What would you think if your middle school student was spending the summer immersed in art, appreciating the work of famous masters, chatting with other fans online and maybe even creating his own work? Probably, if your child is a gamer, that’s just what they are doing. But the question of whether video games are truly art has been a live question for decades.
As media scholar Felan Parker writes, one of the most important debates on the subject was initiated in 2005 by film critic Roger Ebert. In the fall of that year, Ebert wrote a star review of the video game-based film Doom, including what was read as a firing of the original game. While few gamers were impressed with the film, some wrote to complain that they didn’t know what he was talking about when it came to the game. In a follow-up column, Ebert doubled down.
“As long as there is a great unseen movie or a great unread book,” he wrote, “I will continue to be unable to find the time to play video games.”
Parker writes that the gaming media raised the question of whether video games were art and Ebert’s views became a starting point for conversations on the subject that have been going on for years. Many defenders of the game have described similarities between more traditional games and art, including their ability to stir emotions or present a compelling narrative. People who make this argument often emphasize more obviously “artistic” games and even suggest that the form must “go on” from simple fun to something more serious. On the other hand, some have advanced populist arguments postulating that commercial and entertaining games are a more lively art form than those with high culture claims.
Debates tended to look at video games in relation to movies or novels, often centering on the alleged importance of a single artist’s vision. Ebert said that players’ ability to make decisions is “the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires author control.” Conversely, some of his opponents have pointed to outstanding game authors with their distinct visions, such as Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises.
Still other critics have come to the question from an entirely different direction, Parker explains, noting that not all art uses storytelling or excludes the public from playing a role in the creative process. Some have suggested skipping comparisons with films and books and instead considering artistic traditions such as improvised performance, oral storytelling, or architecture.
After years of forays into debate, Ebert unexpectedly retired from the fight in 2010 with a post titled “Okay, Kids, Play on My Lawn”.
“I would never express an opinion on a movie I hadn’t seen,” he wrote. “Yet I have stated as an axiom that video games can never be Art. I still believe it, but I never should have said it. Certain opinions are best kept to yourself.
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Cinema Journal, vol. 57, n. 3 (spring 2018), pp. 77–100
University of Texas Press on behalf of the Society for Cinema & AMP; Media Studies
