Mazes & Monsters
I previously posted about the satanic panic and alarm over D&D in my J is for "Just a Game" post. The scene from Mazes & Monsters unfortunately demonstrates what many people at the time believed about D&D. These people had usually never played D&D but the rumors, hearsay, and media attention would fuel the fire of their ignorance.
The movie was based on the book by Rona Jaffe. I do not know her motivation for the novel or what side of the D&D argument she stands on. It is pretty apparent from reading the book and watching the movie that her knowledge of D&D is best described as superficial. Take this still for instance:
Fortunately, I never directly faced this sort of hysteria from close family. My mom just needed help with the names of the products she would buy as birthday or Christmas presents. My step dad did not fully object but would just say "be aware of what you are messing with". At times his stance would annoy me BUT I do get it now. It is actually sound advice and makes sense. You should be aware of what you are messing with regardless what "it" is - games, religion, politics, etc. It never led to any arguments or heated discussions so it is no problem at all.
Now that the 80's are long gone, I thought this sort of hysteria and alarm would be gone but it does resurface every now and then. I hope that one day people will realize that activities such as gaming are not to blame for the actions of some people. It all comes down to choice and agency. People can choose to act "good" or "bad".
It is up to everyone of us, isn't it, the good and bad, though it makes me think of the current push to remove all advertising from cigarette packets... wonder if this will work.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard there was a push for that. At first, I thought you wrote "remove warnings" from the pack. I definitely think the warnings should remain.
DeleteIt irritates me when writers or directors don't do their research, settling for a superficial take on the material. It cheats both the uninitiated, and the people who know it the best! :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, Mr. Hammons. I don't even have a problem with the game being in the story. Rona Jaffe could have told an interesting story where the main character saw his personal life doing a downward spiral as the "life" of his game character enjoy unprecedented success. As his real life became worse and worse, the main character could start mentally escaping from it and living in his character's world. Basically, use the game as a tool in the story that the main character uses to escape reality. It probably would have been a much longer book by switching back and forth in the story like that but I think it would be a much better story.
DeleteI actually found that movie on DVD. It's amazing Tom Hanks' career has survived.
ReplyDeleteHa! Very true words, Mr. Wall. I bought it for $7.50 in the Wal-Mart discount bin. It's very hard to imagine that the same actor that starred in this movie was also in Big, Forrest Gump, Castaway, and Philadelphia!
DeleteThis is one of the best movies Tom Hanks ever did.
ReplyDeleteAs for the candlelight, I have known people to do it for Call of Cthulu or Vampire. Usually people trying to set a 'horror' mood. It is, impractical so it really depends on things being more of a "storytelling" game and being young enough to have good dim light vision.
When power was out, I do recall using flashlights to play D&D.
Don't get me wrong - I still pull out the DCS and watch it.
DeleteI can see the candlelight working in a Vampire or Call of Cthulhu session for mood and atmosphere.
I'be done the flashlight thing when the power went out...lol.
DVD not DCS; phone autocorrect is not my friend.
DeleteHave you ever seen the Spoony review of Mazes & Monsters. Very funny.
ReplyDeletehttp://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/08/01/mazes-monsters/
That is hilarious!
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