I always admired those who played D&D. It seems like those who played when it first existed are now those who own media empires; the smart kids who understand algebra and can program their vcrs, set up a LAN party, correct runtime errors, and comprehend the physics behind a black hole. These were the chosen ones who did well on their English and their math SAT. These were the smart kids who majored in subjects that lead to steady employment and financial success after college. I was not one of these kids. No, I was a pudgy sports enthusiast who liked to read and write on the side, and fill his head with absolutely useless knowledge about the entertainment industry, like how many singers Pantera had before Phil Anselmo took the job. And when I say I was a sports enthusiast, that mostly means I went to McDonalds a lot to collect the Dream Team cups during the summer Olympics, spent way too much money on collecting sports cards (including $10 per pack trying to hunt down a Don Mattingly rookie card, which I never got.), and buying the occasional replica jersey from the Champion outlet. I threw a basketball at a hoop regularly, but it rarely went where it was supposed to. I did play football in high school, and I wasn't too bad at it either, but I was far from a "jock." In other words, I was in the 98th percentile on my English SAT, and just above legally brain dead on my math. The only dice I knew was six-sided, white with black spots, and inside a Yatzee box. That all changed when some of my friends introduced me to HP and D-20's.
I didn't get into Dungeons and Dragons (affectionately abbreviated as D&D) until after college, actually. I knew of it, but I really knew nothing about it, apart from very rudimentary details that I learned from depictions of D&D sessions in tv shows like Freaks and Geeks. It involved dungeons, dragons, knights, quests, someone called a dungeon master, jokes, miniatures, and junk food. Oh, and funny looking dice. And math. It took me awhile to catch on, and in all honesty, there are still things that I don't quite understand completely, but I am now a proud D&D player. My wife and I play with two college friends almost weekly now, and it's a lot of fun. And we're all well-adjusted adults with jobs and college degrees. We're decent people and in touch with reality. We're sociable, easy-going and diverse. According to most of the movies I've seen about D&D players, we shouldn't exist. We should be either very damaged individuals, escaping behind our character sheets to detach from our troubled pasts, or we should be self-obsessed and angry.
I've now seen three movies focusing on D&D players; Gamers, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and The Dungeon Masters. In two of the three, the players are depicted as one of the two above options. Gamers is billed as a comedy, featuring four grown men with lousy jobs, living with their parents, fighting each other constantly, and generally being unpleasant human beings. They play Demons, Nymphs and Dragons (DND, get it?), but that's pretty much irrelevant to the story, which has very little to do with any actual gameplay. It's a disappointing movie that serves only to perpetuate the untrue stereotypes of a D&D player.
Dungeon Masters is more honest. It's an actual documentary, about actual people, who actually play D&D. Because of it's authenticity, I enjoyed it somewhat. But again, it focused on people who have blurred the lines between reality and their fantasy filled creations. People who have deep emotional scars from abusive relationships and childhoods. People with little ambition other than to improve their characters and delve deeper and deeper into their fantasies. People who spend hours applying makeup for their live action role playing games, and sacrifice time with their families in favor of exerting their dominance over their colleagues through cruel dungeon master rules and encounters. And sure, those people obviously exist. But not every gamer is a sad case. Not everyone plays to escape reality and personal demons. Not every player is essentially socially inept. I suppose it makes for a more interesting film if the stars are a little damaged, but is it so much to ask to just have D&D players, having fun, maybe some "drama" mixed in, but an honest depiction of the good aspects of the game, instead of focusing on adults acting like children?
That's where The Gamers: Dorkness Rising comes in. It's funny, it's honest, and it celebrates the good aspects of the game and those who play it. It's a comedy, and it's fictional, but I think it's the most honest examination of D&D culture. Frankly, it's the only of the three that's really worth watching. I can only hope that there will be more movies about D&D like this one.
Maybe my problem is that I'd really like a D&D movie that explains the game. And that would be kinda boring for most people. I'd like an instructional video that teaches me how to be a dungeon master, and what "milestone" means... I'd like to watch a video of people playing D&D. And that's far geekier and depraved than actually playing.
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