Cultural Convergence

It’s interesting to see the societal shift of fringe culture moving into the mainstream. I’m not the first to say it, so it shouldn’t strike you as a revelation or anything, but shows steeped very much in the “real” think nothing of incorporating bits and pieces of what can be classified as nothing less than science fiction, and do so with a wave and a gesture, expecting you, as the dear audience to not comment on the fact that the emperor has no clothes. Is this a bad thing? Not in the general context in which it’s placed of entertainment. As serious as some of us may take it, entertainment should be paramount, whether it’s just fun wordplay on a page or in execution at your table. Whether the fun is to be had as a game requires people to play it. A game is nothing more than a mass of words until it is living and breathing at the table, much the same as a play. The players (as actors) bring their own individual spins to the role and the variability and interplay of the holy trinity of fighter, wizard, and thief plays out just a wee bit differently from group to group (even embracing the traditional tropes or in the predictable attempts to rage against them).

I’ve mulled over these thoughts when I saturate myself with media, be it the super-amazing holographic machine on Bones (which would be at home in Star Wars, Bladerunner, or Star Trek) or the importance of hacking to the modern-day remake of The Count of Monte Cristo found in Revenge. I wonder what will be taken for granted in a handful of years.

Until next time, I bid you, dear reader, adieu!.