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Ok, here we go again... this time it ain't a defence or an attack, but something which wandered through my head while taking a break from playing RPGs. I've just been thinking about my last lesson in academic English back when I attended year twelve, which I finished eight months back, where we were always asked to read a book, and then discuss something, usually an aspect, about it. Sound familiar? Well... the book that you're given has always been a 'classic', maybe Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, maybe Lords of the Rings... It could be something more contemporary, maybe the Day after the Bomb, Catch 22, maybe Diving for Pearls. And you know what the question usually is? It's most likely 'discuss a theme of the book' or maybe 'why did a certain even have to happen?' and sometimes it's 'discuss some aspects of a certain character.' Why do I bring this up? Well, in Australia at least, there was a proposal to 'modernize' the syllabus by introducing more modern works... the thing which brought my attention was the plan to introduce Star Wars as one of the new materials. Since at the time, I was probably one of the very few students who knew about these vague changes, I went to the press conference with my English teacher, just me and her, and we were there, along with several other media people, to hear about it. Pretty boring huh? Well, this is the one thing which I decided to ask. I was stupid enough to ask the minister, soon after the conference, would they consider putting something like FFVII in the syllabus? Of course the minister gave me nothing short of a blank look, and just brushed me off just like some idiot from the street. I decided to leave it at that, and I've thought nothing of it since, I was more interested in trying to forget that I said such a thing... until now. At the time, I guess I was a bit stupid to ask the question, and a bit too involved clocking time in FFVII... but looking back, was it? I mean, since they're so bold to throw in a set of movies into the syllabus, which I don't have any objections to, why not throw in an RPG like FF7 or maybe Chrono Trigger? Back then, I came up with the response, It's just a GAME... really... But is it? I mean, look at the Editorial Section of RPGamer. We see people discuss if Aeris' death was really meaningful, there's an editorial sitting there now discussing the role of Nanaki, Red XIII, we had an editorial discussing Lucca's role in Chrono Trigger, we had discussions concerning the FFIV ending, was Cecil and Rosa really a meaningful relationship or not? We got Xenogears, Breath of Fire I to IV, and FF Tactics all discussing in one form or another the power of religion, and how it can be used and misused, and we had real discussion over these facts. Hell, we had fights over these topics... all the way down to name calling. Now, what has Star Wars got which none of these RPGs have? They all have one hell of a story, although some are based in futuristic settings, others in medieval settings, others based in other worlds. They're all got lots of character development, we see the characters develop as people, that even though the hero or heroine is one powerful character, that they're fallible just like everyone else, we see themes of love, hatred, jealousy, revenge, sacrifice, selfishness, morality... we have it all there. I would probably argue that RPGs have more school based material than Star Wars has... then why has the government chosen Star Wars over all of this? Maybe it's because of the fact that Video Games generally are seen as pure entertainment, nothing more than an evil which snatches kids away from the narrow path of intelligence and having a good life, down the flowerily and seemingly nice path of ignorance, laziness and stupidity, created by the Devil him or herself to lure kids away from what is right. You don't believe that statement? Well, in several high school shootings, and several near misses, Doom has been accredited as being one of the major factors driving the kids. We know that to be false, that FFVII doesn't drive us to grab swords and act like Sephiroth, slaughtering people and trying to destroy the Earth, or lead us like Kefka, totally reveling in the mass destruction of people... and it certainly doesn't brainwash us to be like Eve, running around without a thing on, thinking it's perfectly alright, among other things. But the general public don't know this... and which is why I imagine that the RPG was never considered... but the question remains. Why did they pick a movie format, which also doesn't have a track record much better than games? This whole editorial may sound absurd, but then again, if the NSW Government of Australia is going to introduce Star Wars into the Higher School Certificate, then you have to call them nuts too... then again, the only opinions I heard about that was it's going to be better for the kids, cause it'll mean something to them, my English teacher being one of them... My question. We, the editorialists of RPGamer as well as editorialists freqenting other sites, are the proof that RPGs do have meaning in our lives, and that games aren't mindless things we just do for our spare time, and that they can generate massive amounts of REAL conversation and academia. If they're willing to accept theatre and the movie as a method of communicating a story with real depth, when will people accept that the RPG is just another method of telling a story, one with theme, character analysis, and above all, meaning? Since Star Wars and FFVII both share that 'high tech' feel, they both tell a story with theme and compassion, and since Star Wars is fit to be used as a selection for the Syllabus, why not FFVII? I'm not asking them to start telling the students to start playing FFVII or Xenogears, although it'd give the kids a real excuse to play games and they'll probably love English for the first time, (I'd love to say something like this legitimately..."Mom, I have to go play Xenogears cause it's part of my homework!") but maybe analyze the story in full detail... maybe get an official transcript from Square or something like that, and place that script as a book or something, and study that. If none of this convinces you that RPGs do more than just entertain, we'll just try this. 2001 Higher School Certificate. NSW, Australia. Section III- Electives. (30 Marks) Recommended time:- 40 minutes It is highly advised to spend roughly a third of your time on this question, as this is worth a third of the whole exam. Candidates should write about 500 to 1000 words within this period. Other material. Question 21 We see Kain being manipulated again and again by Golbez, one of the main characters. What made Kain weak to this, with other characters, such as Cecil, immune to such manipulation? Question 22 Explain why Aeris in Final Fantasy VII had to die, even though she could have easily avoided it. Question 23 In Final Fantasy VIII, why did Squall change from a cold mercenary-in-training into more of a human? Question 24 Breath of Fire III had the Guardians, Garr included, exterminate the Dragon Race. Why did he do so despite his personal objections, and was he justified in his mind to destroy them? Question 25 In Final Fantasy Tactics, there are several prevailing themes. Select one of these themes, and use examples to show how this is portrayed. Question 26 Magus is a cold and heartless character, with nothing resembling human emotion. Do you agree with this assertion? Show at least five examples for your opinion. See how you go with any of those questions. I'll bet that you'd be able to do them in record time... and chances are that you could write pretty good academic material as well... and then think about it. Well, this is just my imagination going wild, but then again... If you like to drop a line about what you think, even just to tell me that I should go see a psychiatrist, or you'd like to just give me a three second warning before you go send the FBI Flaming division to torch the world's most unstable and potentially riot inciting girl, send it to nightshadow_007@angelfire.com. I'd be happy to hear anything about it.  |
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