for my 2nd project I was thinking about doing Half Life and the Hobbit. But it might be too cliche and generic to talk about the idea of finding yourself or stumbling into a "quest." The main idea I had was both Bilbo and Gordon Freeman are living normal lives when suddenly two figures come into their lives and turn it upside down (Gandalf and Gman).
Star Wars is sort of in the same idea.
What are you thoughts? What ideas/meanings in Half Life and the Hobbit/Star Wars do you find interesting?
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ReplyDeleteA difference to consider is that Gordon Freeman is a respected employee of Black Mesa. It's implied that his actions are either for survival or for undoing what he takes responsibility for. He is the one who flipped the switch.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand with Bilbo, Gandalf influences Bilbo's decision to begrudgingly embark on a quest for riches.
Going back to the idea that the Freeman is undoing what he started, Bilbo inadvertently sets the events of Lord of the Rings in motion by taking the one ring, which was trivial at the time. Frodo has to finish what Bilbo started. But I would argue that even this quest is different from Gordon Freeman's quest.
What about the idea of Pandora's Box that triggers these events? What does it mean when you, the player, are faced with actions you didn't know were wrong? What about when you play an RPG and the chest is actually a monster? What about those times when a game forces you to take responsibility for your actions?
i dont really see that being enough of a commonality (is that a real word?) between the two alone. having a wiser outside character suddenly apear to sweep you off on a crazy adventure is almost storytelling 101. its an easy tool a lot of writers use. now you may find other reasons why you would want to compare the two, but in my opinion you would have a hard time writing 9000 words on the idea.
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