Hail Darkon

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:36:04 GMT

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!

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Hail Darkon