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It is 2023, and Are video games art
Dec. 17th, 2023 04:28 pmI gave a fan convention panel on "Postapocalyptic Fantasies and Nuclear Anxieties in Japanese Video Games" this afternoon, and the response wasn't what I was expecting.
I prefaced my presentation by saying that there are different ways to read various stories, and that people should feel free to disagree with my arguments, as I'm keenly interested in hearing different interpretations. People did disagree, but in a surprising way that I didn't know how to respond to.
Virtual talks are always a bit weird, as screenshare set-ups often don't allow you to see the chat while you're showing a slideshow. Not being able to see or interact with a live audience while you're talking is always a bit awkward, but what happened was still strange.
At the end of my talk - and during the chat conversation throughout - people weren't disagreeing with my readings of the games under discussion. Instead, they were disagreeing with the concept that a video game can reflect its social context or have a political message. Multiple people argued that video games are pure escapism, and that there's no room for real-world social concerns in their stories.
To my mind, that's an odd argument to make. I wonder where it's coming from...?
I prefaced my presentation by saying that there are different ways to read various stories, and that people should feel free to disagree with my arguments, as I'm keenly interested in hearing different interpretations. People did disagree, but in a surprising way that I didn't know how to respond to.
Virtual talks are always a bit weird, as screenshare set-ups often don't allow you to see the chat while you're showing a slideshow. Not being able to see or interact with a live audience while you're talking is always a bit awkward, but what happened was still strange.
At the end of my talk - and during the chat conversation throughout - people weren't disagreeing with my readings of the games under discussion. Instead, they were disagreeing with the concept that a video game can reflect its social context or have a political message. Multiple people argued that video games are pure escapism, and that there's no room for real-world social concerns in their stories.
To my mind, that's an odd argument to make. I wonder where it's coming from...?
