Ok, video games can be art. Now will you nerds leave me alone, sheesh!
Well I’ll be whipped, dipped and stripped, did Hell freeze over or what?! Famed movie reviewer and infamous video game detractor Roger Ebert retracts his previous, five years old comment of “video games can never be art” to “I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place”. See for me I never had anything against Roger Ebert; in fact he was the profession I’d inspired to be – a journalist who covered his interests in many ways, shapes and forms. However after his close-minded comment about the entertainment media I loved, I decided to – uh, distances myself from Mr. Ebert as he was besieged by legions of the video game community over the four years since his words (not me mind you, I know video games are awesome and opinions are like a**holes – everyone’s got’em). What really got under the skin of many is that Ebert based his words on ‘no’ video game experience at all, nor a general working knowledge of the gaming culture, couple those with an debatable definition of what is ‘art’ and what you got is an ‘Earthworm Jim’ size can of worms opened like the Hulk on a bender man. Now today (or is it yesterday now) Ebert explained himself in a rather long blog post of his quasi change of heart, summed up here:
I had to be prepared to agree that gamers can have an experience that, for them, is Art. I don’t know what they can learn about another human being that way, no matter how much they learn about Human Nature. I don’t know if they can be inspired to transcend themselves. Perhaps they can. How can I say? I may be wrong. But if ‘m not willing to play a video game to find that out, I should say so. I have books to read and movies to see. I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place.
Ebert still holds true to his dislike towards video games, but in his post explains will no longer let his personal opinions dictate what the gaming culture is or is not as a whole. I got to admit Mr. Ebert I’m impressed, you admitted you made a mistake of this caliber and owned up to it like a pro while maintaining your personal stance on the issue. So if there’s anything to be learned from this it is:
- That the generation gap isn’t as far to cross as one may believe
- Video games is as artistic as the next form of media in existence
- And most importantly Roger Ebert is cool again.
Rejoice people, rejoice.
Here’s the link to his blog post, hope you like paragraphs: Okay, kids, play on my lawn