Woof wrote:
> "Bruce Grubb" <bgrubb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:bgrubb-7C8836.09550616092006@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > In article <1158380152.327263.79480@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> > "Jax" <IlGreven@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >
> > > julian814 sez:
> > > <<
> > > > The main story was about a gifted teenager who went to college,
then
> > > > disappeared for a long while. According to the movie and the media
> hype
> > > > at the time, the kid went crazy after playing an RPG. The real
story,
> > > > which wasn't revealed until much later, was that the kid who
> > > > disappeared was a closet homosexual (at a time when homosexuality
> > > > wasn't as well accepted as today), schizophrenic and cooked his
own
> > > > drugs. He didn't like himself for what he was and what he was
doing,
> so
> > > > he went into the steam tunnels underneath the campus to kill
himself
> > > > with sleeping pills. When that didn't work, he ran away. His
problems
> > > > had nothing to do with role playing games. The reason the truth
didn't
> > > > come out sooner is because the family of the kid didn't want such
> dirty
> > > > laundry aired in public. When the kid in question finally
committed
> > > > suicide, the real story came out. Anyway, most people refer to
Mazes
> > > > and Monsters as the definitive proof that role playing games are
evil,
> > > > even though in the movie you'll notice it was the kid's guilt of
> > > > helping his brother run away that caused him to go over the edge,
not
> > > > the game.
> > >
> > > So, basically, this is Reefer Madness, except replace pot with
D&D...
> >
> > That is being too generous. Reefer Madness at least had some basis on
fact
> > though exagerated to the point that no one with a thinking brain in
their
> > head would take the film seriously. Mazes and Monsters has no basic on
> fact.
>
> So that's what this movie is all about?
>
> The description given here was pretty close, but not exactly as I
remember
> it in the book "The Dungeon Master" written by the P.I. that was paid to
> track the kid down The book was in the late 70's, extreme early 80's
time
> frame. I was still in high school when I read it (prepared to valiantly
> thwart the efforts of evil naysayers to affix D&D with an undeserved bad
> rep).
>
> In that book, there was no indication of homosexuality and the PI
tracked
> the kid down to running off and living secretly with an older woman in
the
> area. Could that have been written as a cover up to homosexuality?
Hmm.
>
> They were so interested in the D&D and the steam tunnels connection
because
> the kid's group would go down into the tunnels and LARP (long before
LARPing
> was cool) their scenarios some times. It drove them nuts because all
> indications were the kid should be down there somewhere until the PI
finally
> figured out he had to be elsewhere, they were barking up the wrong tree
(or
> down the wrong tunnel in this case).
What I posted is what I read in a gaming magazine a few years back. Not
sure how accurate it was, but I think it's reasonably accurate. I'll
have to see if I still have my copy of the article.
Anyway, my whole beef with the movie is the way it portrays gaming as
psychologically damaging.
Ralph Glatt
Member, Old Farts Club
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