Bordering on an obsession
I'm wondering what it says about a lot of writers that they can't seem to venture near a social or non-game virtual environment without spending paragraphs talking about genitalia and sex, and trying to figure out how avatars have sex, even in virtual environments that are, essentially, G-rated and technically have none.
Oh, sure. A lot of folks are interested in that sort of thing, but the propensity with which I've seen it crop up in newspaper columns and in particular in some games-writers columns, it seems to be bordering on the obsessive.
A whole host of games-writers, particularly, don't seem to be able to look at a non-human (alien, robot or anthropomorphic) avatar without immediately focusing on sex. A few writers seem to suffer some severe cognitive disconnect, where non-human avatars and a non-sexual environment are somehow completely inconceivable and nonsensical -- a combination that they can neither grasp nor comprehend.
Some newspaper columns outline the writer's visit to strip clubs in Second Life, within minutes of registration, and give no sign that the writer went anywhere other than locations focusing on sex.
Sadly, at the end, they generally conclude about the virtual environment, "I don't get it."
Maybe what they really meant was "I didn't get any", because based on their descriptions and reported conversations, that outcome seems a whole lot more likely.
A wonderful, well-needed rant Tateru. I suspect being in a dream-world with beautiful human forms invokes some level of Freudian curiosity in many. SL seems like the big part where we can unleash the Id and play fetch a bit. I will confess I was not immune.
ReplyDeleteOnce we get past that curiosity, which column writer's rarely do, we discover a much richer state of connection to people, the real turn on.
it's called being a man. it's not just games. we think that way about mailboxes, cars, anything really.
ReplyDeletei agree we don't have to bring that to the page however (or at least balance it out)