Merchant of Cool Trading Cards

When people hear about trading card games they usually think about baseball cards. A more culturally diverse person might think about Pokemon or Yugioh, two of the most popular and successful trading card games. Almost everyone, however, has an image of a popular stereotype when they think about the people that play trading card games. Most people picture a nerd who wears glasses, lacks proper hygiene, and is socially inept. These people are unequivocally uncool. For the gaming company Hasbro it has been a challenge to market their card game Magic: The Gathering in a society that looks down on their product as childish and uncool.

For the last few years Magic has been a thriving business despite its uncool status. For the mega merchant Hasbro they had to figure out how to make Magic appeal to a wider audience to keep it from going bankrupt. To begin with, Hasbro subsidized the Magic brand out to a company called Wizards of the Coast. The first step in making the game seem less childish was to separate it from the Hasbro name which is usually tied to board games. The name Wizards of the Coast is usually shortened to just Wizards which conjures up ideas of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings which are still considered nerd material but is at least more recognizable and approachable.

The next step Wizards took was to make the game a more sociable event. Being a card game it already requires at least two players, thus Wizards has pushed local stores to hold sponsored events to raise awareness. These local events give Magic a sense that it is similar to a social club or an extracurricular activity. This encourages new people to join the crowd because it is a social event instead of two people who are just playing at a table by themselves.

In addition to all of the things Wizards has done to increase the game’s maturity and coolness, Wizards also made certain decisions of what not to do. The popular kid’s games Pokémon and Yugioh created cartoon spin off shows to market the card game as well as multiple full length feature films. Wizards chose to take a different route in hopes of distancing their card game from these two franchises. Wizards has not made any spin offs except for a novel series which explains the alternate universe that the Magic cards are set in. A book series sounds much more advanced and mature than a cartoon show to the average teenager who is concerned with cool.

The most influential move Wizards took was to create larger events that reward winners with cash prizes. With small events paying out five thousand dollars and larger events paying in the hundred of thousands, Magic has generated a world wide audience. The Magic Pro Tour mirrors many elements of the World Poker Tour, traveling overseas to places like Rome, Madrid, and Tokyo to hold large events that have been featured on ESPN. Wizards has spent a lot of money to make Magic feel more like a social sport than a children’s game, and it has paid off. Magic is the biggest and most successful trading card game right now being translated into over nine different languages. While still not entirely socially accepted, Magic has solidified itself as a mature and cool card gaming experience.

The Graphic Novel

Comic books originated in 1934 and immediately garnished a reputation as immature children’s reading. This reputation probably stems from the correlation between comics and stories that contain illustrations. People assume that the illustrations help the less intelligent reader to understand what the words are saying. Even today there are still people who view comics with this condescending tone despite the mature evolution comics have undergone. In particular, a subculture of comics emerged in the 1960’s known as the graphic novel. Graphic novels quickly sought to distinguish themselves from the more juvenile media of comic books, and often did so by containing more controversial and mature themes.

As Dick Hebdige observes, “The emergence of a spectacular subculture is invariably accompanied by a wave of hysteria in the press” and for graphic novels this is certainly true. Many people were not accustomed to the idea of such mature themes and graphic images in heavily illustrated works. Comic books soon followed suit in attempting to create story lines that were edgy and dark, but graphic novels had already been solidified as the more adult and meaningful form of literature.

Just like ay other type of subculture, however, graphic novels soon became swallowed up by mass culture and repackaged as commodities to consumers. Graphic novels have been adapted into large screen productions such as The Watchmen and 300. The edgy and dark material that seemed so taboo just a few years ago has now been produced as films for mass culture and given unassuming “R” ratings. Most people are surprised to hear after watching a movie like Sin City or Kick-Ass that it was adapted from a graphic novel, as graphic novels have lost some of their surprising quality. Hebdige describes this absorption of subcultures into pop culture by saying, “The process of recuperation takes [this] form: the conversion of subcultural signs (dress, music, ect.) into mass produced objects (ie the commodity form)” and graphic novels have certainly become a part of mass culture. They are no longer considered the icon of edgy taboo material but merely a more adult form of comic books.

This process of absorption into pop culture has not been entirely negative however. Graphic novels have achieved more respect in their transition to mass culture. Even though graphic novels are not as popular as comics, they have slowly become accepted into mass culture and this has helped the graphic novel industry flourish. Ironically, many graphic novels will remain critical of the mass culture that is swallowing it up, yet sustaining it.

The Spectacle of Fantasy

Fantasy films are renowned for, and in fact classified by, their fantastical elements. The use of Computer Generated Imagery, or CGI, has become a staple for fantasy movies that are striving to capture the impossible and the fantastical. The scenes in fantasy movies that incorporate CGI are very expensive to make and are a tedious process for the animators. The CGI scenes in fantasy movies are usually displayed throughout the movie’s trailer and generally create the most excitement in the movie theater because of spectacle. Fantasy movies use spectacle to capture the audience’s attention whether it’s vast armies battling in Lord of the Rings or an enormous Kraken rising from the seas in Clash of the Titans. These scenes are rarely intended to advance the plot but are a crucial element to the fantasy movie. These spectacle shots are part of what make the fantasy film unique and popular, just as the audience is wowed by the strange creatures and plant life found on Pandora in the movie Avatar.

Lately fantasy movies seem to focus solely on spectacle as a selling point. A filmmaker can forgo character development and a complex plot to focus on merely the CGI spectacle shot that will generate enough revenue to turn a profit. Lord of the Rings, however, manages to incorporate spectacle for the sake of the movie instead of merely for the awe factor.

A good fantasy movie uses the fantastical and the spectacle shots to reflect on the most non-fantastical element of the movie: human nature. Whenever there is a shot in Lord of the Rings that shows vast armies of thousands of soldiers or towering war elephants stampeding over the battlefield there is usually a shot that shows one of the leading protagonists. In these captivating moments we get a look into the heart of the character, be it the mighty King Theoden or young Pippin, as they struggle with their emotions. We see their faces express the overwhelming fear of death and their courage to stand and fight. A fantasy movie is defined by its magical or fantastical elements, but its merit comes from its ability to examine the human spirit and reflect on human nature. In contrast to enormous walking trees or mountain trolls is the human reaction (albeit not always from a human creature) to these fantastical elements. We see the fiercest bravery in Gimli and yet the lowliest selfishness in Smeagol. Frodo’s companion Sam, even when faced with the perilous Mount Doom and the terrifying black cloaked riders, is unyieldingly faithful to Frodo. His unselfishness shows the absolute best of human nature in his undying loyalty. The fantastical element is capable of showing human nature in the most profound way that no other genre of movie could achieve because of its fantastic spectacle.

Can A Videogame Be A Work of Art?

In 2005 Sony Computer Entertainment released a PlayStation 2 videogame called Shadow of the Colossus. The game centers around the protagonist Wander who must travel on horseback throughout a vast landscape to locate and defeat 16 enormous beings known as Colossi. The game was widely praised by critics and is usually what gamers will point to when arguing that videogames can be considered works of art. Many people still view videogames as childish, or at least solely for entertainment purposes, which explains why videogames are not universally recognized as art forms. Some people believe a work of art should be refined and political as well as pleasing because of its beauty. Thus, the adrenaline rush that the player feels when stabbing a creature 100 feet tall with a sword and watching it plummet to the ground does not seem to fit the criteria of refined, political, or high brow culture.

There are many reasons why Shadow of the Colossus is viewed as an artistic piece, however. Firstly, the game is beautiful. Even by today’s next generation, high definition graphics Shadow of the Colossus is simply breathtaking to look at. The enormous Colossi are animated with painstaking detail so that they appear grand and powerful. The expansive landscape with rolling hills, waterfalls, and tall cliffs are realistic and gorgeous as well making the game just as enjoyable to look at as to play.

The game is divided up into two parts: fighting the mighty Colossi and riding through the serene landscape to find the next Colossus. This means that half of the player’s time is spent exploring and enjoying the expansive yet barren land, utterly devoid of humans or any creature larger than a lizard. The only sound to be heard during this time is the galloping of the horse’s feet and the breathing of the player’s character. The environment was designed specifically to evoke helplessness and isolation in the player. The feelings of dread and hopelessness culminate in a climax every time the next over-sized Colossus reveals itself and begins its assault upon the player.  Afterwards, however, when the beast has been killed, all of the player’s negative emotions change into relief and the player feels a primeval thrill of victory that comes from killing an enormous creature over a hundred times bigger and more powerful. The range of emotions the game can evoke from the player is incredible, and this is what many believe makes the game a work of art.

Another interesting aspect of Shadow of the Colossus is the minimalistic approach to storytelling in the game. There are only two major moments where the player is given any detail of the plot which comes at the beginning and at the end of the game. By limiting the information given to the player the designers of the game made it so that the player can fill in the gaps of the story how they choose. The player becomes the story teller and creates motivations for their character. The videogame becomes an interactive work of art as the player participates in its creation, something that no other medium of art can achieve. This is what art is about, experiencing emotions and feeling a connection with the artist, or in this case the game designer.

The problem becomes that the game is art for art’s sake, or more precisely, art for the sake of enjoyment. Many people play the game solely for the experience of having fun and do not reflect on the artistic nature of the game. This could mean that for them it is not art but instead just a fun game. Can something be considered art to one person and merely a toy to somebody else? It would be considered foolish to say that the Mona Lisa is not art because somebody enjoys looking at it. Even if the person viewing the Mona Lisa is not an art critic they can still enjoy looking at it without appreciating its full artistic value.

Shadow of the Colossus, even if it is considered art, was published by the multi million dollar company Sony who, above all else, was attempting to profit from the game. The designers of the game may have been producing art, but the game would never have been created if there was no money to be made. How can a work of art be something that is made for the sake of turning a profit? There have been many artists who created art with the goal of making money, however. Shakespeare, for example, wrote many masterpieces but he still had to make a living so he made his plays exciting and funny for the audience. Shadow of the Colossus also appeals to the player because it is exciting and fun to play, but it can also be seen as a work of art.

From Dracula to Twilight

In the past, works of fantasy have not been excluded from high culture. Works such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) or Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) have been studied at the collegiate level and are praised by scholars for their literary merit. At the time of their release, however, these works of fantasy literature were not as widely praised or accepted as they are today. In general these books were regarded as literary for the masses and unworthy of serious study. It has taken time for them to grow into the literary classics that they are known as today.

It seems that most works of fantasy begin this way, as works of fiction intended for consumption by the masses. It is usually the exception to see a work of fantasy rise from mass culture into high culture. It is not unprecedented, however, to see a work of fantasy become a product of the culture industry. Culture industry is the technique by which mass culture is taken as a product, packaged, and sold back to the masses for a profit. Works of fantasy are birthed as products of mass culture, and then marketed and sold to millions as a very lucrative business.

The Twilight Saga is a series of fantasy teen novels that depict vampires as major characters. Twilight has become a huge commercial success. It has sold over a hundred million copies and been translated into over 38 different languages around the globe. The film adaptations have earned over one and a half billion dollars. This is an example of the culture industry taking something that is a product of mass culture and creating profit out of selling it to the masses. Fans will spend millions of dollars purchasing the official Twilight t-shirts, posters, buttons, and the DVD’s. Whereas Stoker used Dracula to explore important social problems such as the role of women in Victorian culture, immigration, and colonialism, Stephanie Meyer has used Twilight to tell a story about a girl who falls in love with a vampire and a werewolf. Scholars study Dracula as high culture but look at Twilight as trash literature even though, and possibly because, it has appealed to the masses and made millions of dollars.

This does not make Twilight any less a part of popular culture, nor does it mean that Twilight has less value than Dracula. What it means is that in this era of technology and capitalism it has become easier and more profitable to mass produce literature that appeals to the largest audience instead of creating social commentary. Theodor Adorno, who first identified the concept of culture industry, would argue that it makes the masses more passive and less critical of popular culture. Culture industry does not strive to further the human condition or to improve our social interaction but merely aims to make a profit. The fantasy genre has struggled to attain a status as anything more than mass culture suited for the culture industry. Of course, Twilight fans appreciate the novels without the approval of any scholars.