188: Crazy in Love

[Pat M.]

Crazy in Love

What could possibly convince an otherwise sane 22-year-old woman that she was married to Sonic the Hedgehog? Why do some people feel so much closer to videogame characters than others? Pat Miller examines the darker side of fandom.

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[Clemenstation]

Great research. Am reading some of the outbound links right now, and then I am immediately going to find my copy of Suikoden (which I have never played) and find out what kind of cool dragon or beast creature I can 'be'.

Are there marmosets in Suikoden?

 

[The Dream Walker]

Wow, that is pretty fucking nutz.
Thats like hentai obsession to the next lvl.

Where did you here about this site?
(P.S. we should tell Kevin Smith, that would make a great conversation for SModcast)

 

[Lyiat]

I.... I... B... I...

-falls over, twitching-

I've been a Sonic fan... since I was three years old... but that... that just makes me weep.

 

[Godheval]

It's articles like this that keep me reading the escapist. You touch on an important point - the struggle for gamers - the well-adjusted amongst us who do not lurk in parents' basements - to reconcile our love for gaming with the anathema that is the gamer stereotype.

I have a friend who has convinced himself that he is no longer a "gamer", but merely a person who amongst other things, plays games. It's absurd, of course, because this same fellow also collects game posters, game toys, reads game websites, listens to game podcasts, and maintains his own gaming website. But what his example demonstrates is how the obsessed few have co-opted the gamer image. Maybe the image was theirs from the beginning, but now I'd like to think that the demographics have changed considerably.

Was it just a matter of maturing? I don't think so, because I think maturity and interest in gaming are mutually exclusive. That they're associated with one another is just another part of the stigma against games and gaming - invariably by people who have never played games, or people like my friend who have become disillusioned with "gaming culture".

Articles here on the escapist, and blogs like your TokenMinorities, show how adults can interface with gaming in the same way as any other art form - thoroughly, critically, analytically - and not necessarily with any obsessive bent. In the end, your thesis is dead-on. While the first generation of serious gamers has "grown up" - it is time for the industry to do the same, all the while still leaving the door open for the next generation.

 

[A.I. Sigma]

I actually find a lot of that quite scary...I know I've had people telling me I'm reincarnation of such a person, but to think it could degrade to that...

*shudder*

 

[Damien the Pigeon]

I find this article to be very well written. I must say that while some of the information it contains is shocking to me, it isn't so crazy if I truly think about it (sans the Sonic vomit). When I was 3 years old, I wanted to be just like Sonic. I remember running around my house pretending to be him. As I grew up, I moved on to other characters. I started working out so I could be as strong as Cloud. I actually looked up to these characters even though I knew they weren't real. I guess falling in love with one of them isn't so terribly far-fetched then. Yes, it's incredibly bizarre to have a fetish for them, but I suppose that it's just another emotion that someone can feel towards a character. Now that I think about it, my sister had a crush on Cloud when she was younger. However, she just had posters of him in her room rather than actually wanting to do some of the stuff mentioned in the article.

That said, this article was definitely thought-provoking. A+

 

[josh797]

i fail to see the point of this article other than to ridicule those people who take fandom far too seriously and end up screwed up. i just dont see the focus, perhaps thats why the conclusion to the article is so far removed from the premise that it might as well be on the moon.

 

[ButtercupSaiyan]

I'm a little disappointed that this doesn't seem to meet the usual standards of the Escapist articles. I remember reading this magazine back at Issue 75 for the developer interviews, serious looks and analysis of race, gender in game and other contemporary issues. That was back when they still had them on the site differently, and you could download them as PDFs. This ... this could be an excerpt from an Encyclopedia Dramatica article both in content and in treatment.

I found the actual content of it interesting, since I hadn't heard of any of those stories before, even coming from "the darker side of the fandom," as you put it. Frankly, I found the injection of internet subculture and the casual attitude of the writer aimed at the reader (Isn't this an article? I'm not reading a forum post or a blog, am I?) took it down several notches for me. I guess my problem is the use of first person and subjectivity in this article when I expected third person and at least a semblance of objectively evaluating the topic of an essay. Is it really necessary to have little getting-to-know-you asides like

"Fandom is weird. Sure, it's kind of cool sometimes to see grown adults put aside their Serious Business and cosplay as Mega Man every now and then, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleasantly surprised to find a few classic Star Wars collectibles sitting around the apartments of a few friends of mine. (One had a bust of a TIE fighter pilot mask and a Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head, the other had models of the Lambda Shuttle and the Assault Gunboat.) At a certain point, however, things go too far, and I'm pretty sure that point is well before "I WANT HIM TO VOMIT IN MY MOUTH."

if it doesn't actually have anything to do with what you're trying to say?

 

[Holkeye]

Alix Henriol is clearly not "otherwise sane" as the story says.

 

[sandywinnie]

I believe Alix Henriol is actually very intelligent and very smart, she knows very well how to make money by doing nothing (in other word: taping Sonic the Hedgehog) and she's definitely made a name for herself.

This is an interesting article.

 

[ElTigreNegro]

Furries, no surprise.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Interesting...although just to balance out that ending note of "Give us something more mature" people have been doing bats*** stuff with media for decades. Celebrities must endure stalkers all the time, such as Jodie Foster receiving bomb threats and letters from Michael Smegal. Dimebag Darrel Abbott (R.I.P. you crazy diamond) was shot by a man who had been claiming that he wrote all of Pantera's music.

The only difference is that with the video game character there is no reality check. There is no one to say "I'm Sonic and I'm not actually married to you." Which is self-evident to all of us, but to someone with a loose grip on reality it's just another reason to pursue the fantasy.

 

[sandywinnie]

Do you even realize she is doing that mostly for fame and money...?

I'm not saying she isn't in love with Sonic but it's turned into a huge money-machine...

Alix Henriol may love Sonic, but she's turned that love into a tool for self-promotion in her quest for Internet celebrity.

As a webmaster turned internet celebrity, she became notorious for her insistence that she and Sonic the Hedgehog were married on May 8th, 2005.

I'm not talking about the other people that indeed may be disconnected from reality but Alix is doing well at getting fame and wealth. Then again I dont question the extend of her love for Sonic but, there's definitely interest under it.

 

[Godheval]

I'm a little disappointed that this doesn't seem to meet the usual standards of the Escapist articles. I remember reading this magazine back at Issue 75 for the developer interviews, serious looks and analysis of race, gender in game and other contemporary issues. That was back when they still had them on the site differently, and you could download them as PDFs. This ... this could be an excerpt from an Encyclopedia Dramatica article both in content and in treatment.

I found the actual content of it interesting, since I hadn't heard of any of those stories before, even coming from "the darker side of the fandom," as you put it. Frankly, I found the injection of internet subculture and the casual attitude of the writer aimed at the reader (Isn't this an article? I'm not reading a forum post or a blog, am I?) took it down several notches for me.

So...you commented on this article just to tear it down? To examine it on content and mechanics like some high school English teacher? Well congratulations, chief, you've succeeded. If you're not going to contribute to some sort of discussion about the subject matter, then why are you even here? That's a rhetorical question, so please don't bother to answer it. In any case, pretty sure no one cares if this article didn't satisfy your particular tastes. You've only managed to come off like a pretentious douche.

 

[Ronwue]

I thought there were some pretty odd people out there but I didn't expect to find them this odd. But then again, we all know of all sorts of religious cults who do the same shit, so... I suppose it's a sign that games also have matured in status, even if this way of maturing is not a good thing.

 

[Pat M.]

I remember reading this magazine back at Issue 75 for the developer interviews, serious looks and analysis of race, gender in game and other contemporary issues. /quote]

That's funny. I've written a bunch of those, too, and I usually just get hate mail.

Thanks for reading!

 

[olicon]

I'm a little disappointed that this doesn't seem to meet the usual standards of the Escapist articles. I remember reading this magazine back at Issue 75 for the developer interviews, serious looks and analysis of race, gender in game and other contemporary issues. That was back when they still had them on the site differently, and you could download them as PDFs. This ... this could be an excerpt from an Encyclopedia Dramatica article both in content and in treatment.

I found the actual content of it interesting, since I hadn't heard of any of those stories before, even coming from "the darker side of the fandom," as you put it. Frankly, I found the injection of internet subculture and the casual attitude of the writer aimed at the reader (Isn't this an article? I'm not reading a forum post or a blog, am I?) took it down several notches for me.

So...you commented on this article just to tear it down? To examine it on content and mechanics like some high school English teacher? Well congratulations, chief, you've succeeded. If you're not going to contribute to some sort of discussion about the subject matter, then why are you even here? That's a rhetorical question, so please don't bother to answer it. In any case, pretty sure no one cares if this article didn't satisfy your particular tastes. You've only managed to come off like a pretentious douche.

I think he is entitled to his opinion. Although personally, I do think this is a perfectly fine article. I guess when you look at real life drama, the article suddenly isn't so dry any more, and maybe that's just not what Buttercup was looking for.

This article reminds me a lot of the Turkey [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_171/5354-Humping-the-Invisible-Turkey] one. I think it's perfectly normal for someone to develop a relationship with even fictional characters, provided there is actually something behind the character. But sonic? He doesn't even have a proper back story.
I have known my share of LARPers, and a few of them are rather eccentric. But not to the point where they insist fantasy and reality is mixed. And I have to say, I couldn't even deal with them in their milder, more normal format.

 

[Undead Dragon King]

I followed the thread to the Sonicpassion editorial.

I was left devoid of emotion. I can't believe that there are people like that in the world.

 

[ReverseEngineered]

Was it just a matter of maturing? I don't think so, because I think maturity and interest in gaming are mutually exclusive.

Sorry, but did you mean to say that maturity and interest in gaming are orthogonal (as in, not related)? If you meant mutually exclusive -- meaning that you can't both be mature and have an interest in gaming -- I think there is an angry mob of mature gamers who would like to have a word with you.