I know there are certain things you're just not supposed to do, like drinking half a bottle of Jim Beam in a single sitting, but, hey, sometimes it happens.
So is it wrong of me to kind of want to play the Left Behind video game?
The intent behind this thing is clearly devious and I think ultimately will backfire in the makers' faces, but that doesn't stop the fact that it's still out there, and as an artifact of what I consider an extremist movement I'm curious as all hell to check it out.
A little background: I'm not much one for video games. In fact, I guess you could call me gaming Luddite since I think video games peaked with the original Legend of Zelda (I couldn't care less about the sequels). The only thing of late that I've seen that I can find much enjoyment in is the Grand Theft Auto games, which I think are hilarious (not so much the violence as the riffing on 80's mobster and 90's gangster flicks). So it's not like I'm being driven by an inherent love of video games.
It's more like a lurid fascination with the forbidden. In a lot of ways I think this desire must resemble the way some people felt about something like "The Last Temptation of Christ," those whom normally wouldn't have bothered to watch the movie, but because there was some "controversy" surrounding it decided to take it for a spin.
But part of me also really wants to see how the Left Behind crowd is adapting to the medium. I'm in awe of the way the production value of Christian radio stations has evolved into a slick operation (largely, in my opinion, thanks to the development of "Christian rock") from the mom and pop operation it was not so many years ago. It seems only logical that they would use this medium to go Pavlov on the Cheeto-stained sweatpants of the parents'-basement-dwelling males ages 12-30 demographic. I just want to see how they do it.
Obviously, there are a few conditions to this. 1.) I would in no way spend a cent for this thing, 2.) wouldn't fork over my e-mail address or any other personal information, and 3.) would not be willing to sit through some sort of dominionist sales pitch for the privilege of punching a few plastic buttons. But I think I can objectively explore the game with a critical and skeptical eye. I guess I'll have to go bootleg.
Plus, you have to admit, if the Left Behind crew didn't have the kind of audience that it has, the concept of the game would be laugh-out-loud funny. Fortunately for me my appreciation for camp has about as long of a shelf life as my attention span for video games. It's like a half hour. Tops.
So does this mean I'm batshit iinsane or what?