Sunday, November 22, 2009

An 'Antichrist' Video Game?

According to Wikipedia (itself crediting the news to Politiken, a newspaper from Lars von Trier's homeland of Denmark), it's in the works.

I'm sorry, Whaaaaaa...?


First of all, while I'm not all that surprised (today's video games, after all, even glorify terrorism), I shudder to think of what kind of twisted kid is going to rush out and stand in line to buy the interactive version of what I consider to be the most profoundly disturbing film in years, and what kind of an effect it will have on him/her. For sure, I am not one to buy into the dialogue about video games destroying our children's minds, but some things really should be off limits, and this potential dialogue I find terribly creepy:

Kid: Mom, can I have this new video game for my birthday?
Mom: What's it called, honey?
Kid: "Eden."
Mom: Why, sure. That sounds nice.

At this point, neither Mom, Kid, nor I am aware of exactly what said video game will entail, but since it's based on a film in which a man ejaculates blood, a woman gives herself a clitorectomy, and horrifying truths are both revealed and alluded to, the result can't be pretty.

To be fair, the game is reportedly centered around what happens after the proceedings of von Trier's controversial shocker but, come on, what kind of sick software developer looked at this movie and thought, "Wow, this would make one helluva first-person adventure game?" What, may I ask, will be the objective(s)? Dodge the falling acorns? Defeat the talking fox? Mow down the swarm of ghost-like women ascending the mountainside? Find the wrench under the house, or worse, the scissors?

I'm sure von Trier is getting an absolute kick out of this insane new venture, which, among other things, eerily validates his vision of a God-less world (not that I buy into that kind of dialogue, either).

*Roger Ebert addresses this very topic over at the Movie Answer Man section of his website. Click it -- it's a quick read.

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