Recently I’ve been re-reading – or sometimes reading for the first time – articles in the Knutepunkt books. There really is a wealth of knowledge, Larp history and opinions in there. In Germany we never really had an “age of manifestos” and somehow I got a bit jealous. People who know me know that I like provocation; it’s part of my communication tools. Like blasting the contrast on a screen or TV to the max setting – it’s not prettier, but you certainly get a, well, more contrasted picture. I enjoyed reading on Dogma 99 and Interaction (Gade, 2003), but the Turku manifesto and it’s Vow of Chastity (Pohjola 2003) is where the real fun starts for me.
Pojohlas writing style is provocative in the best possible manner. By reading the foreword, manifesto and comments on the Turku school you get a glimpse of what was going on in the Nordic countries in those years. People probably had very lively, erm, discussions.
For example:
“Eläytyjist (finnish: immersionist) role-playing is the best currently existing method for creating experiences and emotions, and allow you to see things from a truly personal point of view.”
Wow. What he’s basically saying is that immersion IS roleplaying. That is chuzpe. Though, in a certain sense, I do agree: To me immersion is at least the essence of roleplay.
Another thing I found “hidden” a bit deeper in the text is the following sentence:
“Although this, like television, is often used as a substitute for life or to allow some people to have any feelings at all, it can be much more.”
It’s a really interesting point he makes. Although he’s actually watering down the argument that “immersion is best”, but it explains something that bothered me for some time. If immersion is the highest possible form of roleplaying, the essence of roleplaying so to speak, how can it be that it’s just another form of escapism?
Isn’t that something bad, lower-classish, non-elitist, unstylish? Well, to me, it is – and at the same time it’s not.
It’s just like any other media – newspapers, websites, books, movies, music, tv or radio programs. There’s good and bad, intellectually challenging, lower-class entertainment, artsy-fartsy, cheap, glamorous, whatever. LARP is the canvas, immersion is the colors, you’re painter, model and spectator at the same time.
Paint me some porn, please.
