Escapism Collision
Escapism, pure unadulterated escapism. That’s what we love about games. Get us away from the nine to five, the hypocritical politics, and the dirty dishes in the sink. Push start, roll the dice, and turn off the real world for an hour or so.
But what happens when escapism collides? Whose escapism wins out? I’m reminded of a short story by Octavia Butler. In this short tale a woman is charged by God to make all people happy. The easiest way to make them happy was to make their dreams come true. Yet the woman in the story realizes that some dreams are nightmares to others. And so people would fulfill their fondest desires in sleep, in the dream world, wherein each tiny encapsulated paradise is kept safely separate, but equal.
This is a strange row to hoe in gaming. Many desire to leave the real world behind, but it’s the manner in which that happens that causes conflict in the gaming community. First let’s look at the more popular games which often receive low marks for sexism and racism, say Grand Theft Auto in any incarnation. For those who are tired of thinking about misogyny or prejudice these games are wonderful escapes.
And this is the collision of escapism I spoke of earlier. For those who experience misogyny and prejudice in real life this game is not a wonderful escape. And is really more of what they experience in the real world. It’s hard to lose yourself in a game that insists you are window dressing for the whims of others.
So don’t play those games right? Problem solved. Except it’s not that simple. Only so many games are created each year and arguably the biggest, flashiest, most talked about games of the year… just aren’t made for everyone. They’re made for one demographic and the hope is by the developers that it will spill over into the other “niche” demographics. Other little games are made, but they don’t fulfill the appetite of the “niche” demographics who want to save the world, defeat the dragon, or execute that military strike flawlessly.
Escapism for all?
And I would say this is why a culture war has sprung up within the gaming community (and other fandoms as well.) Let’s imagine the gaming market as a huge pie. Or Pi if you want to geek out. For the time being there is only so much pie to go around. Hopeful bakers are stirring up smaller, niche pies, but those won’t be baked and ready for a while yet. And so for now, we only have one gigantic pie. Now let’s say 65% of this pie is made up of prunes. 20% is blueberry. And the last 15% is apple.
Well, not everyone likes prunes. So a more equitable solution is proposed:
Person A: How about a little more apple and fewer prunes?
Person B: No, no, either eat prunes or STFU.
Person C: Well how about a little more blueberry and a little less apple?
Person B: Whatever, just leave our shit alone.
Person A: No wait, that’s not fair how about less blueberry and more apple?
Person C: Hell no!
Person A: How about we ditch half the prunes and up both blueberry and apple?
Person B: Fuck no! Leave our shit alone! Eat prunes or GTFO.
Person C: Well we could make each share roughly equal.
Person B: WTF is with this pandering shit? Everyone should just eat prunes, pandering is unnecessary.
In my mind I have each of these demographics laid out even though there is overlap within them. But it’s indicative of the way these conversations play out and the fear of losing ground for the things you(in the collective, not personal sense) like to play. I didn’t even touch on not having a fork to eat the pie with or being unable to sit at the table at all. There are also a few demographics that can’t even get near the table to discuss these issues.
Escapism works best when everyone is able to use it to suit their needs. But those needs are almost always in conflict: the woman who wants to save the world is contending with the man who is sick and tired of feminism in his daily life. Whose escapism wins out? And which should be worth more than the other? Many of the big name developers have already made that choice.
For people of color this often translates to others being “anti-PC” in game worlds be they multiplayer, single player or tabletop. Slurs, jokes, and outright hostility are okay, because this is escapism. And this again is an escapism collision, wherein one person’s escapism is another person’s day to day reality.
The simple-in-theory but difficult-in-practice solution to this is diversifying game offerings. And in diversifying go beyond a “game for your demographic” to “this is a game with a novel approach we think everyone would like to play.” This would be hard to do as I’ve seen when games do in fact try to diversify there is often a backlash by the current core demographic. Accused of pandering and pc-ness, games that try to branch out and explore other points of view and cultures are slammed by gamer culture.
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