Project Space: SRC Observations

My group and I decided the new and freshly constructed SRC at CSUN would be a good place where we can explore a space. When walking in you notice how BIG and techie the place is. There is a hand scanner to get in and a modern construction on all three stories. The main purpose of the SRC is to work out and get physical exercise. At the time we went the space was moderately populated. People were exercising but it was quite quiet since it was only 10AM and most college students are probably sleeping. There was music playing and you could hear the sounds of scuffling feet from those playing basketball on the second story. The SRC serves its space very well and is a great investment for the CSUN community, unlike a few other places and features on campus. CSUN one of several places in Los Angeles where everyone is there for a common goal; to further there education and knowledge. Although CSUN takes up roughly one square block it is quite small compared to 4,850 square miles of the LA metropolitan. Our space has little to no history on account that it was just constructed and opened only about one month ago. The SRC is a nice place where one can get a good workout doing a variate of things. Weather its the gym, the basketball or volleyball court, the awesome rock wall, spin class, indoor track, or many other exercises available there the SRC is a good and healthy place to be.

So Howz This Sound

For my essay I would like to mainly discuss the movie we watched, Gamer. There is a uneven social class level in the time Gamer takes place. The people who are playing the actors in "Society" are predominantly the wealthy upper class while the prostitute like actors in "Society" are looked down upon and are simply doing this job just to get a buck to just afford life. Although personally, I would not want to be either person. The movie portrayed the player of the actor as a fat, sweaty, ugly man with sausage fingers. I think I may rather be a prostitute then be him. But when you think about it neither are living there own lives. No one is living there own life, everyone is in control of someone else's life or being controlled by a sausage fingered man with a controller. This is where the theme of identity come into play.

Gamer: Somewhat Inhumane?

The movie Gamer that we watched in class was quite an interesting concept of ideas. Control death row inmates as if they were a video game and if they die on screen, they die in real life. Really there is nothing virtual about this “game” outside of just viewing it on a screen. The prisoners with little likelihood of survival have given up there free will to be controlled by someone else. Which makes me think… Is this really the right way to deal with those who feel like they have no hope at being able to function in society again besides making it threw 30 levels of a game in which they have no control over? It’s simply gambling. I know this movie takes place in the future and the future changes everything but I can’t picture people actually willing to watch real people get shot, burned, and blow to little pieces. It is just inhumane to watch or do such a thing. Today people have no problem watching someone get shot in a movie because they know it is not real, it is just acting. But if they were to watch a video of someone actually dieing they would feel an uneasy feeling within them.  This leads me to believe that the people who pay to watch this are in someway brain washed into thinking that these people are not actually people. They were stripped of the pathos of feeling that there was someone on the other end of the screen whose life was taken away from them. I am curious of what year this actually was. How far in the future could this have been. There is no way at all this would have been accepted in todays society where you can just play a death row inmate just hoping for one last breath of fresh air and end getting him killed or killing others in the process. Did I mention that you have to pay large sums of money to play and pay a pay per view subscription to watch the syndical action occur.

Video Games: Yay or Nay

            My generation is the first to really experience the powerful force of video games as kids. And being apart of this generation I have observed some disturbing things with video games. Are video games bad or are they just a complicated virtual version of a board game? It is certain that if you look at ones Avatar is a reflection of what he or she would like to be with in that specific world.

            I don’t find video games to be dangerous, although they can be dangerously addicting. My first video game concel was the Play Station 2 that I receved for Christmas in 2001. I played it recreationally until one summer when I bought Gran Turismo 3. I spent my whole summer playing this game and never got out of the house. Once school started again I realized that I no longer like video games.

            Currently, I only play video games when I go to a friends house and we occasionally play. My friends who do play RPG’s do get a little too into it sometimes. One friend says that he plays his “Bad Company” game when he is angry, so he gets his anger out by killing people online. And in his “MX Reflex” game he has an avatar who represents who he really wants to be on a dirtbike. Although this is a dream and not a reality, it can be nice for him to feel like he is a pro racer winning it big time.

            I do not think that RPGs are dangerous or could lead to dangerous behavior in distingwishing what is appropriate in the real world and what is wrong. Kids who say they do something because they saw it in a video game are accountable for their mistakes. But don’t blame the games, blame the parents! Games have certin ratings for maturity level so parents should know buying their child that game  is not appropriate for them. Parents also need to distingwish to there kids that “real life” is different then “cyber life” and “video game life”.