Overusedname said:
Special Episode time yay! This is a big shift for me, but don't worry, normal episodes are still coming. In this episode I deconstruct the problem with labeling random games 'Gamings Citizen Kane Moment'. It conveys a lack of understanding of various topics. Let's talk about this.
Dicussion is always welcome, as is feedback and support. Yay.
Hmmm. I would agree with this, for the most part. It was a really well made video. However, I don't think any of the examples given came anywhere near Citizen kane, especially not Half Life, which comes nowhere near the necessary quality. Ocarina of Time would be best example given, but I don't think it has anywhere near the symbolic power necessary to call it the Citizen Kane of gaming. It was visually stunning and even hold up today because of art direction. All the examples given were trend setters, yes, but that's not enough. As the video said, everything in Citizen Kane was carefully constructed to convey meaning, which is easier to do when the creator controls the shots. I haven't seen many games that were able to have the visually symbolic impact necessary to compare it to Citizen Kane. Also, as the video also mentioned, Citizen Kane was important because the visual style did things that couldn't be done with theater, thus separating it from another genre. It was literally genre defining. Thus a game that is indicative of film cannot be genre defining. It has to actually separate games from films, and do things films can't This is happening now, but I don't think we actually have that masterpiece yet.
Now, there is one game that could be a contender for the role of "Citizen Kane" of gaming, and that would be Silent Hill 2. Much like Citizen Kane, every single shot was deliberate, and filled with an incredible layer of meaning. Every single aspect of the game, everything, was built around progressing the story and developing the character. The environments were all reflections of the characters psyche, and all the monsters had some sort of symbolic meaning. The dialogue was not necessarily Shakespeare, but there was very little of it, and every single word was dripping with meaning. Every. Single. Word. Nothing was wasted. Even the retrieval of items helped serve the story. The game was short, condensed, and small, allowing for an incredibly tight plot where all the fat was trimmed, leaving no unnecessary elements. Here are some examples:
When James enters room 205 of the apartment building, he sees a single mannequin nestled in the center of the room. Because of the fixed camera angles typical of survival horror at that time, the camera is clearly focused on the mannequin itself. The flashlight that you will use for the entirety of the game is nestled neatly on the chest of the mannequin. As a result the mannequin is the only thing illuminated in the room, which means the only thing the player can really see is the mannequin. Everything else is shrouded in total darkness. This is significant, because the mannequin is wearing the clothes of Mary, James's wife, whom he murdered. As soon as James retrieves the light from the Mannequin, he is attacked by a new monster that was hiding in the shadows, appropriately called the mannequin. The monster is very feminine, meant to represent his wife. We later see a scene where Pyramid Head is abusing a mannequin monster, presumably sexually. Pyramid head abusing the Mannequin seems indicative of James murdering his wife. Therefore the point of the flashlight is to illuminate the guilt that James feels, and the monster that is promptly killed represents James guilt. In fact, since all the monsters but pyramid head are female, and James is forced to kill many of them, every time James kills a monster is actually symbolic of him murdering his wife. Pyramid Head, the only masculine monster, actually represents James, which is why we see it kill other monsters. Even the most mundane actions in the game are symbolic.
There's a room with a dead body in a chair, sitting in front of a television. If you hack the game, you realize the body is actually the character model for James. At the end of the game James watches a video in a hotel room that shows him murdering his wife. Therefore, this room is foreshadowing the revelation to come. The body may have even been a suicide, which would then represent his guilt over murdering his wife.
Mirrors are a recurring motif. James is looking into a mirror when the game starts. Angela is looking into a massive mirror spanning the entire wall when James meets her the second time, and she's contemplating suicide. The mirrors represent the characters looking inside themselves. It's important to note that both characters have murdered someone, and feel guilty. It's also interesting that every time you save you stare into the characters face, similar to how he stared into the mirror. There are entire schools of thought about how this visual shot will draw you into the character psychologically, because their face takes up the entire shot, forcing you to look at them. It's extremely intimate, but somewhat uncomfortable. You'll see this a lot in Silence of the Lambs.
There is a room that is an entire bar in the cellar. Earlier in the game, James mentions he is a heavy drinker. When you reach the bar, it begins to flood, and James has to escape before he drowns. The message seems to be that he is drowning his guilt in alcohol.
The environments, enemies, and game play all work to tell the story, and symbolize multiple things. The fixed camera angles, similar to Resident Evil, were actually utilized to create unique "shots" in game, without taking control from the player, and allowed the developers to draw attention to certain details that were important. I've never played a game with this level of detail, and I would argue, though not perfect, and not even my favorite game, it is the closest we've ever come to a Citizen Kane of the gaming world.
