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How Games Won't Save Us

In reflecting on yesterday’s class discussion over the possibility of playing video games in order to save the world, I am still not convinced.  McGonigal’s claim in the article we read for class was that when everyone has access to “The Long Game” the world will be a better place…no kidding.  I would hope that we would put getting everyone video games lower on the priority list that getting everyone in the world clean water, safe food, and education (among other things).  This argument I feel like is kind of a duh.  And it also makes it seem like by the time everyone does get this world-problem-solving game it won’t really be necessary because we will have a lot of the other problems solved by that point.  And going even further, I just don’t really see how playing a video game would help to solve the world’s problems anyways.  Like I said in class yesterday, I don’t play games because I want to think critically.  I play games to take my mind off of things that require critical thinking – things I am trying not to think about.  I know that not everyone feels the same way, and some do like thinking hard about the games they play.  However, there is a large portion of game players that do use games as relaxation and wouldn’t want what they use for play to turn into work.  The pressure of having to play the game would talk away from the pleasure of getting to play it. 

 

Another problem I have with this claim is that the nature of a game is to have a winner.  In a game, typically people are looking out for themselves or their team, and are encouraged to go for the "epic win" because they know they will have this amazing feeling of winning and overcoming once they do.  In a game where everyone in the entire world is one the same team, there would be no winners and no losers…kind of boring if you ask me.  I feel like that would take half the fun and most of the point out of playing games.  Plus more people all on the same team would mean more opinions and more internal conflict.  Usually more conflict means less getting done, which is pretty much the opposite of both the definition of collaboration and McGonigal’s argument.

Media's Secret to Success

Over the course of this class, I have determined that the media’s underlying message that everyone can and should be perfect is not only unattainable, but also contradictory.  Obviously no one can be perfect one hundred percent of the time; everyone has problems.  Media takes advantage of this unfortunate, and (at times) extremely entertaining, circumstance to make television shows and movies about people struggling to get by in life, chronicling their failures and successes.  And even though the goal in life is to eventually “have it all,” if we got it all life would prove to extremely boring and uneventful.  Think about it. If TV shows and movies showed people going through life with a great job that pays plenty and that they love and enjoy going to, the perfect partner who has brains, beauty, wit, and a giving and forgiving personality, the perfect family life, all the stuff they could ask for, and a great home with all of the latest and greatest technologies, no one would watch.  It would be boring.  And not only would it be boring, but people would also get annoyed watching some one else have it all while they are struggling just to get by.  Therefore, I argue that mainstream media and popular culture thrive on the fact that no one will or can ever be perfect or have the perfect life.  Media has realized that the entertainment value lies in watching others go through troubles and solve problems, striving to be perfect – and they exploit this discovery and understanding on the issue like it is no one’s business.  So while it is understood by the media that perfect is an unattainable goal, it is perpetuated by the media that it really exists and we all just have to keep looking ahead and working towards our happy ending.  Consequently it can be seen that media is then creating and bringing about its own popularity and corporate empire.   

Sell What Sells

Today in class we discussed how hyper-masculinity is something that can be reproduced and then sold as profit.  It can easily be replicated, and in most cases is done so in order to make money, espessicially among colored populations.  This got me thinking about two questions: why is it that people continue to buy the image of “hyper-masculinity” and why is it that those who illustrate this stereotype continue to do so, instead of trying to break the cycle?  In my opinion, because the hyper-masculine image is one that typically exerts power, it is the image that those who are without power choose to imitate to create a false-sense of authority.  Those who are colored are at a disadvantage in society, so therefore, I believe, they try to compensate by being hyper-masculine, to “prove” that they really do have power.  This powerful image they project is one that they know people will buy, and that is all that matters.  I feel as though, to them, it is a matter of not fighting what they know will sell so that they will for sure make money…I can understand that – sell what sells.  And I think the reason that people continue to buy into this stereotype is not only because it can be empowering to put on a hyper-masculine façade, but also because it is comfortable.  No one wants to be pushed out of where they are comfortable.  I believe that this music, which overwhelming exudes the concept of “hyper-masculinity,” is therefore the same style they continue to buy and listen to because they think that when they listen to this kind of music, they become closer to being those same kinds of extremely masculine people, creating a sense of power for them as well.  I don’t believe that everyone who acts on the far end of the masculinity scale is people who are naturally vulgar, violent, and promiscuous.  I think the majority of the time it is a lot of people putting up a front, sharing the common ground of pretending to be as powerful as they claim they are. 

Desperate Housewives Aren't Really All That Desperate

When we were discussing examples of other, more recent, television shows that are examples of featuring a strong, independent, and thus a feminist-perspective-supporting female lead, one of the shows that I thought of was the example of Desperate Housewives.  I feel as though this example is a perfect example of our discussion in class.  The story line is a perfect example of Girl Power! in my opinion.  Some may not support me in this feeling.  Some may see the show Desperate Housewives as a show that yes features women as the lead, but is not one that portrays Girl Power!, nor the feminist perspective.  I can understand why others may think this.  Much of the plot is concerned with the women finding a romantic partner, them experiencing the trials and tribulations of being in a relationship, and them making messes in their lives and then scrambling around to try to clean up the messes they make.  However, even though they do spend a lot of the show and plot line concerned with these issues, I feel as though they do it in a way that is the essence of the Third Wave of feminism.  The Third Wave of feminism is concerned with feminists being very feminist but at the same time still being very feminine simultaneously. 

 

All of the women go through extreme circumstances on the show, being a dramatic prime time evening show.  How the women handle themselves during and through those circumstances, no matter how “girly” those circumstances may seem to be, are still in a way that can be seen as independent, strong, and feminist based.  To me it seems as though the women may want to be with a man, they do not absolutely have to be with a man in order to be happy and in order to be okay to get through though times.  I will admit that the women all may not have started out like this.  But quickly past the first season of the show, the women all became independent and strong.  Bree Van De Kamp did this when her husband died and she became a widow, forcing her to be a single parent.  She also became an entrepreneur by starting her own catering business.  Lynette Scavo always seemed to be this way in that while she was a mother of five kids she was also a top-dog in the business world and portrayed as even better than her husband and other men at times.  Susan Mayer became a portrayal of the feminist perspective by also becoming a widow and living a life on her own without a man to take care of her.  Finally, Gaby Solis was the a perfect example of Third Wave feminism in that she had a career as a fashion model, an extremely feminine career, but also never let any man take advantage of her, and also became the primary caregiver and provider for her family when her husband became blind, thus showing a flip-flop of roles for males and females on a television show.

Drama Drama Drama

In reviewing my notes for our upcoming exam tomorrow I discovered the reason behind why the reality show The Bachelor/Bachelorette continues to grow in popularity season after season, even though true love has only been found a handful of times in over twenty seasons.  I myself have been caught under its spell, recognizing and labeling it as trash TV.  I know that there will be all kinds of dramatics and over-the-top dates and a romanticized image of what the dating world is really like.  I realize that the producers of this show have put the contestants in situations where it is next to impossible not to create drama.  And, yet, I still watch it, each season forming new and lasting para-social relationships with the men and women searching for love on national television.  In looking at this show from the dramatist perspective, however, I have come to understand the reason I, and the rest of America making this show a Monday night favorite, can overlook all of the things that make this show ridiculous.  This reason we accept these people choosing to portray themselves in the most outrageous fashions, and doing some of the most ridiculous things, is because of the higher calling they are seeking.  They are doing it for love, and when it comes down to it, everyone can understand the craziness that surrounds trying to find the person you are meant to be with.  The audience can relate to the god term of finding love and a happy ending, explaining the addiction to and overwhelming popularity of The Bachelor.