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Mccaryan's Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC)
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| [November 23, 2008 07:24:07 PM]
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Upon playing the game in it's entirety I myself have a few questions for Danny Ladonne. Just what exactly is he playing at? His motive seems to be well constructed during the games development, but then takes a turn that is rather questionable. Certainly Ledonne is aware of the power of the images he shows after the killers choose to end their lives. In my opinion he wrongly uses the photos of Harris and Klebold's bloody and lifeless bodies in succession with students, teachers and parents tearful reactions. My reason for believing this is because the game definitely changes it's tone, instead of being in control of what you see you are now forced to watch what Ledonne intends, ultimately ending is a strange pictorial tribute to both gunmen.
What is even more unsettling than watching a montage of Harris and Klebold grow up through pictures are the strange and harrowing last words Ledonne writes for Harris. The last words place both Harris and Klebold on an island in which they are free from oppression and escape the world they allegedly hate so much. Immediately after however, Harris mentions Hijacking a plane from a Denver airport and crashing it into New York City. I don't understand the logic behind this narrative decision, Ledonne was building substance and context in both killers but then totally destroyed it by showing an emotionally fraudulent montage and having the game reboot with both characters in hell having a good time.
Throughout the whole game there are references to both Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, but also Natural Selection and Evolution. These further dichotomies and paradoxes only clutter Ledonne's point and progress. I justify this by expressing my confusion at the cast of characters the boys encounter in hell. From Mario and Darth Vader to Bart Simpson and Piccachu, a perplexing twist is added to an already confusing game. Even more puzzling is the portrayal of Friedrich Nietzsche and the guidance he gives the boys, Ledonne takes his theories out of context and uses them to wrongly justify the pair.
Overall I feel that this game is definitely a piece of commentary that needs to be observed and discussed, I generally feel that an overall goal of re-examining a hot-button issue from a different perspective is achieved. However, I only wish Ledonne was clearer on his stance of the morality and intention in his interpretation of Harris and Klebold. I suppose a good capstone for the game is it's final image of Time magazine with a headline that reads "The Monsters Next Door", for Ledonne leaves the decision up to us the viewer after a dismal presentation of a different perspective.
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| [November 23, 2008 04:25:08 PM]
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After a second session of playing Super Columbine Massacre, I've noticed the depth of the entire narrative and violence increase tenfold. As Ledonne's narrative enters it's second Act he seems to be getting more cerebral by including established literary references, moral situations and backstory. Passages from T.S Elliot, Fredrick Nietzshe and Mary Shelly are particularly thought provoking when placed in juxtaposition with the Columbine school shooting. For what I believe Ledonne's intention is to take a step back and portray these two teens as humans, not the ruthless killers they appear to be in the first section of the game. Lodonne barrows words from established authors to properly depiction the confusion and angst of Harris and Klebold.
The killer's depiction as human is the result of fade to sepia flashbacks from both Eric and Dylan. Having the pair observe in retrospect the things that hurt them the deepest around the school while in the act of terrorizing and killing other students is a very interesting plot device because it attempts to offer backstory and a possible introspective motive. It is interesting because as the violence increases, shooting other students from point blank range after choosing from a whole menu of powerful weapons, I actually felt more attached to the killers because I was continually recieving more information about them.
When confronted with the task of choosing a handgun, shotgun or pipe bomb to kill a jock with, I can't help but feel disgusted. Essentially, after being labeled as Werido's and Outcasts, Ledonne gives the impression that the killers labeled everyone back. Although I found it easier to pull the trigger against a generic stereotype like Jock or Preppy Boy or Girl, I still wasn't comfortable during playing the game because it reduced my victims to a simple 2D archetype and not a living or dying human being. In essence, Ledonne is flipping the situation on it's ear, portraying the killers as human and the victims as simply cardboard cutouts used for target practice.
Another last twist Ledonne includes in his second Act of Columbine a critique on God through the eyes of the killers and also the sparing of lives scattered throughout the bloodshed. When Harris tells a girl to run away because he has spared her life he is acting as God; however, when Klebold confronts Church Girl, he asks her if she believes in God and then kills her. This one of many subtle dichotomies Ledonne plants for users to uncover and contemplate. However, he still includes some strange level of morality within the killers, for example, Harris wins revenge for both himself and loner being picked on by jocks, in turn he is rewarded for his behavior by the student he saved. These small details are easily overlooked and I think that's what makes them so powerful because you have to be very in tune to understand them.
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| [November 23, 2008 03:06:46 PM]
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After Observing the opening levels of Super Columbine Massacre RPG! I'm perplexed by the structure of the narrative and the references Ledonne includes from popular culture. Although Ledonne's knowledge of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold is obviously extensive and captured in extreme detail within a primitive format, I can't help but feel the dialogue between the two killers is contrived and borders the lines of cliche. Inserting musical references from Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, KMFDM, alongside Marlon Brando's closing monologue from Apocalypse Now, strikes me as Ledonne attempting to identify with Harris and Klebold through pieces of media they held similar interest in. However, the way some pieces of media can be viewed in retrospect by Harris, bothers me because it rings false and simply feeds into the American public's analysis of the events contained within the tragedy.
Although I sincerely doubt that Klebold and Harris recited lines of Shakespeare and introspective monologues to one another before detonating explosions and killing fellow students and faculty, I do admire the step-by-step recreation of the events of April 20th 1999. I realize that this approach to truth is rather blunt and maybe considered a slap in the face to some, but I learned more from simply persisting in the game with these two characters for a half hour then in the entire media coverage I've seen regarding the situation. Ledonne is heavy handed in his portrayal of both gunmen and Colorado itself, in doing so, he forces his audience to pay attention to Harris and Klebold, attention that could have prevented the entire situation in the first place.
I find something unsettling between actually playing the game and it's correlation to Danny Ledonne's written statement posted on his website. I respect the fact the game's creator has taken ownership of his work and takes the time to defend his commentary, but I'm still confused as to his true intentions. Some of the slides within game scenes a lathered in sarcasm and irony, especially using the parking lot as the first save point because there's no turning back. When I read something like "I was headed down a similar path" by the game's creator, I wonder if he was trying to justify Harris and Klebold's acts of violence as simply the nature of man and the art of war. However, i do believe the cut scene from Apocalypse Now was put there to act as a powerful parallel between the dementia of Marlon Brando's character trying to justify the horrors of trying to maintain morality while killing with out remorse and these outcast and misunderstood teens pushed to the brink.
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