I'm particularly fascinated with the moral panic surrounding D&D in the early to mid 1980s. I've watched the 60 Miniutes clips posted on youtube before, but recently someone posted clips from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from 1985.
I still find it shocking that such a discourse arose out of the game. I also find it ironic that when the odd death occurs "due" to WOW - like one in Barrrie, ON in the last couple years - people don't even notice.
PART I:
PART II:
All right, Mansbridge! Was that his real hair!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had seen that documentary back in 1985, what a hoot.
I lived through that period, as a kid, and not understanding what the heck the evangilists were really getting on about. When TSR tried to improve the image with 2nd Edition, I completely and totally understood what was going.
ReplyDeleteI was a first-year undergrad in Nova Scotia in 1985 and had been playing D&D for about four years. Honestly, we never heard anything about any controversy surrounding the game, especially in Canada. Our parents were more concerned that we weren't meeting any girls.
ReplyDeleteI once went around a mate's house. He played me a evangalist video of his parents (I think they got him to play it to us) and it was showing the signs of witchcraft. A black cat, occult symbols such as those in astology and right at the end he said and showed "The Dungeons and Dragons game!!"
ReplyDeleteI wet myself with laughter. I don't think that was the reaction they were looking for. I keep trying to find it on YouTube - or anywhere.
I never really noticed much of the furor at the time. I remember my mom and aunt talking about it once, because both I and my cousin played it. But they both thought it was harmless enough.
ReplyDeleteAnother cousin's mother (a distant cousin, so she isn't an aunt), a librarian like my mother, actively encouraged us to play D&D. The way she saw it, it kept us from going through her oldest son's Playboy collection once she & her husband were asleep. Well, it limited our time perusing Playboy, anyway!
Oh I lived it in my hometown on Vancouver Island. My mom kept all the clippings. You can relive the fun here.
ReplyDeletehttp://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=459104
I'm psyched to watch those videos above.
I totally disagreed with this.
ReplyDeleteDungeons and Dragons is so great!
ReplyDeleteAwesome
ReplyDeleteuhhh its gone! :(
ReplyDelete