Aadi Bhojwani: Week 1 - There's No Limit to the Larp
Quite a while back—I do not remember exactly when—I watched a movie—the title of which I also do not remember—where the characters are doing normal movie stuff and end up stumbling upon a park full of people dressed in medieval clothing. The central characters interact with some of the people briefly before deciding to leave, muttering something like, “let’s get away from these weirdos.” I was thoroughly confused. What was wrong with them simply choosing to express themselves through a little bit of roleplay? It honestly looked kind of fun.
That form of LARPing I can definitely get behind. Unfortunately, when larping is mentioned today, that harmless fun is rarely what people are talking about. In modern day slang and media, the term is no longer refers to a literal game, and rather has become a cynical critique: the act of pretending to have an interest in, or be part of something, that you’re not. While this new slang has not deviated much from the roleplay aspect, the intention behind it definitely has.
People no longer aspire to simply put themselves in another’s shoes or have fun; they fake interests in movies, games, or any other subculture purely because they think it's funny or ironic. They’re not truly appreciating the media, they just want to participate in the joke. This completely ruins the culture for genuine fans who have a true love for the piece of media.
The actual substance, nuanced themes, and serious discussions are drowned underneath jokes, memes, and shallow engagement. I really like thinking about and discussing shows and movies that I like, and when I find out that the supposedly genuine conversation I was having was nothing but a farce—I believe rightfully so—I get pissed off.
These impostors do more damage than just that, as people get falsely accused of “larping” something because of the paranoia they’ve instilled. If someone is new to a hobby, genuinely trying to learn, or even just expresses an opinion that may differ from popular opinion, they are instantly dismissed as “just larping.” Like I guess bro. But what is one even supposed to do? It's easy to assume that nobody is authentic, and because of that even if you passionately care for a topic, someone will accuse you of faking it for attention.
I still don’t understand the long-term endgame of this kind of larping, what do they exactly get out of it? Maybe they’ll fool a person or two, have some laughs, but how long will they go on? How long will they drag the same joke? There’s nothing wrong with larping in and of itself, the problem is just what it’s transformed into over time and the problems it brings. The medieval role-players I saw years ago were acting out a complete fantasy, yet they were still much more honest about who they were and what they loved and cared about.
While I am familiar with “larping,” I never thought about how being a “larper” became something so negative. I also value genuine excitement, and agree with how “larping” discourages people from being open about their interests, or even trying new ones. However, I feel the term was initially for calling out people who were genuinely being dishonest, but evolved into being way too overused.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your take on “LARPing” because it took a term that is now primarily used as an insult and made me think about how it has changed over time. I thought the contrast between the medieval role-players and people who “larp” their activities online was really insightful. Even though the people dressed in medieval clothing were pretending to be someone else, you were able to point out the irony that they were more authentic because they were honest about what they actually enjoyed. I liked how you were able to connect this to your personal life, making having meaningful conversations about something you care about much harder. The point about being falsely accused of larping also made me think about how quickly people judge authenticity today. This all raises the question of who is actually “authentic” enough to belong to a particular group or community.
ReplyDeleteHi Aadi! I appreciate your take on “larping” and explaining how the meaning has changed over time. I think that modern larping has jumped in popularity because people today are trying to be the opposite of mainstream—niche. This urge to become niche has caused people to hunt for obscure and specific things just for the sake of being unique, instead of discovering a genuine passion and being committed to it the way the medieval role-players did. This results in a repeated cycle, when people look for niche things to stand out, but then they quickly turn mainstream because everyone is trying to be niche. At the same time, people want to fit in, so when people talk about their niches, others start larping just to stay in the loop. Consequently, genuine niches turn into trends and ironically, the idea of “nicheness” transforms to a mainstream trend itself.
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