Subject:
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Re: Arkham Asylum - A cool set, but a bit disturbing.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 7 Jun 2007 18:13:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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7123 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
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Although it’s unlikely that LEGO intended the set as a commentary on Abu
Ghraib,
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You think?
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Well, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
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their choice to foreground an institutionalized torture chamber
speaks of a curious lack of sensitivity on the subject. Given TLG’s
long-standing policy of non-violent toys (a policy quickly abandoned when it
threatened their profits, of course), you’d think that they’d be more
conscious of how their portrayals of violence are likely to be interpreted.
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I think that there is a definite line WRT to reality and fantasy. The
holocaust sets were offensive because they portrayed reality; these Spiderman
sets deal in the realm of fantasy and make-believe, and so they shouldn’t be
judged by the same metric IMO.
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Hey, you poser--we’re talking about Batman sets here. Keep your escapist
fantasy characters sorted out, will you? Of course, if you’re looking to talk
about the current Spider-man license, I happily invite you to visit
The Bloks Forum where we can discuss this and
other Mega Bloks topics at greater length!
Anyway, you’re correct that fantasy and reality are very different, but it’s
still entirely appropriate to comment on the implications of one in the context
of the other, especially when fantasy resonates strongly with a portion of
reality that carries a strong emotional context.
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If LEGO had released a US military base and there were a torture chamber in
it, I’d think there was a big problem.
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Yes, because of the breach of the reality/fantasy line.
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What if it were a fictional US Military set in, say, the year 2050?
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Why include the torture chamber at all? They didn’t include the reception
desk, the bathroom, or the parking lot, after all. Their choice to include
the chamber makes it fair game for discussion.
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Because the overarching theme of these works is the struggle of good verses
evil, Dave! Providing children a means to vanquish evil and see good prevail
in their play is a valuable component in creative play IMO.
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Fair enough, but which side is being portrayed as good and which side as evil?
The strapped-down supervillain or his torturers?
Dave!
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