Comments on: Sidewalk 2006: The knights of disparity http://wadeonbirmingham.com/2006/09/19/sidewalk-2006-the-knights-of-disparity/ News, features and essays about Birmingham and Alabama Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:25:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: smallerdemon http://wadeonbirmingham.com/2006/09/19/sidewalk-2006-the-knights-of-disparity/#comment-5313 smallerdemon Mon, 25 Sep 2006 04:12:46 +0000 http://wadeonbirmingham.com/2006/09/19/sidewalk-2006-the-knights-of-disparity/#comment-5313 I can count how many times I've played RPGs on one hand. It's boring stuff to me. But I have friends who love it. Who started playing in high school, formed friendships based on it in college, and now are all technologically savvy enough to be scattered all across the country and find a way to still do it (and not with World of Warcraft or Everquest, but ways to do online what they did in person). Still, wow, it's very boring to me. Darkon was not. More than anything, Darkon was a significantly poignant study on being socially awkward, being physically unattractive in the eyes of a lot of people around you, struggling to feel some success in one's life when all around is personal mediocrity (not success, not failure, just surviving). My favorite part of the movie was the interweaving of some of the people's very sad stories but also how nevertheless you can't help but laugh at the seriousness with which they take their "game". I also adored that they filmmakers went to great lengths to portray the battles in the movie quite probably how the players imagine it happening: in huge, wide, enormous scale and scope. The crane shots and helicopter shots really add to giving you an idea about how the players probably imagine the game as epic, although it's just foam swords and spears. It wasn't as good as Firefly, though, but it was definitely a worthwhile entry. I can count how many times I’ve played RPGs on one hand. It’s boring stuff to me. But I have friends who love it. Who started playing in high school, formed friendships based on it in college, and now are all technologically savvy enough to be scattered all across the country and find a way to still do it (and not with World of Warcraft or Everquest, but ways to do online what they did in person).

Still, wow, it’s very boring to me. Darkon was not. More than anything, Darkon was a significantly poignant study on being socially awkward, being physically unattractive in the eyes of a lot of people around you, struggling to feel some success in one’s life when all around is personal mediocrity (not success, not failure, just surviving).

My favorite part of the movie was the interweaving of some of the people’s very sad stories but also how nevertheless you can’t help but laugh at the seriousness with which they take their “game”. I also adored that they filmmakers went to great lengths to portray the battles in the movie quite probably how the players imagine it happening: in huge, wide, enormous scale and scope. The crane shots and helicopter shots really add to giving you an idea about how the players probably imagine the game as epic, although it’s just foam swords and spears.

It wasn’t as good as Firefly, though, but it was definitely a worthwhile entry.

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