Gamer Plays it Well

Not just another action movie, Gamer puts a mirror up to society and asks just what the hell is wrong with us.

Science-fiction movies have a distinct advantage over other movies when asking (and answering) the Big Questions: by taking societal norms and mores and extrapolating them to their logical (or in some cases, illogical) conclusions, sic-fi offers moviegoers the chance to explore their own beliefs and actions in a nonjudgmental way, under the guise of an allegorical tale. Closer may examine what it’s like to be human just as much as Star Trek, only the latter’s philosophical questions don’t make us squirm as much  because they happen to fantastical beings in far-away lands. Star Trek was able to examine racism on 1960s network television because it was racism against aliens, even though everyone know what Gene Roddenberry was really talking about. Gamer succeeds with the same kind of misdirection By extrapolating the nature of the 21st-century first-world consumerist society, it lays bare society’s failures. While Gamer may look like a simple action thriller, it is anything but.

The things people do for money…

Gamer takes place in the near future, in a world obsessed with voyeurism and exploitation. In this not-quite-dystopian society, computer mogul Ken Castle (Dexter’s Michael C. Hall) has made billions off of two games: Society, an NC-17 Sims-style MMORPG, and Slayers, a first-person shooter. The twist is that the avatars in Castle’s games are alive. Nanotechnology lets people relinquish their free will to the players who play them. In Society, the avatars are actors and actresses looking for a quick buck by letting someone else control their bodies in the ultimate act of prostitution, while the Slayers avatars are death-row inmates who are fighting for their freedom. Thirty straight wins means a pardon; anything less is the death they would have received anyway. Gerard Butler plays Kable, the best fighter Slayers has ever seen. The movie follows Kable’s journey to win his freedom, while stopping along the way to introduce audiences to the various players, movers, and shakers in this cowardly new world.

And cowardly is the best way to describe this future. One side plot involves the attempts of the resistance group Humanz to force society into realizing just what it is they give up by participating in Castle’s games. Released in 2009, it seems that Gamer portended the rise of slacktivism: the Humanz can broadcast messages en masse all they want, but they’re only successful at getting their message across when they reach out one on one.

Gamer succeeds much the same way. As I watched the movie, I was all too aware of society’s insatiable voyeuristic desires. Much like the rich and the poor in Gamer, the real-life class divide of haves and have-nots grows deeper each year, leading the unemployed and underemployed to do ever-more-desperate things for fame and fortune. It isn’t so far-fetched to believe that while today we have shows like Big Brother, where contestants have their every move scrutinized, in twenty-five years audiences could be demanding a little bloodsport alongside people crying in the confession room.

Gamer didn’t get positive reviews upon its initial release and it’s easy to see why. Full of jump cuts, handheld shaky cam, gratuitous death scenes, and degrading sexual situations, it’s easy to dismiss this movie by the directors of the Crank films as tasteless and exploitative. Many critics’ reviews said as much. But there’s one review that does defend Gamer, and does it superbly. Steven Shaviro liked the movie so much he wrote 10,000 words praising the very things that drew me to the movie. Obviously, Shaviro goes deeper than I ever could, and his review is here, should you have an hour to spare. If not, give Gamer a watch and see if you agree. Gamer’s world isn’t our world, but it could be.

TL;drs

Blank is a blanker version of blank: Gamer is a grittier version of The Running Man.

Recommended if you like: Southland Tales, Dredd

Better than I expected: Loved the supporting cast of character actors, including John de Lancie, Kyra Sedgwick, and Ludacris.

Worse than I’d hoped: There’s a missed opportunity by only offering a male perspective of the gamers, both in Society and Slayers. What would women do if given the opportunity to control real-life avatars? The movie doesn’t address it and could have.

Gamer would be amazing as a(n): comic-book series. I’d love to see the concept explored in more detail.

Verdict: A philosophical movie that will make you want to hug a puppy once it’s over.