A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed a break from
the stresses of daily office life. I
walked down to the company cafeteria and purchased a Big Kat from the vending
machine. A Big Kat is like a regular Kit Kat, but bigger. It’s absolutely
delicious. Anyway, I looked down at an
open copy of the Globe (or was it the Herald?) and saw something that caught my
attention. Apparently, IFC was going to be showing a
documentary that night focusing on the topic of LARP.
LARP! I thought to myself.
Live Action Role Playing. A bunch
of geeks playing Lord of the Rings on a soccer
field! YES!!! I have to see this. The documentary was called Darkon
and about five minutes into it I was scolding myself for taking such a
narrow-minded view.
One thing I should have realized about LARPers is that they
take their game very seriously. I admire
how much work these folks put it into it.
Watching the interviews and hearing the reasons why they play was truly
enlightening.
The larger theme of the movie is obviously the idea of
escapism and fantasy. Why do people feel
the need to escape reality? To what
lengths will they go to maintain the fantasy?
Trying to answer these questions goes a long way in explaining why World of Warcraft and Second Life are so popular. I find all this stuff fascinating.
Aside from the thematic elements, Darkon is also an
intriguing story with interesting characters (both real and imagined). Different players come to the game for
different reasons, but most are motivated by the desire to be something that
they can’t be in real life. I’m not
going sugar coat it, at some points this a little uncomfortable to watch, but
it doesn’t make it any less compelling.
As you might guess there are political struggles and ego
clashes both inside and outside the confines of the game. The film primarily focuses on the conflict
between Skip Lipman (Bannor of Laconia) and Kenyon Wells (Lord Keldar). A scene at the beginning of the film
makes it clear that these two leaders are headed for a showdown.
If you’ve ever been near an RPG or simply can relate to the
need to escape every day life, I heartily recommend Darkon.
Hail Laconia!
Hail Mordom! Hail Darkon!