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In class, variously, there's been talk of areas/arenas of Play; this is especially in relation to the creation of logic and culture. (note: the idea of games as For Children has apparently only been a recent development)
What's been startling and wonderful to realize is that it is by playing that culture's arisen, that there are ties and themes to playing in festivals and religions, and that by playing one comes about to the creation of beauty.
And here too, a realization, that if it can be said that games are simulations, that games are needed for logic. And if games are simulations, then it is a space for mistakes.
To say this again, in another way: Games are a place where mistakes are allowed and made welcome; whereas outside the Magic Circle of a game, mistakes are unallowed and discouraged.
This is not to say that games do not fully have consequences, either. Games can be deadly, can be life-threatening (ie. gladiator tournaments, x-games, free diving, Ender's Game), but with the context of a game one is more free to take risks, one is more free to move. In the context of a game, a death is given meaning like with chess or religion.
Consequently, in the middle of games, mistakes are made beautiful. Mistakes becomes patterns, mistakes becomes reinvented, mistakes become the path to victory; in the middle of games, a mistake has a place.
Which, to bring it back to fandom, has interesting resonances with post-modernism and SGA, "The Isle of Misfit Toys".
On that note, it looks like my download has finished, w00t! SGA Season Finale!!
What's been startling and wonderful to realize is that it is by playing that culture's arisen, that there are ties and themes to playing in festivals and religions, and that by playing one comes about to the creation of beauty.
And here too, a realization, that if it can be said that games are simulations, that games are needed for logic. And if games are simulations, then it is a space for mistakes.
To say this again, in another way: Games are a place where mistakes are allowed and made welcome; whereas outside the Magic Circle of a game, mistakes are unallowed and discouraged.
This is not to say that games do not fully have consequences, either. Games can be deadly, can be life-threatening (ie. gladiator tournaments, x-games, free diving, Ender's Game), but with the context of a game one is more free to take risks, one is more free to move. In the context of a game, a death is given meaning like with chess or religion.
Consequently, in the middle of games, mistakes are made beautiful. Mistakes becomes patterns, mistakes becomes reinvented, mistakes become the path to victory; in the middle of games, a mistake has a place.
Which, to bring it back to fandom, has interesting resonances with post-modernism and SGA, "The Isle of Misfit Toys".
On that note, it looks like my download has finished, w00t! SGA Season Finale!!
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i love the word play and overuse it at times, both in its postmodern pla(y)giaristic use (yes, i'm a child of deconstructionism :-) and in its double meaning...derrida's srtucture, sign, play remains one of my favorite essays by him (only superceded by Signature Event Context)
i've been reading a lot on games lately and not really writing about it, but have you read First Person? it has some marvelous essays on games and narrative and ludology and such...
tell us more about your class???
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and yet. again. am unable to respond coherently. *laughs* Every time, Perma, every tiiiiiiime.
Regarding SGA, I'm through 1-18 & gonna try to watch the Siege in full this weekend. *quiver*
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The season finale was UNBELIEVABLE. Oh my god, such human stupidity/stupid humanity.
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Yes and No.
Think of the Season 2 character arc as a whole, it basically comes out to "Thou shalt *trust* despite overwheeeeeeeelming odds."
Almost every episode followed this pattern from Epiphany to Critical Mass to Coup D'Etat to Inferno. They met three societies who at first (and maybe second) glance thought that Atlanteans were Shady Motherfuckers.
Trust has be POUNDED into their heads throughout the whole season.
...and then you have Allies.
=D I love my show!
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Don't get me wrong, I remain enthralled by both the stupid fucking
vigilantemistakes they make and the Trust with a capital T issue that's been steering the show since season 1. But oh my god, the ambivalence, it HURTS. They're being way too human. Make them stop! *LOL*Will post on "Allies" later this weekend. What a glorious mindfuck. I swear, the crack fanfic in this fandom? Is freakin' THERAPY.
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It's a bit hard to summarize, right now we're going over game characters and how we tend to gravitate towards games that have characters who are complementary to our personality styles and less towards ones that are similar (this is provided that the game is non-rpg).
One interesting part I'm reading about in our textbook is how the court of law and how war can be read as games, that culture is at heart founded on chivarlry/honor is at heart a game. ie. a non-consequential means of establishing status. Or rather, it's a means of arriving at status in an efficient way; however the bounds by which "efficiency" is drawn is different in every case. For instance, the court of law efficiently decides who has status without the antagonistic parties killing each other. War efficiently decides the status of countries concretely, whereas otherwise it would take centuries which is hindsight that rulers are rarely willing to spare.
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both essays are online:
http://www.hydra.umn.edu/derrida/sec.html
http://www.hydra.umn.edu/derrida/sign-play.html
and i don't know how much derrid you've read, but i'd gladly talk about it...
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...
do you want me to send some cold-eeze?
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