“Gamer” Movie Giving Us a Bad Name?

Have you seen the previews for a movie called Gamer?  I’m trying to be open-minded, especially since one of my favorite actors is in it (Michael C. Hall from Dexter) but no matter how I look at it, I end up either offended or annoyed.

image: Lionsgate

The film is about a future where gaming and entertainment have been fused into some awful hybrid and, of course, it’s got to be scary as hell.  Multi-player online gamers are actual controlling other humans through mind-control technology that has been developed by billionaire, Ken Castle (Hall).

He takes things up a notch by created a first-person game called Slayers which, as you might imagine from the name, isn’t a good thing since it allows the gamer to act out their most savage fantasies online in front of the world.  It’s all real and prisoners are actually fought to the death.

Insert Gerard Butler’s character, Kable, who is being controlled by a young gamer named Simon.  Somehow,the kid is able to get his character through each week alive and he becomes a hero, of sorts.  The sad part is that Kable has a family and in order to see them again (and free them), he’s got to live long enough to reclaim his life and take down Castle.

Honestly, I’m not very happy about this movie at all.  There are already a large number of people out there who believe video games are the root of all evil and this is going to just give them even more ideas about how dangerous gaming can be.

What do you make of this film?  I guess it all depends on how it ends but I just think it’s going to perpetuate a lot of negative myths about the gaming community.