The Wrestler walked away with my heart this year, even if it didn't walk away with any Oscars. I'm still shaking my fist in the direction of last Sunday. The spoor's going cold though, so I'm better off reading up about the small details that made the movie so heart-rending.
In one scene, Randy “The Ram” Robinson is silently coming to grips with the fact his body has become too broken-down for wrestling. He calls in a neighbour kid to play Nintendo with him—the 8-bit variety of Nintendo—and his game of choice is Wrestle Jam, a custom title with the soul of Pro Wrestling for the NES. As Randy and the neighbour kid click away as The Ram and The Ayatollah respectively, the boy, fed-up with the archaic game (and indeed, Randy himself) talks about Call of Duty 4. The discussion emphasises the old alongside the new, and in a few minutes, the game-based metaphor delivers a punch to the gut that's amplified by Mickey Rourke's perpetual hangdog face and scattered life.
The game scene goes by quickly, but it happens that Wrestle Jam is a fully-functioning game with pixelated graphics, 8-bit music, and (according to the brother and sister team behind its creation) “stupid enemy AI.”
Kotaku has an extensive look at the work that went behind Wrestle Jam, which apparently took graphics artist Kristyn Hume and programmer Randall Furino weeks to create.
What's interesting is that Director Darren Aronofsky recognises the symbolic potential of video games. Outside of The Wrestler, video game interludes are just something to keep characters' hands busy while they verbally recap events. Most actors don't have time for gaming, and thus don't know that mashing furiously on a control pad won't fool anyone involved in the pastime. The end result often looks silly, and is very distracting. Aronofsky made it clear that he wanted The Ram and the neighbour kid to actually play Wrestle Jam instead of doing the phantom button-mash so common to movies.
Robert Denerstein, a formerly a film critic at the Rocky Mountain News, notes that carefully thought-out scenes like the NES session in The Wrestler can add a lot to a movie—but they're rarely implemented.
"Given the prevalence of video games, you would think you'd see more of it. Advances in technology, like the introduction of the cell phone, have made things possible in storytelling that weren't possible before."
Take heed, Directors!
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