectly sums up much of my thoughts tangentially related to gaming and gaming culture - especially what gaming culture has become (along with "nerd" culture in general) over the last decade or so.
Edit to Add: The first comment is pretty much my feelings in a nutshell:
But, I dunno, how about instead of watching a two-hour shot-for-shot duplicate of something you already have memorized, you go read a novel? One that doesn’t have elves in it? Or watch a movie that isn’t set in the future? Or listen to a record? There are other options. Liking something doesn’t mean ONLY liking that thing. Your life doesn’t have to be an endless series of reiterations of something you already know.
Two thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Easter weekend!
:)
I agree with most of that message - I am tired of those things when they are done poorly. I even wrote a column about it. But I am tired of them when they are done poorly or the same as before. Done in a new way it might be interesting.
ReplyDeleteI can't get down with that.
ReplyDeleteI've READ novels without elves in them. I read Roxanna, for pantssake. I've watched movies set in the modern day, and I will again.
But, straight up, I love fantasy. I enjoy science fiction. I think gigantic robots are awesome. Ninjas are dope (dudes had inflatable rafts).
Perhaps it's to my advantage that looking at the initial list that spawned your post, some of the items are things I've never cared about. Maybe there's a balance there.
But I've spent most of my free time over the last week playing Warhammer Online, running around as an orc and hitting things with an axe, or floating around as a Magus and drawing fiends from the Warp...and it's not become anything other than a joy.
Again, I don't know that I'm really a part of a self-referential culture; I'm not especially part of any culture. So maybe that's the reason I can see the thing so differently. For me, though, there are things I love, and I want to have those things, because loving them sustains and empowers me.
And I'm never tired of Cthulhu.
I have to give props to Max of the (now-inactive?) Malevolent & Benign blog for bringing the article to my attention in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHell yeah. On the Delta Green list, someone asked 'what blogs or podcasts do you read for inspiration?' The answers were all some retread of scholarly Mythos news or pastiche-writers' blogs or whatnot. People on the Yog-Sothoth forums are asking 'Hey, I have a great idea for a scenario, how do I shoehorn in a spooky robed cultists to make it c'est authentique?' It blows my mind!
ReplyDeleteSome of the best inspiration for scenario problems I've come across was Night Jack, which got linked to in an article on child welfare programs. The best weird monsters come from all the art that you don't see on conceptships.org. But the colossal catfish of the nerdosphere just keeps sucking in any childhood ephemera lying around and grinding it down for ever-vanishing supplies of Vitamin Fun.
I try to post some of the more gameable things I come across in some feeble attempt to cross-pollinate, but nobody reads my thing anyway. Oh well.
hüth: Count me as a reader, at least! Thanks for the linkage.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, the lack of creativity when it comes to the Lovecraftian mythos is some of the most baffling of all the various creative bankruptcies. One of the things I really respect about the Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG is the complete lack of a monster section. Make up your own, folks! Or crib liberally from a dozen different sources! Steampunk zombies and Deep Ones need not apply. ;)
Im late to this party! But thank the *insert pithy reference here* that I'm not alone. The commodification and homogeniaty are sickening tbh. Its just so bloody twee.
ReplyDelete