Final Reflection - Second Skin Is reality only a figment of one’s imagination, and what is reality exactly? Second Skin is a 2008 American documentary that follows the lives of seven people as they investigate the controversial, virtual worlds of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). The documentary was written by Victor Piñeiro-Escoriaza, directed by Juan Carlos Piñeiro-Escoriaza, and published by Pure West Films. In these online games, the lives of the gamers are transformed as they become more immersed in games such as EverQuest, EverQuest II, Second Life, and World of Warcraft. According to Edmond Chang, an author for The Critical Gaming Project (CGP) at the University of Washington, the film attempts to articulate
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Nevertheless, in Second Skin, there is a case following a gamer, named, Dan Bustard from Pennsylvania, who throws his life away playing World of Warcraft (Piñeiro-Escoriaza, 2008). He tries to find help at a halfway house for video game addicts. The founder of that house; however, in Chang’s opinion, is intense and reflects what he thinks is much of the popular opinion of gamers and gaming (2009). This opinion being one that does not support video gamers, for they are seen as being violent — causing elevated awareness of the mean world syndrome, which is generally linked with television viewing. However, it can also be connected to gaming as noted in the documentary, The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear (Earp, 2010). Even so, Bustard manages to pull himself together and argues strongly that real life is much better than virtual life (Chang, 2009). Despite his argument, other cases, recognized in the documentary, seem to make gaming appear to be quite appealing to individuals who already …show more content…
This idea of Chang’s, in my opinion, challenges the idea of real life to begin with. For instance, there is a case in Second Skin that presents a disabled player who has been given a voice and mobility in the virtual world, which he would never be able to obtain in reality (Piñeiro-Escoriaza, 2008). With this in mind, who is to say that the virtual world cannot be a part of the real world? The virtual world was constructed by the real world after all. The two, if anything, should be connected — not separated. In Second Skin, each story of the characters deals with conquering negative stigmas attached to the gaming community. In addition, like in real life, the gamers face challenges in the games they play. Likewise, many games, the characters even paid for to access. In a way, gaming could be compared to any other paid form of entertainment, yet it is negatively looked down upon, because it can be addictive — just like any other type of entertainment. This is sincerely sad, for Bowen (2014) writes of Granic’s surprising
Nevertheless, in Second Skin, there is a case following a gamer, named, Dan Bustard from Pennsylvania, who throws his life away playing World of Warcraft (Piñeiro-Escoriaza, 2008). He tries to find help at a halfway house for video game addicts. The founder of that house; however, in Chang’s opinion, is intense and reflects what he thinks is much of the popular opinion of gamers and gaming (2009). This opinion being one that does not support video gamers, for they are seen as being violent — causing elevated awareness of the mean world syndrome, which is generally linked with television viewing. However, it can also be connected to gaming as noted in the documentary, The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear (Earp, 2010). Even so, Bustard manages to pull himself together and argues strongly that real life is much better than virtual life (Chang, 2009). Despite his argument, other cases, recognized in the documentary, seem to make gaming appear to be quite appealing to individuals who already …show more content…
This idea of Chang’s, in my opinion, challenges the idea of real life to begin with. For instance, there is a case in Second Skin that presents a disabled player who has been given a voice and mobility in the virtual world, which he would never be able to obtain in reality (Piñeiro-Escoriaza, 2008). With this in mind, who is to say that the virtual world cannot be a part of the real world? The virtual world was constructed by the real world after all. The two, if anything, should be connected — not separated. In Second Skin, each story of the characters deals with conquering negative stigmas attached to the gaming community. In addition, like in real life, the gamers face challenges in the games they play. Likewise, many games, the characters even paid for to access. In a way, gaming could be compared to any other paid form of entertainment, yet it is negatively looked down upon, because it can be addictive — just like any other type of entertainment. This is sincerely sad, for Bowen (2014) writes of Granic’s surprising