The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

We really do live in a video game nation. It’s amazing how prevalent they’ve become. Though I am still fairly young I came from a generation where video games were still new - they were cool but we stilled preferred to go and play hoop. But now, with the graphics having progressed to such a high, fairly realistic level, they are the choice for entertaining kids today. And adults. The line between Hollywood and the Playstation has blurred. They have released or soon to, another video game cum action-hero movie. But already, without having seen it, I know it’s gonna just suck. Why is that you say? Because I wanna go see a movie, not a video game. I wanna see a story told, unfold before my eyes with characters I care about - not vicariously live through someone’s video game experience. And that’s precisely what Doom will be.

Is it because it’s a movie not based in reality? No, certainly not. I love fantasy and science-fiction. But without a story, without characters you are concerned about or interested in, what’s the point? Hell, you can go the arcade or just stay home and do that. Maybe that’s why Star Wars was so popular. It had a simple yet great story (or at least the first three movies did). You can say what you want to about Lucas in terms of how the Saga concluded but he did create characters that were truly larger than life. They really came alive before us on the Silver Screen and we cared about them. We all wanted Luke to become a Jedi. We wanted Han to hook-up and marry Leah. We love Vader! Good vs. Evil. Dark vs. Light. That’s what I want from a movie whether it’s science-fiction or semi-biographical.

So what’s happened? Has Hollywood changed or has America? Is the audience that disconnected or uneducated that they no longer care about the craft or quality of something? I don’t know, truthfully. I don’t know which it is or if it also involves some other ingredients. But I do know that it disturbs me. I see people and not just younger people now-a-days, reading less. For me, that’s what really helps develop one’s mind - one’s imagination. And a lot of people today seem that they have very little to no imagination.

When Lord of the Rings came out, I, along with everyone else was very excited. I had read the book too many times to remember since a kid and it would be interesting to see it come to life. And as good a job as Peter Jackson and crew did it can never rival the book. Not because of the special effects. They were top-rate. But because, one, Tolkien was a magnificent author and two, ILM or anyone else will never be able to rival my imagination! That’s why I love to read. It’s like flexing or exercising a muscle that you don’t get to use in the physical world. So when I talked to other big Tolkien fans who saw the movies and enjoyed them but still had that feeling that something was amiss, in my opinion, that’s it. One’s imagination.

So on the flip side, what happens to a nation of people who have no imagination? Who have lost a deep and serious sense of curiosity? I think we’re finding out right now. George Bush is an excellent example of a man with not only very little intelligence but no imagination. No intellectual curiosity. Because when you look at it, though children lack great intellectual knowledge they do possess tremendous capacity for imagination. Imagining a world with no imagination - I’d rather not picture that.