Mistakes and Choices:
Regretting the Immovable Past in Ovid’s Metamorphoses
It is difficult to identify unifying qualities in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The most basic and immediate unification a reader pays attention to is the unification of plot, and then to a greater extent story. This unification is not present in the Metamorphoses. There are bouts of continuity throughout the “story,” but not to the degree that it can be examined from a zoomed-out point of view. The next step in observing unification is through characters. This is also hard to examine since there is such a plethora of characters in the poem and very few are recurring. So what is left to examine? The core of unification in the Metamorphoses comes from overarching themes present in the mini-stories. The most common recurring themes in the first six books are creation through transformation, destruction through transformation, transformation through or because of lust/sex, transformation through ignorance, and transformation through resolution.
There are many times when life is created through the transformation in a story. However, the creation does not always come without cost. Creation and destruction through transformation are linked to each other. A lot of the time one is necessary for the other to take place. The first batch of humans created is born from the blood of fallen giants who tried to assault Jupiter in the heavens. Often, the new creation’s qualities will reflect from what they were transformed. These humans are born from blood, and so are hostile creatures bent on attacking the gods. The destruction of these humans through the flood, leads to the creation of new ones when Deucalion throws stones over his shoulder. Another example of cycling creation and destruction comes when Cadmus slays the serpent and sows his teeth into the ground. This creates men who immediately begin to attack and kill each other. This destruction leads to a truce between the survivors and the creation of Thebes.
A recurring subset of destruction is destruction enacted by familiarity. Pentheus is torn apart by his mother and aunts because they perceived him as a wild animal. Actaeon is transformed into a stag as a result of his voyeurism of Diana, and destroyed by his hounds because his new form was unfamiliar to them. This subset calls into question what actions alienate you from the familiar and propel you into the other.
Sex is a powerful motif in the Metamorphoses. Sex and lust often intertwine themselves with creation and destruction, often acting as a catalyst for the cycle. A good example of this is the myth of Apollo and Daphne. Lust is created within Apollo when he is struck by Cupid’s arrow. After Daphne is struck with another arrow, he begins to relentlessly chase her. When Daphne cries out for salvation, she is granted it by being turned into a tree. This is a representation of both creation and destruction. Love is a creation within Apollo, but it is unrequited because it is not genuine love. Daphne is saved by her transformation into a tree, but she is arguable destroyed due to her inability to return to social norms. Callisto’s social standing among the nymphs and Diana is destroyed by her physical transformation due to her rape by Jupiter. Io is transformed into a cow so that Jupiter may avoid revealing his actions to Juno. Hermaphroditus is assaulted and bound with Salmacis. These characters are transformed because of sex, but not because of their failing or choice.
Resolution and ignorance also account for several transformations in the first six books. Phaethon is both resolute in his desire to drive his father’s chariot and ignorant of the power needed to wield it. This almost leads to disaster (scorching the earth) but Jupiter strikes him down with a thunderbolt. Pentheus resurfaces in this theme as well, as he is resolute in his denial of Bacchus which leads to his destruction through familiarity. Pyramus and Thisbe exemplify resolution and ignorance through their love for each other and needless suicides. Their unwavering love for each other leads them to defy their parents and meet secretly. This resolution breeds rash action through ignorance, causing each to commit suicide again due to the resolution of their love for one another. Atlas is transformed into stone because of his resolution that Perseus will steal his fortune, and ignorance of the power he wields in the form of Medusa’s head. Finally, Niobe’s children (seven sons and seven daughters) are killed because of her resolution that she should be worship and apparent ignorance of the gods’ power.
The linking thread between all of these themes is transformation. Every single transformation is enacted due to the actions of the characters; not one results from a static nature. The transformations do not always affect the perpetrator of the action, but the action will always bear consequence for someone in the scene. A majority of the transformations in the Metamorphoses are of a negative nature, often causing harm to those being transformed. This is reflected through the choices made by the characters and the regrettable (not always for the perpetrator) consequences the characters are forced to bear out. Often times, the character will realize the cost of an action too late to make amends, and must face the judgment of transformation for the better or worse.
Unifying Themes and Resonance in Dead Space
“Step 1: Figure out what your theme is.” For Dead Space, that theme is “we want to scare the player.” It is always difficult to illicit a specific emotional response from an audience as an artist. It’s challenging to decide what and how much to use as you skirt the line between pathos and bathos. This is especially true with horror. Horror can do only one of two things: be scary or comedic. There is nothing worse than when you intend to scare someone and they laugh in your face instead of cowering in fear. A key element in insuring that the scary comes through as intended is a unification of themes which leads to a deep resonance with players.
For the people at Redwood Studios (now Visceral Games), an in-house developer at Electronic Arts, the starting point for Dead Space was story. They decided to start with a story, and let that dictate the objectives of the player. The executive producer stated that they wanted to put a focus on story because “that’s the game we would want to play.” So the story serves as the framework for the experience, but how did they use themes to emphasize and reinforce “we want to scare the player?” They began by establishing a solid background story for the world and the characters that inhabited it. The genre is a mixture of science fiction and horror. Set five-hundred years in the future, resources are running dangerously low on earth. Humanity has no choice but to explore the cosmos for resources. They do so with giant ships known as “Planet Crackers,” which harvest entire planets by literally ripping them to pieces. The concept developed: what if humanity found something inside one of these planets…something dangerous. From there they established their main character, Isaac Clarke. Isaac is an engineer working for the Mega Corporation in charge of the mining operations. He is middle-aged, average-sized, and possesses no combat experience. He volunteers for a routine maintenance mission for the “Planet Cracker” USG Ishimura due to the fact that his girlfriend Nicole Brennan is aboard acting as chief medical officer. It is here that Isaac encounters the horrors unleashed by the mining operation, and must do everything he can just to stay alive. Already, a theme of powerlessness has been established through the origin of the main character which will feed into the anxiety of the player.
The Ishimura acts as a kind of “haunted house” in which the player is trapped. In the dead of space with no transportation, Isaac and a small crew are trapped aboard this massive ship. Isaac is often isolated from the rest of the crew, but periodically bumps into them. Without proper weapons and unconventional enemies, Isaac modifies mining tools to function as lethal weapons. Things like line-cutters and saw blades are jury-rigged to act as defense against the monstrous enemies known as “necromorphs.” These enemies cannot be killed by conventional means. Body and head shots do little damage to them. Isaac must cut of their limbs, literally ripping them to pieces (much like humans do to planets), in order to kill them. The unfamiliar nature of killing the enemies represents the alien nature of the enemies themselves. This “otherness” can create panic and fear, especially when “the other” is trying to cut you to pieces and eat your flesh. Ammo and health are available in limited supply in order to reinforce the isolation and helplessness of the player. Lighting plays an important role in supporting the horror atmosphere. The game world is filled with dark spaces (you are in space after all). What lights are in the environment are purposely modeled after dentist lights. This was done in order to give a harsh, cold, foreboding nature to the space on the ship. In some environments, the lights will even flicker on and off leaving players to rely on sound to visualize potential threats.
Gameplay and design choices also play a huge role in establishing a unified theme. To begin with, the game is paced differently from other third-person shooters. There are often bouts where the player will not have enemies to fight, but will be wary that there could very well be one around the next corner. The utilization of vents increases this anxiety. The necromorphs travel about the ship by using its air vents. This means that every air vent the player passes (and there are a lot) could potentially be harboring a bloodthirsty monster. Even when out in the open, the necromorphs will often jump into vents in an attempt to circumvent around behind the player. What is unknown breeds fear. The strangeness of the enemies and their unclear locations often leave the player on the edge of his seat.
The design of the HUD is meant to bring the player into the world. In actuality, the game has no HUD. All the information the player needs (health, stasis, air) is displayed in real-time on the player’s character model. Even the menus are displayed as a holographic projection that Isaac himself looks at in the game. Looking at menus does not pause the game, which eliminates them as a safe haven to equip items or restore health; the player is forced to do all of this on the fly. The player must use his in-game tools such as stasis (which slows down enemies for a short time) in order to buy time instead of exploiting the mechanics of the pause menu. There are also no cutscenes in the game. Everything is played out in front of the player as the player experiences it.
All of these design choices work together to create a deep, resonating experience for the player. The developers created a world and a story in which to bring players into, and then created an eerie environment to explore. The enemies and mechanics create tension and excitement as players dread their next encounter, yet revel in the thought of ripping their stalkers limb-from-limb. The developers scare you by immersing you in their world and making YOU the player into Isaac Clarke, the “every-man” engineer whose sole goal is surviving the horror he is trapped in.
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