Darkon

written and directed by Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel
USA 2006

Role Playing Games, on the level of Final Fantasy or WOW, allow players to assume control over a complex environment without the use of social skills. Sadly, success in the real world is almost entirely dependent on social interactions and politicking rather than intelligence and imagination. With a certain degree of brains and an inclination toward creative thought, you could easily become a Chess master, but even the most menial job requires a completely different skill set usually detected more in facial gestures than quality of work. The D and D phenomenon has, to millions of gamers around the world, provided a model of upward mobility for even the dullest and most awkward personalities. It's no secret, whether it's success merely over the Playstation or over legions of multi-players around the globe, RPG's empower the socially challenged. But LARPing (that is, Live Action Role Playing) is a completely different story. In Darkon, the subjects' obvious performing for the camera, usually such a detractor in documentary material, is moot. The Darkon experience is all about performance in the first place. Whether there's a camera or not, Lord Bannor would still be hamming it up for the armies of players around him. Also, quite explicitly stated, it takes politics to succeed in Darkon. War councils may convene, strategies devised, and battles planned, but usually it takes a backdoor deal with Elven mercenaries to muster a victory. It's an important point, because it sets LARPing apart by re-introducing a social requirement.

It's not surprising that many of these characters are so charismatic and well-spoken. This type of gaming attracts extroverts and natural performers. If you can't talk the talk in Darkon, you won't get a speaking role. Directors Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel present aspects on both sides of the reality divide, intertwining the lives of their subjects with their subjects' characters. But socially, which is the way most people understand their own lives anyway, aren't these two aspects on the same level? At a back table in Denny's, Skip tries to retain the loyalties of his Laconian countryman, but at the same time isn't he just trying to retain a friendship? The Darkon event footage, including camp-outs, battles, and meetings, provides the same character information as the interviews at work and home. The most interesting departure from these character sketches are the staged sequences of the Darkon story, where the gamers are so completely ingrained in performance, and the real attraction to Role Playing is evident.

I can't help but see an allegory here. An offshoot of the intelligentsia that has pioneered gaming from its humble days of Chess and Backgammon to an MMO RPG empire, LARPing is the exploitative and power-hungry next generation. It is propagated by the movers and shakers and by the politicians. One Laconian puts it bluntly, "..that real world mentality keeps coming back. To be better than somebody else..." Those who can play the political game enjoy success in Darkon. Those with actual intelligence are largely forgotten in favor of likeability, charisma, and brute force. It's much like the capitalist democracy we deal with on a daily basis. Ralph Nader and the citizen advocates are either smeared or disenfranchised by the silver-tongued Party politicians. NGOs and established intellectually-based environmental organizations are silenced by George Bush and his puppet policy-making agencies on issues like peak oil and global warming. In the realm of Darkon and all over the real world, smooth talkers silence the meek with the power of social skills. And also much like the rest of the world, the decision makers of Darkon are usually men, they are usually short-sighted, and they are usually white.