The Promising Structure of Video Games
by Aidan Stofka
In the recent lecture about Harvest, Professor Donig discussed the consequences of when people try to pursue "paradise" as shown in Harvest, and it brought me to take a final stance in that utopias truly are impossible as well as unethical. In utopian ideas, there is always some form of hierarchal class system that is ignored. I watched WALL•E a little early because I couldn't help it, and what stood out to me is that all the people get to live in luxurious laziness, but these thinking and feeling robots are stuck doing slave labor. Harvest and Professor Donig have led me to realize the pursuit of paradise will always be a dangerous ideal and ignorantly expressed stories of utopia arguably do more harm than dystopian ones. So I have to ask, what should we strive for in our stories and our real lives instead?
Something I really resonated with from The Good Place was the idea that "paradise" in itself is a different kind of hell, and that what makes something good is the existence of an end. We all know that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Yin and Yang stuff. But what does this mean in a way that we can use it? How can we portray a more balanced depiction of idealistic societies that don't ignore evils and don't bask in the appeal of luxury?
This is where I find some potential promise in the structure of video games. In a video game, everyone can boot it up and start at the same place, and they're guaranteed to have the same opportunities to gather the same items and achieve the same goals as anyone else who chooses to play. The most important thing, however, is that every player will face great conflict, and every player has the resources to improve how they face those conflicts. Even in this medium of pure escapism, we are most excited about how we can solve conflict. The same principle applies to film, books, music, and any other art form. We crave conflict because we want to overcome it and have a story to tell once we return to a realm of comfort.
My point with all of this is that I believe we should redefine what "utopia" means to us and actually pursue something just short of that where society is structured where everyone is like a player and starts off with access to all the same resources but is free to tackle many different obstacles with a semblance of confidence that they can overcome them and return to a period of comfort. In the real world, that means each and every one of us would have to right to basic health and shelter needs whenever need be and can spend their life putting in work where they choose to get the upgrades they desire. Chasing our current view of utopias disrespects the current people suffering as displayed in Harvest, as they'd never get to enjoy the 'utopian' life that is clearly designated just for those who could afford it. A utopia shouldn't be where everyone lives a perfect, conflict-free life all the time, but where they can spend it bettering themselves and improving their lives and the lives of others with all the same resources to do so. I think that is a much more feasible ideal where people still struggle, but provides a reasonable hope that they overcome them.