A King of Kong (Documentary)

Hello my fellow Earthlings!

Before I begin, I would like to preface my comments with a brief bit of information about my own personal views. I will leave it in italics so that, if you would like to skip my magnificent moralizing, you may do so.

An acknowledged truth is that our time on Planet Earth is (relatively) brief in the grand timeline of mankind. This means that while we are here, each and every day should not only be treasured but should also be spent accomplishing and doing things to the very best of our abilities. While we are accomplishing these things, there are some achievements which are greater than others. Certainly it is to be understood that this is a very subjective point of view yet it is generally accepted that some actions have a greater impact and benefit on mankind than others.

Therefore, the conscientious individual will not only perform with a maximum of effort at all times, but will also be actively identifying where and how those actions will have the greatest impact and benefit on mankind as a whole. There are individuals in the world who expend a huge amount of effort and have unbelievable talent yet their efforts were not for the benefit of human race. This being the case, all of their accomplishments become nothing more than a tiny foot-note in history which pale in comparison to the consummate completions of others who have given all for the greater good of humankind.

With this foundational understanding of how I personally view the world, it becomes clear when I say that the documentary "King of Kong" displays absolutely one of the worst selfish squandering of skill, talent, and effort which it has been my misfortune to witness.

In short, "King of Kong" is a documentary which follows briefly the history of early arcade gaming and then brings the viewer along to see how it is currently being played out. The majority of the documentary dwells laboriously upon the finer details of the arcade game "Donkey Kong" and how one individual, a fine fellow by the name of Steve Wiebe (last name pronounced "WE-BEE"), practices very hard to achieve the World's Highest Score. The previous score, held by archaic arcade gamer Billy Mitchell, was earned in the early 1980s and has stood strong until Mr. Wiebe's unfortunate waste of effort. I won't spoil the ending, but it will certainly have you sitting on the edge of your seat...sort of.

Do not construe that I am suggesting that gaming in general is a waste of effort. I myself am a gamer and have been almost from the time that I could walk. I treasure games. I treasure what we can learn from them and how games can impart a wonderful story.

But this documentary not only showed how gaming can suck many hours from your (short) life, it can also royally ruin social skills. The film displayed how the game ceases to simply be a game and instead grows into a reason for being and a self-identifying label.

The sad truth is, even if someone wins at Donkey Kong and achieves the World's Highest Score, they are still the losers in life because life is not in a game. Life is something that passes an individual by as they are playing the game.

I could only recommend "King of Kong" to viewers as a cautionary tale of what happens when bad film editing is combined with a horrible time-wasting pursuit. In some ways I suppose this film is a double time waster: a waste of time watching a waste of time. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so very sad and pitiful.



EDIT: My instructor stated that this brief wasn't supposed to be a review on King of Kong but a response to the concepts and how they relate to the course. I quite like my review so let me simply add that I really hope that King of Kong does not relate to anything in our course or this is going to be a very long quarter.