date watched: June 6, 2009
location: at home. borrowed a friend's copy.
I first saw an excerpt of this film during last semester's Script Analysis class. The objective of showing the clip was to explain that even documentaries have a plot, and there are set characters playing different parts.
Right away, the manner in which Billy Mitchell is shown spells out "apprehension." He has hair that looks like Darth Vader's mask, and he's always wearing a shirt and tie. He exudes confidence, and never considers himself as less than the best. On the other hand, Steve Wiebe is your average nice guy: he smiles to all his students in science class, he diligently plays the piano, and keeps the promise with his wife of playing "Donkey Kong" only at night.
I honestly had no idea that Bill would turn out to be a jerk, at least within the documentary itself. Of course, it's clear that he has an obsession with winning, and rather than challenging the new winner to a public game, he merely keeps tabs on Steve through his minions. More and more, it becomes clearer that he's a coward, and that only Steve is man enough to keep his promise as a genuine classic arcade game player.
Of course, we're meant to scoff at the utter seriousness of some of these players. Also, most of these men look as if they jumped out of a bad 80s commercial. My sister commented, "Only Steve Wiebe looks normal." Next to Darth Vader Bill and frazzled Mruczek, her opinion cannot be denied.
The reason this film works for so many of us, though I doubt anybody plays these games anymore, is that we know how it feels to sometimes win and to sometimes lose. The perfect score is exactly that--perfect, and thus unobtainable. When the score for the game turns from 900,000 -something into six zeroes, you become an instant hero. All the hours of maneuvering the joystick between your fingers and the ache-y feeling behind your eyes from staring at the screen so long--they are worth it.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a passion for anime, or devotion to the Star Wars series, there's a geek inside all of us. What do YOU have the hots for?
I am so jealous of Steve Wiebe ... I would love to get paid 10k for all the time i've spent practicing video games
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