If Anime and Manga has taught us anything is that people don't have a problem with the idea of children fighting. The problem people have is grownups sending children to die in their place.
So the question is do these children die in your game?
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Making Certain themes accepectable
Author
7 minutes ago, Scouting Ninja said:If Anime and Manga has taught us anything is that people don't have a problem with the idea of children fighting. The problem people have is grownups sending children to die in their place.
So the question is do these children die in your game?
No, I see that as barbaric.
As much as I take inspiration from Japanise mediums, I don't like the idea of being sent out to die.
Exactly. No one wants to see a child die. Sending children to fight is still a sketchy topic but if they are perfectly safe then no one will really care about it. However if death is even virtually possible, that is to day they COULD die but just don't then people will still be at odds with the story.
With all that said, I am not against controversial stories, especially when the story takes a look at why these topics are controversial.
48 minutes ago, NanaMarfo said:I understand that, but I see my stories as a fantasy
Even fantasy generally has something to say about the topics it tackles. Often fantasy is used as a vehicle to tackle subjects that are uncomfortable to address in a contemporary setting.
Media like Battle Royale or the Hunger Games portray similar themes to what you seem to be proposing (and both have been subject to controversy) but they do so to a purpose - themes of youthful idealism as the antidote to fascism and despair, and so on and so on...
To tackle a controversial topic without having anything to say... that seems fairly reckless.
Author
58 minutes ago, Scouting Ninja said:Exactly. No one wants to see a child die. Sending children to fight is still a sketchy topic but if they are perfectly safe then no one will really care about it. However if death is even virtually possible, that is to day they COULD die but just don't then people will still be at odds with the story.
With all that said, I am not against controversial stories, especially when the story takes a look at why these topics are controversial.
The kids will be teens, and I plan to make a bit more mature than they should be in the heat of battle. They are not, incompetent, they fully know the risks associated with war.
29 minutes ago, swiftcoder said:Even fantasy generally has something to say about the topics it tackles. Often fantasy is used as a vehicle to tackle subjects that are uncomfortable to address in a contemporary setting.
Media like Battle Royale or the Hunger Games portray similar themes to what you seem to be proposing (and both have been subject to controversy) but they do so to a purpose - themes of youthful idealism as the antidote to fascism and despair, and so on and so on...
To tackle a controversial topic without having anything to say... that seems fairly reckless.
I do think games have become a bit caught up with having something to say. I do want characters to have thoughts on their circumstances(regret and all that jazz), but the point of the story will not be to explore themes.
If the point isn't to explore themes or say anything meaningful, then do you really need to have potentially controversial content?
If it's just a war game with no message behind it why not just use adult soldiers and avoid the potential problem?
You can see it as fantasy as much as you want, but the connection is so trivial and has such deep negative emotions, that everybody will simply ignore your fantasy idea and project it onto the real world.
I think even aside from the child-soldier problem, you also have a "child - weapon" connection problem, which doesn't look very positive either from most parents point of view.
On 3/16/2018 at 3:29 AM, NanaMarfo said:So I am current writing a script which is trying to paint child soldiers in a better light. For Context:
Children are between 11 and 13 in order to fight. However, in this world, combat training is a option in school, meaning that the from 14 onward, teens are sent to fight, in order to protect the world, and protect back abandoned areas.
How careful should I be when writing the script? I know this is a very sensitive subject for some people.
I just thought it would be useful to see the original question again. After several people have answered the question about sensitive subjects and recommending that you research the subject, so people don't dismiss your story for ignoring the real issues, you wrote:
17 hours ago, NanaMarfo said:I see my stories as a fantasy. Not trying to stick to real life rules or standards. So.. while I understand how and why people are affected, I just want to engage my audience with a story, and characters.
Sounds like you're trying to argue against the answer we're giving you.
16 hours ago, swiftcoder said:Even fantasy generally has something to say about the topics it tackles. Often fantasy is used as a vehicle to tackle subjects that are uncomfortable to address in a contemporary setting.
Precisely.
5 hours ago, Alberth said:You can see it as fantasy as much as you want, but the connection is so trivial and has such deep negative emotions, that everybody will simply ignore your fantasy idea and project it onto the real world.
Nana, you're getting the answer to your question. Still want to argue?
18 hours ago, NanaMarfo said:I understand that, but I see my stories as a fantasy. Not trying to stick to real life rules or standards. So.. while I understand how and why people are affected, I just want to engage my audience with a story, and characters.
Unfortunately, your intent as designer or author doesn't have a whole lot of bearing on how people will interpret your work. You can have the cleanest of intents and still make something that some people will find dirty, because in their particular worldview the symbols you use to tell your story have a particular meaning to them that may not match up with what those symbols mean to you. That's not something that's under your control . No matter how much you clarify or put out "artistic statements" or the like, artistic interpretation is subjective and some people will interpret your work differently from how you intend.
If you want the world to interpret your work to be close to what you intended, then you must take the worldviews (plural!) of your audience into consideration so that the way you choose to represent your intent best matches that intent even if your work is evaluated in a worldview different from your own.
Sometimes that means acknowledging that a subject that is fluffy fantasy to you is highly political and of incredible importance to someone else. That will very much be the case with anything to do with the use of child soldiers.
Author
15 hours ago, jbadams said:If the point isn't to explore themes or say anything meaningful, then do you really need to have potentially controversial content?
If it's just a war game with no message behind it why not just use adult soldiers and avoid the potential problem?
There are other themes tied into that I want to explore.
1 hour ago, Tom Sloper said:Nana, you're getting the answer to your question. Still want to argue?
1
I was just stating my option, not trying to cause arguments. If that seemed to be my intent, I apologise.
This topic is closed to new replies.
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