Halfway through The 40 Year Old Virgin is a thoroughly remarkable scene. It’s got nothing to do with first-time sex, though. No, it’s about gaming: David and Cal, two of the virgin’s twenty-something slacker friends, are sitting in his apartment playing Mortal Kombat: Deception.
What’s so unusual about that? It’s that their behavior is so oddly realistic: They slouch in chairs and stare at the screen with nonchalance and intensity, while a sardonic stream of trash-talk flows between them. « You know how I know that you’re gay? You like Coldplay, » David snarks. Cal responds by pulling off a classic Mortal Kombat « fatality » move. « I’m ripping your head off right now, » he says coolly. « It’s off. And now — I’m throwing it at your body. »
The vaguely self-parodying homophobia. The Zen-like calm of the violence. The casual profanity. You have to give director Judd Apatow props: He shot a pitch-perfect evocation of how gamers actually behave when they’re playing. And it makes me wonder — has Hollywood finally figured out how to realistically depict gaming culture?
From Gamers Get a Hollywood Makeover, by Clive Thompson in Wired.
People who listen to Coldplay aren’t gay. It’s just that, when they finally remember to breathe, they’re mostly mouth-breathers.
Sorry don’t mean to hog your comments but I was in the neighborhood and gaming culture, well…
I loved those gaming scenes in ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’. They’re a great start. Of course they’ll only truly be depicting « realistic » gamers when someone begins showing average *women* gamers casually doing the very same thing alongside male friends.
Right now, they’d sooner cast a black lesbian Communist as a US presidential candidate on the West Wing than ever depict the average female gamer in the media. It’s like they’re invisible and simply don’t exist. (That is, unless you count those chipper fake « gamerettes » the gaming industry hires to pose as « girl gamers » for trade shows. We always see plenty of those.)
Rachel, no apologies needed!
Maybe that’s what I need to write: a movie about gaming girls. I can hear the producers tell me how much they think there’s a market for that… ;-) But I’d still love to do it!
I’m so not a gamer. Which is not to say I don’t like games. I just don’t do what I’m supposed to. Like last week when I was playing Grand Theft Auto. People kept telling me « grab that gun » and « go into that store, » and stuff. Forget that. Objectives? Goals? Nah! I just wanted to go around stealing and wrecking cars! Forget the game, lemme DRIVE! :-)
Lol Martine, they’d say « There are gaming girls? »… Tell them there are gaming women and watch them mouth along with you » gaming w-o-m-e-n you say? » Throw in gaming moms or gaming grandmas and behold their confusion. There are women who breastfeed and PvP at the same time. Now that’s a mom!
F’sure Ed with games like ‘Grand Theft Auto’ you’ve gotta drive around crashing cars for a few weeks at least. No need to rush to goals. That’s the « honeymoon period » for these games, enjoy it, savor it, try every car! See you’re a gamer in the making. It’s not about gobbling up content it’s about swishing around in it like a sandbox.
Have you ever looked at EVE Online?
http://www.eve-online.com/
Check out the video trailer.
I think you’d love it Ed, it’s a very smart and sensual game that catches on hard with the space heads. It’s addictive like crack though, be warned.