Nature in a Video Game

For my major paper in my Ecocriticism class, I have narrowed down my possible topics to be a focus on one game (and possibly its supporting material) and it's interpretation of the relationship between man and nature. I'm looking at either Final Fantasy VII or Pokemon (Red/Blue/Yellow).

I think it would be a lot of fun and really interesting (and difficult) to work on Final Fantasy VII. I think the way nature is portrayed/interacted with in that game is much more complex than it is in Pokemon. This makes it more interesting, but also less likely that I could actually explore it in any depth in a ten-or-so page paper. Not to mention, I don't have the time to play through the game again, and despite beating it twice, there's still a lot I don't know or understand. After reading (read: skimming) Ents, Elves and Eriador, I think it would be possible and interesting to write a book on it. I feel like a book would be more feasible than an article at this point.

Pokemon, on the other hand, isn't quite as complex, but does seem to have an interesting and unique take on humanity's relationship with nature, particularly in relations with animals. I'm not sure what I would say right now, but I know that, looking at the game through a ecocritic-lens, I'm going to come down on the side of the game reinforcing poor cultural considerations of nature. There's definitely a man-over-nature aspect to the series that wouldn't allow me to approve of it as an ecocritic.

An ecocritic (which I have to pretend to be for the paper) would disapprove of the game's domination of the 'wild' by people. Nature is only valuable based on its usefulness. Tall grasses and the like are valuable because they allow the trainer to capture new pokemon or force their pokemon to fight and become stronger. There is definitely a "dog-fighting" type ethic to this game, which was touched on in the live-action Pokemon movie spoof trailer. However, despite the fact that the character is participating in this domination over animals for his own ends, there are still criminals, Team Rocket, whose cruelty to pokemon must be stopped. So one question I would need to explore in my paper is where the line is drawn.

The TV show could be useful for a backstory to the game, with a character treating and interacting with pokemon in a certain way. The game implies that your character has the same kind-heartedness that Ash does in the show, but there is no ostensible proof of this. Other characters in the game comment that your pokemon like you no matter what you do. The closest there is to a guide for how you are treating your pokemon is the expressions of Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow, and even then, they are pretty much guaranteed to improve as long as you keep Pikachu in your party, and usually conscious. The importance of the feelings of your pokemon became more important in later series, but the fact still remains that the game implies that pokemon (read: animals) are best off under the protection and control of a person (or really, a ten-year-old kid).

While I still have plenty of questions on how I'm going to write this paper, at this point, I've learned that if I don't have questions, my paper will probably not be very good.

All the best to you and your,

-TES

PS. I know, I'm a huge dork, but you should know that already.