When Virtual Is Reality: LDS Ark Culture Mimics Gaming Culture

Ark culture is a bad Xerox of the mainstream, not a truly distinctive or separate achievement. Without the courage to lead, it numbly follows, picking up the major media’s scraps and gluing them back together with a cross on top. — taken from “The Marketing of Evil”

I had never heard of Steve Nethercott until a few weeks ago after a visit to Seagull Book and Tape. I was stunned to see posters of “Real Heroes” sitting in the middle of the aisle. I have been thinking about it ever since, and now I will attempt to put my thoughts into words–hopefully, kindly and lovingly, as that is my intention.

A few years ago, I was the kind of mom who thought that some of those Nintendo games were fun, and cute, too.  My son loved Legos, and there was this fun little Lego video game and I thought, “What’s the harm?  If we limit the time, it should be fine.”  I soon began to see the addictive qualities of video gaming, and I also saw something else–I wondered to myself, “Why does the Lego Princess Leia character have on a low cut Lego outfit?”  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  I saw how easy it would be to be “poisoned by degrees”.  So, I prayed. And, we came up with an experiment.  One day, when Drake Puddleduck had asked me no fewer than 326 times to play his Lego Star Wars game, I said yes…on one condition.

“Drake,” I said, “you play that game and I want you to stop playing when you can’t feel the Spirit anymore.”

So Drake agreed and off he went.  A little while later he came down with the entire console in a box.

“So, did you stop when you couldn’t feel the Spirit anymore?”

“No mom,” he said.  He was looking worried and upset. “Mom, we have to get rid of this.”

I was surprised and a little worried myself.  This was not what I had expected to happen.

“Why?” I was really perplexed.  Drake really would have played all day if I let him.

“Because I don’t know when I couldn’t feel the Spirit anymore.  I couldn’t tell.  We have to get rid of it.  I don’t want anything to do with video games anymore.”

That was in 2006.  It’s now 2010 and we have not ever looked back.  I am grateful–as my research indicates there is more pornographic content in these games then we realize. Elder Bednar’s excellent talk to the BYU Idaho students also raises some beautiful doctrinal insights on the problem with virtual living.  There is another problem–it has muddied the minds of those who are immersed in this culture–whether actively “gaming” or not–to the point where “real” and “virtual” are intertwined in a way that I could not have imagined.

Steve Nethercott is the son of a renowned painter.  An accomplished painter himself, he decided to major in graphic design and has tried to develop and hone his skills in virtual illustration.  His posters indicate that he is gifted–I would love to see actual paintings of his.  Steve states that he wants his posters to inspire everyone, especially the youth.  From his website:

In a world full of fantasy heroes and pop-stars, we should never forget the real heroes, with real courage, real strength, and real stories.

Steve states that he is trying to capture the spirit of real heroes, the uniqueness of their world, the strength of their character, the reality of their heroism.

There is only one problem.  The heroes Steve has created are virtual, and, as in other aspects of ark culture, a copy of the what the world has created in the realm of virtual fantasy and gaming.  There is nothing of a “truly distinctive or separate achievement” in his designs–they seem to be a copy of what the world offers in virtual gaming culture–just with Book of Mormon or Bible names attached.

This is Helaman with the 2000 Stripling Warriors behind him.  First of all, his dimensions are a little unreal–a little toward the fantasy side, if you will.  He is also doing what I refer to as “the catwalk pose.”(This is also seen on the “Daughters of Ishmael” poster as well).  I have seen this in a lot of LDS art lately, and it is unsettling.  The pose is indicative of modeling.  This pose states to the viewer “Look at my body.”

Also, it is very similar to this image below from an online role playing game, except our LDS poster has less clothing:

Here is another poster, this time of Lehi, and he is holding the fruit of the Tree of Life, but it looks almost like a crystal ball. It is my opinion that Lehi looks more like a fantasy wizard than a prophet of God:

There is a similarity to this:

I might add that I wholeheartedly believe that the artist is attempting to do a good thing–why not try to design something that is attractive to the youth–something hip and cool that will inspire them?  That is a good goal.  However, the point I am attempting to make here is that when we are immersed in the culture of Babylon, we can’t see how it has crept into our lives and how it can imitate good so well that we actually feel touched or inspired when we look at it.  In actual reality, these are not images of “real heroes” at all.  They are virtual, and not reverent (see Cousin Ribby’s essay to understand what I mean by the word ‘reverent’).

There was one poster that pierced my heart and brought tears to my eyes.  The artist designed a poster of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.  There are many artists who would not even attempt to capture this woman on canvas, and for good reason.  She and her Son are a subject that is, in a word, holy.

Here is the poster:

This doesn’t look “real” to me.  The background is suggestive of fantasy and elves–the Star that guided the wisemen is reminiscent of magical fantasy.  The addition of full lips, intense stare, and tousled hair was also unsettling.  And the baby–Jesus–looks like an afterthought. It also echoes the feeling in this, an online role playing game character from a coven of Witches:

Or this other online female gaming character:

(Soapbox Alert: This paragraph is only intended for people who “get” me.  Everyone else, skip it.)

What I would like to know, dear reader, is–how did we get here?  Why does it seem that we are constantly groveling at the feet of the youth so that they will accept us, think we’re cool, think church is cool, think the Book of Mormon is cool? (As a side observation, I have also seen a trend wherein only “cool” adults are called to youth callings.) We are so intent in not losing them–we just have to be able to “understand them” or “speak their language” or “have cool posters”.  Here is something to consider: if it has to be “cool” then you’ve already lost them–or worse–you never had them.

Okay, back to my article.  These “real heroes” seem to be nothing more than virtual fantasy, and I am unsettled.  I just want you to ask yourself this question:

When my children are reading their scriptures, do I want these images to pop in their heads?

There was a real Lehi, a real Helaman, and a real Mary.  I doubt very seriously that Helaman ever posed in that fashion.  Really.  In reality, I think he must have been very sober and prayerful as he took his band of faithful sons to go into a very real, very brutal, very scary situation.  I don’t think Mary was ever in Rivendell after she had Baby Jesus.  And, personally, I don’t think the fruit looked like a crystal ball.

Where is the “spirit of real heroes, the uniqueness of their world, the strength of their character, the reality of their heroism.”?  I can’t find it in these posters.  I have hopes that someday I will see it.  After all, as Cousin Ribby said, the best is yet to come.

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