Despair and Virtual Farming

by Jake Teresi

I’m 1.5 months into the post-production of a faux-documentary I shot this summer called Make Them Cry (a sort of vestigial title) and I am lost. It’s one of those films that walks the line between fact and fiction and has a collage-like structure, which I thought would be easier to edit than a straightforward narrative. However, at this point, I’m not sure what it’s about.

When people ask about it, I tell them that it’s about a teenager who rapes an older women over the internet, in Second Life. The older women has such a connection with her virtual avatar that she is traumatized by the incident and can no longer log on, and, in effect, her life loses meaning. Cool, huh? The people who I tell this to seem to think so.

The thing is it’s not really about this at all.

In writing a 20-minute film, I tried to include such a multitude of themes that I unknowingly risked its losing focus. Moreover, some of the themes that interested me back in May no longer do. There are a lot of good ideas (sad Craigslist personal ads are read over depressing mall shots; a landlord comes to evict a tenant while the documentary film crew is in the middle of interviewing him), but taken together, I find it incoherent, leaving viewers scratching their heads.

Rather than dealing with this head-on, I began to avoid it. My friend invited me earlier this month to Farmville and, as a then ironic gesture, I accepted. At first, I played when I remembered to, planting a couple eggplant crops here and harvesting them a few days later. Then I became more advanced, expanded my farm, and began to feel something of a rush whenever I jumped up a level (I’m now at level 21; fellow poster Adam Hirsch is at level 12). Not only does one gain experience from planting crops and trees and milking animals, but also from collecting ribbons, which are rewarded when you adopt a certain number of pathetic, wandering animals or when you pour a certain amount of magic fertilizer on your neighbor’s soil. Certain real-world rules do not apply to Farmville–there are no “bad” seasons, things run like clockwork and climate doesn’t ever come into the picture (one can plant date trees and blueberries AND raise baby elephants in the same field).

The internet is ubiquitous (another THEME of my movie!) and it taunts especially when you are in the middle of editing on final cut. Something isn’t working so you check on your crops–and, oh shit–200 grape bushes (the most profitable plant time-wise) are ready to be harvested. There goes 20 minutes.

In a way, through my own escapism, I’m better able to understand my fictional character. Second Life, while not goal-oriented, has so much more complexity to it than Farmville, and yet there are days where I’ve spent perhaps 1.5 hours “farming.” I consider myself (on my good days) healthy, vigorous, and in the prime of my life. Yet this has happened. What if you were confined to a wheelchair, never had to work for a living, and had problems socializing? Glowing computer light can absorb all your energy and leave you in a zombie-like state. Second Life, as stupid as it is, could become an addiction.

As a final irony, one of the things I am procrastinating by virtual farming is playing Second Life. One of the last things I have to “film” is interactions inside this virtual world. Here’s to hoping I can bear playing it enough to get the footage but not enough where it becomes rewarding in and of itself.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 4:26 pm. It is filed under blog, Jake, writing and tagged with Bad Habits of Adam Hirsch, Cyberrape, Failure, Farmville, Ineptitude, Make Them Cry.