Film: Darkon (2006)
Stars: Skip Lipman, Kenyon Wells, a horde of dedicated LARPers
Director/s: Luke Meyer, Andrew Neel

The parks and fields in and around Baltimore, Maryland, become fictional lands and battlefields for dedicated groups of role-playing men and women, donning homemade fantasy weapons and armor, and fighting one another on weekends for domination of the map. This documentary’s focus is on two leaders of imaginary nations, one of which is attempting to rebel against the other. For the first twenty minutes of this film, I was chuckling at the expense of these characters. Then I took a minute to review my love of video games, and realized I’m not much different than them- at least they get some exercise during their gaming! I do think they need a reality check when it comes to sabotaging real-world friendships for the sake of a game, but that’s up to them, not me. The film makes many comparisons between real-world politics and countries and these fantasy counterparts, but to me this falls flat. Nearly all the participants come across as disillusioned with the worth of daily life, and seeking meaning and belonging  in a group of the like-minded. As such, they don’t seem good or evil, but simply in search of acceptance and worth. Grade: B