I’ve heard a lot of spoilers for Life is Strange. Kate can die, your teacher is a murderer, and the ending where you choose either Arcadia or Chloe. I thought that despite knowing these things, I would not use a walkthrough. I wanted to save Kate for myself, to feel like I did something myself. I also wanted to observe my behavior toward the teacher, despite knowing the awful deeds he’s done. Would it affect how I answer to him, or does my respect for authority somehow trump it, especially if Max has no reason to suspect him? Will I be kinder to Chloe, even during her more…frustrating moments, because I know the ultimate decision? I was determined to focus on my behavior when I know what could happen, and compare it to how I might act not knowing these things. What does information change about my morals?
Right off the bat, I felt an odd connection to Max. Maybe it was the brown hair and freckles, something I myself possess but see little of in most media. She seemed small and fragile in the storm, and I wanted her safe. Was it because of my personal likeness to her?
I also noticed myself picking up on clues of Mr. Jefferson. His “goth” style and his line that he could put any of us in a dark room. It’s frustrating to find myself realizing I might have considered him charming, otherwise. I think it was important they made Mr. Jefferson stereotypically “good-looking.” He’s a young teacher, with a seemingly strong belief in us. I feel like the dark room line should have set me off, but I’m ashamed to admit that I might have been blinded by an aesthetic, rather than the content of the person.
My perceptions of Kate changed, too. Within Max’s notebook, she talks about Kate’s abstinence campaign and how religious she is. Instantly, I began making excuses to my judgmental self. “She just cares” I pointed out, “She’s not like those OTHER religious people.” But…who was the “other” my head was so quick to think about? The journal said nothing about Kate treating anyone poorly, and that’s especially not what Christianity is about. I felt bad that my assumption is “Christians are bad” simply because of what I’ve seen in the media. If I didn’t know Kate could die, I wonder if my conscious would have stopped the part of me that equates religious with wrongdoing.
In addition to this, when the game was telling me I had to get to the bathroom to save Chloe, I almost completely forgot to check on Kate. I only remembered to do so because I remembered Kate’s fate, and wanted to make sure I kept her alive. On my first playthrough, I wouldn’t have thought Kate should receive my time over Chloe who could die any second, but with what I knew I understood that both lives are at stake.
Overall, I found myself making different choices due to my previous knowledge. It honestly made me wonder, if I know all the information for every situation in my life, would I be able to make the most morally correct one? And since I likely will never know every bit of information, what can I do to ensure I know as much as possible, and not let initial bias influence my decisions.
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