From the ashes.

I have recently been in a slump and seeing is how I really only write about once a month I figured I would look at what drives me to write at all. I have come to the conclusion that I write so that others can read. I am going to focus now more on media in general and give opinions on movies I see, books which I read which is a lot less than I would like, and games I play.

This week I have been playing Bully for eat-sleep-game.com Game Club, where listeners have the opportunity to go back into their pile of shame and play a game all the way through and have a discussion on the games flaws and also where the game does well.

From the start a question has arisen in my mind, and that is this, was there a fuss over the content that is in Bully? Admittedly I have not done my research, but the question stands. I find the content in Bully to be far more disturbing than that of any GTA or Resident Evil or any other game which has been put on the controversy cutting board. I don't know what dictates what makes us feel disturbed and what doesn't but I have a feeling that in this particular case it has something to do with kids, and their portrayal as sadistic and twisted.

I am only 12 percent done with the game according to the progress tracker in the game, but I still feel that this game has the potential to be a game that really makes me question the way I feel about violence on some level. I am not however going to condemn the game just as I wont condemn a film such as American History X for putting something in front of me that I may not feel comfortable with.

As far as the game mechanics are concerned I have had a little trouble with the camera, but in the games defense it is a little more dated than games that I have been playing recently. I am enjoying the games story and am interested in seeing where the it is taken. I am also excited to see where the direction of the character is going to be taken. For me it is hard to feel comfortable playing as a character who is a bully, I feel as though it again has something to do with the social constraints placed upon us in society that tell us that children are supposed to be innocent and when that constraint is then lifted I feel that audiences might be a little apprehensive to do the things that are asked of them.

I also have recently finished watching Noise featuring Tim Robbins and William Hurt. The movie was decent.

Tim Robbins plays a man who can no longer take the noise in his city, this drives him to a boiling point which makes him take on the persona as the Rectifier. His mission, to destroy all car alarms and let the owners of the vehicles know that they have not only wronged him but have wronged society. I feel as if the progression of his character lacked something for people to connect to. I mean I guess a hatred of noise, but I don't feel that was a connection that would make people want him to win against William Hurt's character, who is only looking to put the Rectifier away for a long time.

The movie borders comedy and drama not doing either very well for very long. I enjoyed the movie strictly for entertainment, but yet again, I feel that it didn't really have any depth to it. If I had to rate it, I would have to stick it in the C+ B- range.

On that remark I would like to echo so many who have come before me. Ratings are purely Relative. I am subjected to material and I rate said material based on how I feel towards it. Therefore opinions and ratings should be taken with a grain of salt. The reason they exist is for advertising if anything else. If you say a movie or a game is an A+ people can put a finger on that. They can have a sense of what they should expect. Then the people who hate the game or movie complain for a while at how the critics have some bias or some other such non-sense. The point of a review is to try and give people a general idea of what they are going to be getting themselves into before they exchange their money for goods and services. The best way to read reviews is to find one or two people whose opinion generally matches yours and that you like to read so that you can actually read something worthwhile while learning about a particular medium. Conversely you could read someone who you like to read but whose opinion completely differs from yours.

Well, that's the rant for today and it feels good to be writing again...even if no one is reading me.