Sir John the Net Knight said:
funguy2121 said:
Call me naive, but I'm really baffled at the number of escapists who don't get irony. It's odd, since The Escapist is the closest thing to a high-brow publication focusing on video games in any medium. The content here presents thoughtful viewpoints and original ideas on every aspect of gaming you could think of, while looking at gaming in a broader sociological context. And it's very very much a product of gens X and Y.
Why, then, do so many of you not get irony? Do you just think Yatzhee's funny because he speaks so quickly and lets the potty mouth out?
I just skimmed down the first 1/2 of the comments page for the recent MovieBob review of "the new Super Mario movie." More than a half dozen people admitted they bought it, and one still didn't seem to get it, insisting that "Nintendo will never recoup the cash."
So what gives? Are people just responding so quickly in this hyperreal environment that they aren't stopping to consider what they've just read, or are there really this many people who don't get irony even when it's underscored?
You think this site is high-brow? A site where the main attraction is a guy who says the word Scunthorpe for the sole purpose of pointing out the embedded profanity? I'm not even sure what you're getting at. I mean, I know you want to think this site has intellectuals, but I would call them more faux-lectuals. And it's April Fool's Day, the operative word being "fool", which last I checked was an antonym for "intellectual".
The problem is that I'm not sure how you're applying irony, which is a literary device which indicates an opposite intention by the writer than what is initially established. If you're talking about people over-applying provocative ideals like sociology and and psychology to video games then yes, that would be quite ironic. But I get the feeling that's not what you're demonstrating here.
Enlighten me?
You proved your own point there. I guess people are just rushing to read and respond, as you didn't read what I said before you jumped all over what I actually did not say. I didn't say Escapist was highbrow. Read it again.
...but I will say that the Escapist (here meaning those who run the site and create its content, and not necessarily the members) is, intellectually, light years beyond anything else out there that covers gaming (that I'm aware of). I don't agree with every statement made in Extra Credits or Zero Punctuation, and some of the articles do come off as a little snooty at times. To me, that's a worthy trade-off and I'd take it over IGN, Game Informer and Nintendo Power any day (well, any day after January 1, 1990).
And to all who explained to me that irony began as a storytelling device wherein the actual outcome is the opposite of the expected outcome, thanks. I haven't looked it up in the dictionary but I'd imagine since it's 2011 there's probably a few variations on the definition listed. In other words, irony can be found outside of written fiction. It can be encountered in real-life situations and in conversations. A few people stated that it's sarcasm, not irony, as if sarcasm weren't itself a form of irony. Let's look at an example of that...
"SPOILER ALERT: For those of you who don't want to know the ending of the (fictional) movie, turn away now (paraphrased)." Y'know, the movie that doesn't exist. The Mario Brothers "reboot" starring The Situation. Satire that isn't filled with scathing sarcasm (read: irony) is pretty hard to come by.
