It seems to me that there has to be some kind of very psychological tie-in, here, between the wish fulfillment and suspension of disbelief in action movies, and the the wish fulfillment and suspension of disbelief in role-playing games. The genres themselves are rigged in favour of the hero, obviously, but what do those changes say in a larger social context and why do so many people find that message so pleasing?
The armchair psychologist says that everyone wants to be powerful and untouchable, at some point in our lives, and I maintain that it's not necessarily a masculine/feminine thing, either. We're just talking about a genre that appeals to men more of the time. Surely there's an equivalent genre in stereotypically feminine literature (Romance novels where the heroine is always persued by two men, maybe?). Besides which, a lot of women watch action movies these days, and a lot of action movies star women. We could talk about the sociology and psychology of those statements for quite a while, but I want to keep on a topic, here.
RPG/action movie logic creates the impression that (A) anyone can be the hero, (2) it doesn't take all that long. This is a bit of a blanket statement, I'll admit. I konw RPG gamers who prefer to take years developing a character and allow him or her to grow. These are also the kind of people who's idea of fun is handicapping themselves to a ridiculous degree and seeing if they can still succeed at something they've done a million times. I respect it, but I don't get it.
For the most part, though, gamers seem to want regular and predictable increases in abilities, if the game systems themselves are any indication. There's a quid pro quo (gods I hope the Latin's right) kind of relationship here akin to (and you can tell I'm a teacher now if I'm using this example) "I paid for this English course, therefore I deserve at least a B." In the player's mind, an investment of time ought to automatically equal an increase in abilities.
Does this hold true in action movies? There are a couple of kinds of action characters. There's the Little Guy turned Big Hero model, in which the boy next door, and occasionally the girl next door, stumble into a grand adventure and come back stronger, faster, and with more trunk space. Think of Daniel-san. We also have the Stable as a Table heroes, who are always predictably skilled. Think of James Bond.
So, at least some of the time, heroes do progress. Does this mean we don't identify with the Stable heroes? Probably not. It probably just means we identify with them in a different way. I'll save them until later, then.
And I think I'll leave this entry unfinished, yet again. I'm a fan of letting ideas simmer, fester if you will, in the giant mulch-pit that is my brain. Thoughts will occur unbidden in the shower, or whilst lying in bed trying to get to sleep.
Posted by orion at August 18, 2004 11:24 PM