Dungeons & Dragons generally doesn’t come off well when portrayed in mainstream media. The best you can usually hope for is that it is used as part of a “Look, nerds!” joke. At its worst you get things like Mazes and Monsters. So when I heard Community was doing an episode devoted to my favorite roleplaying game, I had some concerns.
I need not have worried. This episode has now replaced Bender’s Game as my favorite Dungeons & Dragons themed episode of a television show (although, I admit there is not a lot of competition in that field).
The Good
The focus of the episode was on the interactions between the players. Like an actual game session, the humor derived from how their “real life” personalities influenced their character interactions. For example, Britta Perry’s love of championing causes leaks into the game in a way that generates realistic eye rolling on the part of her fellow players.
It was also fascinating watching as the study group learned how to play. The episode wisely choose to avoid getting bogged down in game mechanics. Instead, it did an excellent job at highlighting the unlimited story possibilities available in pen and paper roleplaying games.
When the game starts, Jeff Winger is stymied by the unlimited choices open to him. Once the game gets rolling though, it is Jeff who drives the direction of the group. He rallies them after Pierce’s betrayal and improvises a plan of action.
The unlimited gaming possibilities is the biggest advantage pen and paper roleplaying games have over video games. I was glad to see this aspect of Dungeons & Dragons got highlighted, rather than THAC0.
The Bad
I may be in the minority here, but I was annoyed by Ben Chang’s dark elf cosplay.
I admit it is a pretty funny visual. Unfortunately, it has also been way overdone. If television and movies are to be believed, every time people get together to play Dungeons & Dragons they dress up in elaborate costumes. This is simply not true.
To credit of the writers, they didn’t dwell on it. After a establishing the visual gag, they quickly moved their focus elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
I suppose the best thing about this episode of Community is that Dungeons & Dragons is portrayed in a positive light for once. Yes, it can be silly at times. It can also be a bit hard to explain to outsiders. Nevertheless, I think Dungeons & Dragons has been a positive influence on my life. It was nice to see it portrayed as a positive thing on a mainstream television show as well.
6 comments:
I have not seen Bender's Game so I cannot compare. While I really liked the episode of Community, my favorite D&D episode of a TV series remains Discos & Dragons the final episode of the short lived Freaks & Geeks series.
I always thought WoTC should advertise D&D by saying, "D&D, because smart people need games to play" Think of it!
D&D has helped to enrich my outlook, vocabulary and made subjects like history and mythology actually interesting.
@seaofstarsrpg - I have never seen Discos & Dragons as I missed the bandwagon on Freaks and Geeks. I do have it in my Netflix queue and I may have to bump it up at your suggestion.
@Kinocetus - Well said.
Great post – I liked it too. Unlike other shows, it showed people good can come out of gaming
@benensky - I agree completely. Also, I want to give you a shout out for sending me the link to the Community episode in the first place!
Isn't the whole point of Chang's costume that NO ONE ELSE wore one, not even the hardcore gamer (Neil)? Ie. only the lunatic character trying too hard to fit in did it, thus highlighting (possibly too subtly, it seems) the cliche.
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