We all know that satire is just a fig leaf over our desire to see somebody take one on the chin. We dress it up as a form of justice or acceptable revenge, but it’s just a funny way to justify our basest urges. We’ve been watching the clips of Jon Stewart dressing down Jim Cramer, not because he spoke truth to any real power, but because we want to watch a jester beat up a clown. And in the same way, Madworld – the new, blood-soaked beat-em-’up for the Wii – uses tricks like satire to give us permission to enjoy throwing a man against a fence of foot-long spikes again, and again, and again.
via Madworld’s Laugh » PixelVixen707 .
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While I think she’s on the right track with satire, I don’t think her comparison to MadWorld really washes. It’s not “tricks like satire to give us permission to enjoy throwing a man against a fence of foot-long spikes again, and again, and again.” It’s nothing so sneaky or subtle that justifies the game. Instead it’s something much more overt.
It’s the fact that MadWorld isn’t real.
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