Evaluation of Theme
In our text, Jesse Schell lists two steps dealing with unified theme. - Step 1: Figure out what your theme is.
- Step 2: Use every means possible to reinforce that theme.
When examining The Metamorphoses, one will quickly realize how disjointed the organization of the story is. Stories start within a story, then move on to another story, only to jump back to that first story. Because of this mechanic (Ovid's style) it is more helpful to start with Step 2 and work backwards to find a theme.
One of the more common occurrences in Ovid's work is the act of rape. Frequently the acts are initiated by Jupiter, husband of the Goddess of Marriage. The two then generally play a cat and mouse game around the rape victim. For example in Book I, Jupiter rapes the nymph Io, but to hide his acts from Juno transforms his affair into a cow. Juno, being herself divine and no fool, uses cow-form Io as an object to extract a strange form of revenge on Jupiter. In the next book the cycle repeats with Jupiter raping Callisto after guising himself as his own daughter Diana.
The most 'comic' of the rape stories is that of Apollo and Daphne. In this case, Apollo is not really the guilty party, as he is simply acting on the will of Eros. The God of Love is guilty for mandating the rape, ending with Apollo groping the tree formerly known as Daphne.
So what theme can be extracted from the most frequently told story Ovid gives us? For a modern reader at least, the Gods seem to have been reversely casted, much more frequently being 'harbingers of doom' than 'divine consolation'. When the God of Love Eros essentially traps Apollo to performing the act of rape, the act farthest from true love, deep and meaningful questions need to be asked toward just how 'loving' Eros really is.
Furthermore, when Ovid moves toward telling more stories focused on humans rather than the gods, the unexpected happens. The story of Perseus involves our hero slaying beasts and men; how and why he goes about such things is questionable. Ovid almost makes Perseus the hero insignificant in that his greatest asset is not heroic at all-Perseus's greatest strength is Medusa's severed head. What is Perseus's greatest heroic achievement? Yes, he rescued Andromeda, but there were clearly exterior motives that led him there.
What possible theme could these stories be supporting? To me, the most basic theme of The Metamorphoses is that the being of a God does nothing to make one just, and that the being of a hero does nothing to make one heroic. Take the story of Actaeon and Diana - the mere mistake and misfortune of seeing the Virgin Goddess bathing warrants a transformation into a deer and death by Actaeon's own hunting dogs (man's best friend).
So what happens in Ovid's other stories? Juno places fault on Jupiter's rape victims rather than Jupiter himself. The acts of one man, Lycaon, warrant the destruction of the entire human civilization. Jupiter and Juno banter on about which gender enjoys sex more. The house of Cadmus is simply decimated by divine retribution. Minerva drives Arachne to suicide for creating a 'flawless' piece of art. Simply put, the Gods are not very Godly, and heroes are not very heroic.
But how does Ovid make all of this stick? I would say his primary tools are dark comedy and surprise. He uses resonance like a drum, just beating the same tune over and over. Zeus doesn't continually rape his victims by accident.
Evaluation of a Game's Theme
Possibly my favorite game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. When I was a kid back in the late 90's, it served as my favorite escape from the villainy of having an older brother. Understandably my understanding of the game has changed remarkably since then.
At the time, I liked the game for all of the prominent reasons. I though its graphics were unbelievable. The game's music stuck with me. I thought the Zora were awesome, I wished I could swim forever like them. Best of all, I liked the simple opportunity to explore an interesting world.
Let a decade pass and I still love the memory of playing this game. Now I realize that I loved this game because of how strong and resonant its theme is. Nearly every aspect of this game strongly contributes to the experience of being a hero. So in the end when our hero Link earns the title 'Hero of Time', it isn't corny in least. You earned that title.
The game starts off with Link sleeping in as a little kid. The setting is Kokiri Forest, an Eden typesetting populated by the Kokiri - forest elves eternally children. It quickly becomes aware that this is no perfect world, and further that Link doesn't belong to it. Our hero comes from the most humble of beginnings, that of an orphan in a foreign land.
Our hero is forced from both his adopted home and his friends and thrust into a big world (not unlike little hobbits having to leave The Shire). This sudden contrast from small hamlet to huge world transfers significance away from the player and toward Hyrule (the world). The player realizes at this moment the stakes of the game involve the setting rather than just the avatar. If Link loses, Hyrule loses.
While the game is not a true sandbox, it does have a very open feel to it. Especially when considering the game's age, the feeling of freedom generated is impressive. Locations are just far enough away from each other that they feel separate, that they each have their own sense of place. This vibe creates further motivation for the player to take great satisfaction in saving Hyrule.
Wrapped up into the story are some of the more traditional aspects of heroic tales. Cut scenes explain the origin of Hyrule being attributed to three goddesses, each leaving behind a piece of the powerful artifact known as the Triforce. This artifact is the center of conflict in our story- the bad guy wants it for evil, but Link to prevent evil. This back story is critical in the process of making a player care about the conflict.
So what is it exactly that makes this game tick? One thing that sticks out in mind is that all of the characters are remarkably memorable. This is achieved without dubbing- there is absolutely no voice acting in the game, save for one long drawn out evil laugh by Gannondorf (the evil guy). Going along with this aspect, each race encountered in the game is strongly linked to a specific location. When you see this ominous volcano off in the distance, you think about the Gorons that live there. Saving that volcano becomes the same as saving the Goron race.
One of the exciting game mechanics is the ability to move back and forth in time. Link can use his sword to swap between a youth and young adult. What resonates about this though is how well the world's changes in those years Link was away are implemented. The main city of the world lies broken and barren. Monsters fill peaceful pristine areas from Link's past. Who wouldn't want to be the hero to save Hyrule when you can see the 'before and after' of its fall into Gannondorf's domain?
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