How bad is MGS4 for the image of our hobby?

[jman8]

HappySqurriel said:

DTG said:

 

I prefer the bolded. There is a reason we go to school and study through textbooks. The average human, ergo 95% of the population is simply not intelligent enough to find any profoundities in sub-textual messages. He may think, he may ponder, but there is a reason why most of us never end up winning the Noble prize or become world renowed in any particular field; We are simply not smart or "brilliant enough" our brains being mere grains next to the minds of those who have truly impacted and revolutionized this world with their inventive ideas.

Which is why I prefer to read works from people such as Kant or Neitzche and basing my opinions upon interpretations of people with far greater grasp on the subject matter. While Kojima is no Kant I do appreciate what he is doing and do consider his creative and intellectual merits to be above the average Joe's. In being so I endorse his storytelling method of spelling his idea's out in words simply because it may inspire some other truly genius people to do so themselves rather then assume the dumb sheep of a public will be able to see the brilliant profoundities of their sub-textual messages.

If the thematics of any piece of art is to inspire thought and change on a global scale it must be presented in a manner understandable to every, spelled out and it may possibly "stick" and cause social shift. Immanual Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is an example of such dogmatic yet profound literary piece that still is far too complex for the average person to even care to understand.

 

I'm sorry, I see the situation in the complete opposite way ...

Most people in the world do not care enough about most serious topics to actually be entertained enough by a discussion about them to get anything out of the discussion; in contrast a story that is well executed and provides an emotional reaction surrounding the story will have a much more noticeable impact.

Consider Gattaca as an example of a movie which deals with very complex topics which have very serious implications on the world we live in. The story covers Eugenics, destiny (or genetic pre-destination if you'd rather), and discrimination all without ever having a philosophical discussion about any of these topics; most people (regardless of education or intelligence) will come out after seeing Gattaca with some understanding of these topics.

 

Bravo to this conversation! This is far more interesting and relevant than the "stupid MGS fanboys think MGS is art" witch hunt.

As for actually addressing the conversation. I tend to agree with Happy. It's the proverbial "showing is better than telling" mechanic. However, there's a reason why we have both movies like Gattaca and philosophical books like "Critique of Pure Reason." Both ways of attacking certain themes and ideas work. That's why Kojima's style works for so large an audience.