Fear of Girls

January 29, 2006 10:36 AM

Fear of Girls... a film about elite tabletop role-players, by Ryan Wood.
posted by crunchland (46 comments total)

My Eyes !
posted by elpapacito at 10:51 AM on January 29, 2006

Seemed a little meaner than it had to be, and not really very funny, but at least the credit sequence was pretty nifty.
posted by barnacles at 10:57 AM on January 29, 2006

haha, NERDS! hahaha! and they're probably GAY! lol! hahaha!
posted by Marquis at 11:07 AM on January 29, 2006

Jeez, some people need to have their Christopher Guest movies taken away from them. Imitating Eugene Levy pretending to be a nerd is definitively not funny.
posted by argybarg at 11:09 AM on January 29, 2006

Yes, harsh. But the prayer at dinner scene cracked me the hell up.
posted by VulcanMike at 11:11 AM on January 29, 2006

Hey, I enjoyed it.
posted by allen.spaulding at 11:11 AM on January 29, 2006

I don't know that it's mean at all. It seems to me that only some former gamers themselves could have come up with it.
posted by Roger Dodger at 11:18 AM on January 29, 2006

I don't see why anyone would think this is mean. Ditto what Roger Dodger said, these guys are clearly poking fun at themselves or more poking fun at stereotypes of themselves. I tought it was funny.
posted by MrBobaFett at 11:21 AM on January 29, 2006

Thanks Crunchland. I need a good laugh this morning.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:22 AM on January 29, 2006

Poking fun at AD&D is silly when there are WarHammer players around. Now those guys are geeks!
posted by srboisvert at 11:26 AM on January 29, 2006

"I have an ogreslaying knife! It's got +9 against ogres!"
posted by S.C. at 11:27 AM on January 29, 2006

I used to know people like this and it's pretty much spot on. Hello Gus, Jason and Bob, wherever you are. . .
posted by mk1gti at 11:34 AM on January 29, 2006

The best teenage gamer I know is literally swimming in women. How does he do that? I guess its always been that half of his friends are girls and half are guy gamers. Now that he is older the girls want to be more than just friends. Not all gamers are social recluses.
posted by caddis at 11:39 AM on January 29, 2006

via slashdot, apparently.
posted by rachelpapers at 11:40 AM on January 29, 2006

Out of curiosity, and not because I'm trying to start a flame war (really!) - does anyone else find this a fair bit homophobic? Like their weird attraction is the part of what makes them such outcasts?

Perhaps I've got too much brokeback on the brain?
posted by metaculpa at 11:50 AM on January 29, 2006

via slashdot, apparently.

Woah! We either have an NSA eavesdropper in the house or somebody rolled a perfect 20 on the reveal browser history spellcast!
posted by srboisvert at 11:58 AM on January 29, 2006

(That said, I found it enormously funny - it, um, reminded me a little of some people, um, I know. Or knew. Or have heard about. From afar.

Specifically, I remember ending a kissing session with an enormously wonderful girl so that I could go slay something. I think I may regret that forever, for its astounding insensitivity. And, of course, lameness.)
posted by metaculpa at 12:00 PM on January 29, 2006

Not as funny as I'd hoped, but is that an original DnD booklet I spy in the background? The brown one with simple artwork?

If so, this is definitely more homage than satire.
posted by bardic at 12:17 PM on January 29, 2006

I think this may have hit a little too close to home for some of you.
posted by crunchland at 12:22 PM on January 29, 2006

Wow, I definately play D&D. I've LARP'ed a bit, but that's a bit wierd for me.

I don't see this as offensive; I agree, it was probably created by gamers themselves. Most of us are clued in enough to realize that we're dorks, and even take some sort of pride in it.


"god knows that Mary Ann is sterile"

*"totally into females"
posted by craven_morhead at 12:25 PM on January 29, 2006

this is the funniest thing i've seen in awhile. thanks, crunchland.
posted by 3.2.3 at 12:35 PM on January 29, 2006

The best teenage gamer I know is literally swimming in women.

Literally?
posted by rafter at 12:37 PM on January 29, 2006

touché, rafter.

I thought this was hilarious for sheer attention to every stereotypical detail of the extreme AD&D gamer... taking every trait over the top. Brilliant?

posted by creeptick at 1:00 PM on January 29, 2006

The best teenage gamer I know is literally swimming in women.

Literally?

Screw the english teacher routine and let me get to the more important question. What level, character type and charisma score do you need to get that ability?
posted by srboisvert at 1:23 PM on January 29, 2006

I PUT ON MY ROBES AND WIZARD HAT
posted by loquacious at 1:35 PM on January 29, 2006

Now I know that 'hobbyist gamer' can be thrown around as an insult.

The best teenage gamer I know is literally swimming in women.

If you look behind the 2-liters of Mountain Dew in his fridge will you find lopped-off feet wrapped in butcher's paper?
posted by crank at 1:40 PM on January 29, 2006

Chaotic neutral rules!
posted by showmethecalvino at 1:48 PM on January 29, 2006

Almost as good as "Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!"

Definitely gamers poking fun at themselves. The only people who I can see getting pissed off or offended are those who live the archetypes shown in the video. And that's a much larger segment of the tabletop gamer subculture than they'd like to admit.
posted by solid-one-love at 2:17 PM on January 29, 2006

Nobody said they were offended by this, but several posters above are reacting as if they had.

I played enough D&D in elementary school to relate somewhat, and to know that this was made by real gamers (I mean, that's an offical dungeon master's screen). It doesn't offend me at all, and parts of it are slightly amusing, but it is much more mean than funny.
posted by bingo at 2:42 PM on January 29, 2006

As Heinlein said, "we laugh because it hurts."
posted by adamrice at 3:09 PM on January 29, 2006

It's funny but it seems like that anyone who wants to make a humorous gaming movie/video/whatever just uses the same joke. They're NERDS. HAHAHAH. It is funny but gaming humor can be so much more.

The Gamers is the funniest piece of gaming comedy I've seen, simply because it shows WHY gaming is so weird. It isn't just that the gamers are nerds, but showcases the insanity that goes on in a typical gaming session. "You're going to backstab him with a ballista?"
posted by clockworkjoe at 3:21 PM on January 29, 2006

I cast it at the darkness!
posted by EarBucket at 3:23 PM on January 29, 2006

The prayer thing was fantastic. I'm so going to do that at my in laws house. :)
posted by dejah420 at 3:26 PM on January 29, 2006

Now I know that 'hobbyist gamer' can be thrown around as an insult.

previously revealed on mefi.
posted by 3.2.3 at 3:32 PM on January 29, 2006

I'm surprised one of the guys wasnt wearing an I Roll Twenties shirt.
posted by SirOmega at 3:40 PM on January 29, 2006

If there are any girls there I wanna do them!
posted by craven_morhead at 3:54 PM on January 29, 2006

The prayer thing was fantastic. I'm so going to do that at my in laws house. :)
posted by dejah420 at 3:26 PM PST on January 29

That was by far the best part. *clink*

Very funny.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 4:08 PM on January 29, 2006

Jesus, it's been 30 years since D&D was born, and 22 since "Revenge of the Nerds," and probably 15 since the first self-deprecating game about RPG'ers came out.

If you give nerds this much advance warning, it's no longer funny or provocative for them to make fun of themselves -- just pro-forma and wretched.

/used to play a paladin
posted by johnwarren at 6:46 PM on January 29, 2006

In regards to those "they're probably gamers themselves" comments: I post on a messageboard (Monte Cook's official boards) where the guy who plays the DM is a moderator. Yes, he's really a D&D gamer, but apparently the other actor is not. I thought it was pretty darned funny.
posted by Fontbone at 7:14 PM on January 29, 2006

Oh, I didn't even consider whether or not the actors are/were gamers. I was thinking of the writer and director, who actually created the piece. The actors are just, well, actors.
posted by bingo at 7:29 PM on January 29, 2006

yeah, there's no way I'm watching that whole thing
posted by zekinskia at 11:53 PM on January 29, 2006

The first thing I thought, when watching that video was: "Oh, no...I have that Gen Con shirt. I have that DM screen. Those books behind him on the shelf...I own those."

I redeem myself by not having cute girls give me the finger as I walk down the street. Oh...and 3 kids and a gorgeous wife. That too.
posted by thanotopsis at 4:42 AM on January 30, 2006

I was hot for the sterile hellfire spewing sister-in-law.
posted by OmieWise at 6:57 AM on January 30, 2006

I saw this a few days ago, and quite enjoyed it.

The dinner scene in particular cracked me up.

Oh, and by the way: Where's the Mountain Dew?!
posted by JoshTeeters at 9:06 AM on January 30, 2006

I'm thinking that Napolean Dynamite played no small role in inspiring this production :)
posted by -harlequin- at 6:53 PM on January 30, 2006

They're geeks, but I'll be the majority of them are not gay. Would have worked better w/o the gay subtext.
posted by jeblis at 9:19 AM on February 1, 2006