Gordon Freeman is mentally disabled

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SoopaSte123

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Jul 1, 2010
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After playing Half-Life 2, I noted several things about my Gordon Freeman:

-He never speaks
-He jumps on top of tables and other things that would be considered socially deviant
-He throws peoples' things (like computers) around like a madman
-He runs around hitting everything with a crowbar to see if it will break or not
-He is never certain whether an object will break or not when he hits said object
-He hits people in the head with a crowbar if he gets bored with what they're saying
-He is talked down to by other scientists
-He is referred to as "Mister Freeman" and sarcastically as "Doctor Freeman"
-He is complimented on throwing a switch and has a scientist act like he was actually contributing

And after careful reflection, I realized my Gordon Freeman is mentally disabled. Perhaps he was in a horrible accident, perhaps he had a mental breakdown from stress at some point, but regardless, he used to be a scientist and is now a mentally disabled errand boy wearing a power suit.

Some may criticize me and blame some of my reasons on my play-style, but I have played many first person RPGs and have never behaved that way in any of those games. Plus, that doesn't change the fact that he never talks (I just can't get past that). You also may claim the comments by other scientists was just sarcasm, but in the early "throw the switch" scene, only one scientist sounded sarcastic (which could easily be disdain or ridicule) while the other scientist treats him kindly like a puppy or a child or someone who is mentally handicapped.

Thoughts? Opinions? Anyone else have a similar mind-fuck experience with a game or movie or whatnot?

EDIT: Don't expect a response if you just say "you were controlling him so YOU'RE retarded!" It's been said. A lot. And if you haven't noticed, only about half my reasons are from my playing of the character, and even then, the game led me to behave that way when no other game has.
 

manythings

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No. How many games can you actually pick up items in the room? I can't think of anything that also has a grav-gun. You played a game like a person playing a game that doesn't suddenly result in concepts like you are proposing. If you were Gordon Freeman you wouldn't have done any of that stuff.
 

mjc0961

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Nov 30, 2009
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SoopaSte123 said:
-He jumps on top of tables and other things that would be considered socially deviant
-He throws peoples' things (like computers) around like a madman
-He runs around hitting everything with a crowbar to see if it will break or not
-He is never certain whether an object will break or not when he hits said object
-He hits people in the head with a crowbar if he gets bored with what they're saying
-He is talked down to by other scientists
That was you, not Gordon. You did those things, or rather, you made him do those things. They aren't indicative of his intelligence or character.
 

Korak the Mad

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Nov 19, 2010
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The game allows you to interact with the enviroment in ways other games don't.

Frankly I tend to believe that the player is the one who is somewhat disturbed for doing those actions. I do that stuff in the game once in a while and laugh when I do it.
 

Pearwood

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He's a physicist, I guess that'd explain the real scientists treating him as a joke ;)

I kid, I kid... mostly ;)

Pretty convincing argument, I might try playing through imagining Freeman with mental disabilities see how it holds up.
 

GrizzlerBorno

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Role-playing, Half-Life.......really? You're supposed to take his actions with a pinch of salt, because it's not an RPG game. It's a "ooh, fancy toys! Wha'does this Button DO!".... game.
 

SoopaSte123

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mjc0961 said:
SoopaSte123 said:
-He jumps on top of tables and other things that would be considered socially deviant
-He throws peoples' things (like computers) around like a madman
-He runs around hitting everything with a crowbar to see if it will break or not
-He is never certain whether an object will break or not when he hits said object
-He hits people in the head with a crowbar if he gets bored with what they're saying
-He is talked down to by other scientists
That was you, not Gordon. You did those things, or rather, you made him do those things. They aren't indicative of his intelligence or character.
You'll note I say MY Gordon Freeman, as I'm well aware other players may not have this experience.

As far as the others saying you can interact with the environment, I play my share of Fallout: New Vegas and act perfectly fine in that. And I certainly wasn't trying going out of my way and be an ass in HL2 either.
 

Valthek

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I've never thought of Freeman in this way...
Hah...
You are absolutely right.
If you just go by those statements, Freeman might be a very human-like gorilla with similar urges.
 

Hexal6

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have you played Half Life 1? He WAS in a horrible and i would imagine very stressful accident involving ripping a hole between his and some other dimension bring with it several alien monstrosities and thus indirectly killing nearly all of his coworkers and friends plus intentionally killing his coworkers and friends in the form of crow barring down biologically possessed zombies
 

GrimSheeper

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But he still saved my live like Chuck Norris in a Geek form...

*goes back to listening to MiracleOfSound songs*
 

SoopaSte123

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Hexal6 said:
have you played Half Life 1? He WAS in a horrible and i would imagine very stressful accident involving ripping a hole between his and some other dimension bring with it several alien monstrosities and thus indirectly killing nearly all of his coworkers and friends plus intentionally killing his coworkers and friends in the form of crow barring down biologically possessed zombies
Ah, I have not. There we go. That explains his mental breakdown.
 

Souplex

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Jul 29, 2008
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Not just mentally; also physically.
He's just a disembodied pair of hands.
 

Metal Brother

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SoopaSte123 said:
And after careful reflection, I realized my Gordon Freeman is mentally disabled. Perhaps he was in a horrible accident, perhaps he had a mental breakdown from stress at some point, but regardless, he used to be a scientist and is now a mentally disabled errand boy wearing a power suit.
Fucking AWESOME!!

Great theory, well explained. This has clearly been the elephant in the room for years, and we were all too blind to see.
 

Zantos

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Sapient Pearwood said:
He's a physicist, I guess that'd explain the real scientists treating him as a joke ;)

I kid, I kid... mostly ;)

Pretty convincing argument, I might try playing through imagining Freeman with mental disabilities see how it holds up.
Don't make me get my theoretical physicist crowbar, boy. I've run simulations and the results seem to indicate it would really hurt.
 

Internet Kraken

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SoopaSte123 said:
Hexal6 said:
have you played Half Life 1? He WAS in a horrible and i would imagine very stressful accident involving ripping a hole between his and some other dimension bring with it several alien monstrosities and thus indirectly killing nearly all of his coworkers and friends plus intentionally killing his coworkers and friends in the form of crow barring down biologically possessed zombies
Ah, I have not. There we go. That explains his mental breakdown.
For the record he didn't talk at all during the 30 minute segment proceeding the accident. He also has a degree in his locker.

Souplex said:
Not just mentally; also physically.
He's just a disembodied pair of hands.
You say that in every Half-Life thread and it has never once been funny.
 

SoopaSte123

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Scizophrenic Llama said:
Chell is the mentally disabled one here, remember?

Woman can't say anything, just jumps around.
Well, she has no one to talk to, really. I would try my best to ignore Glados, too.