TV’s Depiction of Video Games: Who Gets it Right and Who gets it Wrong?

TV Gaming

TV Gaming

Even the most dedicated movie and TV buff has to concede that video games are ever increasing in popularity. And as this popularity increases, more and more movies and television programs are choosing to reference and acknowledge video games within their plots and story lines. And yet these scenes depicting video games being played are often among the weakest and most unrealistic scenes within movies, and particularly within TV shows. So when it comes to televisual depiction of video games, which shows are getting it right, and which shows are getting it wrong? Click ahead to find out…

 

THE BIG BANG THEORY

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory

There are video game references aplenty in The Big Bang Theory. To name just some of the main examples, first Penny develops an addiction to multi-player online gaming when Sheldon introduces her to the community. Then Sheldon’s online World of Warcraft account is hacked: hilarious, as always, ensues. And finally the group all sit down to play an online Star Wars game together. Subverting the stereotype that hard-core gamers are only singularly brainy and often leveling their character in the deepest reaches of their mother’s basements, the show demonstrates a demographic which, while geeky, projects a slightly more optimistic view of gaming: computer games can actually increase your intelligence, as they encourage faster decision making, and teach problem solving and critical thinking. So it stands to reason that the uber- intelligent Sheldon and his gang should be seen playing a range of video games.  The question is, what are the writers of The Big Bang Theory getting right in their portrayal of video games, and what are they getting wrong?

Well let’s start with the positives. The show demonstrates that video games are equally as interesting and accessible to females as they are to males. Male video gamers still outnumber female video gamers considerably, but by showing the young and attractive Penny enjoying the game, the writers show a buck to that trend. Another positive is a simple one: the way the guys use their video game controllers: video games don’t tend to require a player to mash a button repeatedly or make sudden and jerky movements. Most of the finger movements involved in playing a video game are very small, meaning nobody would really notice them: this is the case in The Big Bang Theory, and yet is something so many other TV shows get wrong. And the negatives of video game depiction within The Big Bang Theory? Well, the 10 million subscribers to World of Warcraft will know that whilst the episode where Sheldon’s account is hacked was very entertaining, it was also entirely factually inaccurate! If you’re going to depict such a popular video game within your television show, you ought to make sure you get that depiction right!

You may not know that when you are watching The Big Bang Theory, you are not watching one carefully constructed show.  After each particular take, the director will tell the audience that the cast are going to try that scene one more time, pretending that he didn’t get the shot he wanted. Actually what they are going to do is try another joke in that scene: the joke that gets the biggest laugh is the one you watch on TV. So perhaps the reason the inaccuracies of the video game humor make it into the show is simply because those are the jokes that get the biggest laughs.

 

COMMUNITY

Community

Community

Community is a smart and fast-paced TV comedy. And although it doesn’t depict video games as blatantly or frequently as The Big Bang Theory, when it does depict video games it does so remarkably well. As part of their three part season finale, the characters from the show entered an 8-bit video game world: this brilliant parody of the ‘nerd genre’ worked really well in showing gamers as being smart and quick witted, not just the ‘geeks’ they are often depicted as in other shows. When the guys in the group sit down to play video games they do just that: sit and watch the screen (with their hands barely moving, replicating the realism of that motion that is also found in The Big Bang Theory. The characters are completely desensitized to the online violence they are perpetrating, which again represents the realism of normal ‘real life’ game play.

If you’re looking for frequent gaming scenes illustrated with humor, punctuated with pop culture references and a witty commentary from the characters involved then tune in to The Big Bang Theory and you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for an example of video game portrayal done well and with accuracy (although infrequently)  in TV comedy then Community is certainly it.

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