Pissed at my English teacher, justified?

[EternalFacepalm]

*snip*

Then I will admit that I was wrong. I rarely associate with sports fans in general, to be honest.
And I'd say that XFactor isn't art to me. I've never met someone engaged enough in XFactor to be emotionally affected by it, but perhaps such a person exists. I've been proved wrong once on such assumptions, perhaps someone will prove me wrong a second time as well (although perhaps not on these forums, but you never know, I guess)?

 

[mitchell271]

How bout this: you show her this thread. "Video games aren't art, plus you only have gamers who agree with you!" Then show her some Extra Credits (they're on PAtv now). Video games aren't art my ass...

 

[Landshark1]

If there's one thing I know about English class, it's that it has some of the most subjective teachers ever. If you get on their bad side, you're grade is screwed for the rest of the year. I wouldn't take it up with her, just so that you don't get screwed in the long run. Just remember this moment whenever you aren't completely sure what she means on a writing prompt or assignment, and then ask her beforehand what qualifies.

 

[hoboman29]

Yes you're justified video games can be art the worst part is that you probably won't be able to justify that fact.

 

[Jamous]

85% is good. Very good. You should try and pick her up on the 'not art' bit. Because they are, unless she doesn't include film as an art type. Which is just silly. Anyway, try your best to be polite. You don't want her to go back and get irritated. Nicely done though! Must've been a decent piece.

 

[Dango]

Getting an 85% is pretty good considering your teacher doesn't even think you answered the question.

 

[JAWZxZ]

She's an English teacher, not an art teacher and anyway, art is subjective, beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that. She should shove her personal views up her arse because she has no right to say what you consider art isn't art at all.

 

[RemuValtrez]

Yes, yes you should. If she docked you that much over something so trivial then you should argue and try to get the grade you deserve. People need to understand that, while not all games are art, they do have the capacity to be. Not to mention, haven't people always told us that art is all about perception? If you perceive it as art, then it is god damned art!

This. Games can be a form of art, and people need to realize this.

 

[crudus]

And that's a discussion that could, and should have been held before any sort of writing occurred. OP was being egoistic and myopic in assuming video games are generally accepted as an art form. That he waited only until after he got his graded paper back to have this discussion is entirely his fault. As I said before, this could have been a two minute discussion after class the day the assignment was given.

Being pissed at his English teacher is certainly easier than being disappointed in himself though.

I agree that this should have been discussed before the assignment was written. It wasn't. Assigning blame and wagging your finger isn't going to change anything. If he wants to change things, even if not for himself, he needs to have a calm discussion with his teacher. Art is a subjective thing and it is really difficult to objectively define the lines of art. Most people even just assume everyone's definition aligns with theirs.

Thing is, even if he chose Bioshock or Okami or SotC, the teacher would have said the same thing. While she's technically right that Pokemon Red isn't art, her reasoning for why it isn't (because it's a game) is wrong.

OP could have chosen a photograph of a car wreck and still would have been docked points. I don't think I have seen someone actually defend their stance on "video games aren't art". Even Roger Ebert recanted his statement about them.

I'm just going to say, that there is such a thing as "terrible art". Paintings, books, movies etc. are all forms of art, but there are plenty examples of each that are considered "terrible". It certainly isn't the issue in this case considering the paper he wrote clearly proved the overall quality of the game and it's importance in his life. He was docked points for the simple fact that the teacher placed a stamp on something that is completely subjective.

Now if I don't consider something skillfully done, it isn't art. That is just me though. Art is subjective anyway.

She's an English teacher, not an art teacher and anyway, art is subjective, beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that.

Am I the only one who sees the irony there? A liberal arts major has an objective view of art.

Yes, yes you should. If she docked you that much over something so trivial then you should argue and try to get the grade you deserve. People need to understand that, while not all games are art, they do have the capacity to be. Not to mention, haven't people always told us that art is all about perception? If you perceive it as art, then it is god damned art!

This. Games can be a form of art, and people need to realize this.

It is sad so few people try to defend that point too :\

 

[ckam]

Yeah, complain. Talk about semantics and your lack of knowledge about your teacher's personal tastes. If they try to defend that try saying something like adding on "Write the paper that fits your teacher's tastes and preferences" in the prompt. Also, they are art forms according to two branches of the USfg. So suck it, noob.

 

[Neo10101]

Yea, I would go to the counselor specifically because of how much it is worth. If you can find some evidence about how some people do classify video games as art then that would most likely help. It couldn't hurt anyway. Just make sure that the directions don't say something like (video games aren't art, or something that will take your case down in flames.) In the future though, it wouldn't hurt to go to the teacher and say, "Classical artwork really hasn't changed my life, but I play a lot of video games, and a lot of people are beginning to see them as a form of artwork, could I use that instead?" That would probably make these situations go a lot smoother.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

As an armature fiction writer, I don't believe that I would have had half the inspirational for my works were it not for my exposure to multiple games of multiple genres. So yes, I would be angry if people would say that video games are a waste of time and because you can have 'fun' with them, there is no way that they can be an art.

 

[klaynexas3]

The teacher did not specify what was or wasn't art, it is on her if your definitions clashed.

And that's a discussion that could, and should have been held before any sort of writing occurred. OP was being egoistic and myopic in assuming video games are generally accepted as an art form. That he waited only until after he got his graded paper back to have this discussion is entirely his fault. As I said before, this could have been a two minute discussion after class the day the assignment was given.

Being pissed at his English teacher is certainly easier than being disappointed in himself though.

so the fact that legally speaking video games are considered an art form is not enough to pass it as an art form? so if the teacher had said that a painting or a book was not an art form either, by your logic, the teacher is the one in the right. yes the OP should have talked to his teacher before hand, but it's not entirely his fault, as in that video games are a work of art, so the teacher is wrong to have marked him off for him using that as his art form. he should fight to get his grade back to what it would have been if the teacher knew video games are an art form, because they are.

 

[asinann]

The supreme court of the United States begs to differ with your teacher.

 

[Littaly]

The whole discussion on whether or not games are art is pretty limited to the video game community, it's nothing that people who aren't into it think about. To us as gamers, the idea of Pokémon being a work of art, while not necessarily taken for granted, is at least something worth debating, but from everybody else perspective, there isn't really a debate about it, for or against.

Getting a lower grade based on a misunderstanding is sour (it's happened to me too :-/), but I don't think you should get mad at your teacher for not classifying video games as art. If anything, the problem here is that the instructions weren't specific enough, but even then you hold some of the responsibility for not double checking when you knew the subject was in a gray area.

If I were you, I wouldn't call her out for being wrong on her definition of art and ask that she re-evaluates your paper, but rather explain that you misunderstood the instruction and ask to write a new paper on a "proper" work of art instead.

 

[Neo10101]

No, you have no right to be upset about the situation.

You should have asked your teacher if she would accept video games as "art".

If she was one of those, "art" is everything people, then she would have had nothing to say.

Fortunately for the world, it would appear that she has higher criteria for art, and has rightly rejected the idea that a group of people writing software is "art".

Considering that you didn't complete the assignment as instructed, and she still gave you an 85%, I would say you came out of the situation on top.

Why is that "fortunate" for the world if she has a "higher criteria" for art. Who are you to say that video games can't be art. Look at some games out there like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, etc. Those just being the "artsy" games, you could even defend that other games are even better forms of artwork. Something like Zelda which has made multiple great story lines, getting people to think about how and why certain things are happening like a great and epic tale, or Kingdom Hearts that has changed so many people's lives that not only does it make people happy to play but they go so far as to make costumes, props, even entire stories/videos about them. Hell, even games like Final Fantasy, for example in 7 when Aerith died, almost everyone who played that felt some sadness. A game that inspired emotions, like how what you claim art is can inspire emotions. So don't go trying to generalize that one thing can't be art just because you can't see past your boundaries to be able to see how something so great can't be art.

 

[Dags90]

so the fact that legally speaking video games are considered an art form is not enough to pass it as an art form? so if the teacher had said that a painting or a book was not an art form either, by your logic, the teacher is the one in the right. yes the OP should have talked to his teacher before hand, but it's not entirely his fault, as in that video games are a work of art, so the teacher is wrong to have marked him off for him using that as his art form. he should fight to get his grade back to what it would have been if the teacher knew video games are an art form, because they are.

Some games are considered art form by the National Endowment for the Arts. Saying all video games are art is as silly as saying that reality TV or documentaries are art. Those are visual media that are forms of journalism, though they may have parts of them which are given artistic direction like graphics, visual and sound editing, etc.

Even if we grant video games as art, and specifically grant Pokemon Red as art, there are problems with his paper. From his synopsis, the OP didn't write about how the art in Pokemon Red influenced him. He wrote about how the technology of Pokemon Red influenced him. If the paper was about how the story of Pokemon Red made him think about the value of loyalty, he'd have more of a leg to stand on.

What he wrote is the thematic equivalent of writing about how one of his parents was crushed by a statue, or a building. It has nothing to do with the pieces as artworks.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

No, you have no right to be upset about the situation.

You should have asked your teacher if she would accept video games as "art".

If she was one of those, "art" is everything people, then she would have had nothing to say.

Fortunately for the world, it would appear that she has higher criteria for art, and has rightly rejected the idea that a group of people writing software is "art".

Considering that you didn't complete the assignment as instructed, and she still gave you an 85%, I would say you came out of the situation on top.

Why is that "fortunate" for the world if she has a "higher criteria" for art. Who are you to say that video games can't be art. Look at some games out there like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, etc. Those just being the "artsy" games, you could even defend that other games are even better forms of artwork. Something like Zelda which has made multiple great story lines, getting people to think about how and why certain things are happening like a great and epic tale, or Kingdom Hearts that has changed so many people's lives that not only does it make people happy to play but they go so far as to make costumes, props, even entire stories/videos about them. Hell, even games like Final Fantasy, for example in 7 when Aerith died, almost everyone who played that felt some sadness. A game that inspired emotions, like how what you claim art is can inspire emotions. So don't go trying to generalize that one thing can't be art just because you can't see past your boundaries to be able to see how something so great can't be art.

Yeah I felt sad when Aerith died. Sad that the idiots couldn't figure out that they'd been using phoenix down this whole time and all of a sudden no one remembered the 99 stockpile I had in inventory...

 

[JochemDude]

Only one right answer.

Art is subjective, what I think is art may not be art to you and vice versa.

I don't think video games are art, they're too corporate to be art.