You won't see a grown 300lbs man dressed like a giant moth anywhere else... except maybe at Comic Con.
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"All your base are belong to us." -- Geek Proverb
Let's do a quick test. If the above quote doesn't mean anything to you and seems like I made a grammatical blunder, then you're obviously not a geek (and I strongly recommend doing a quick Google search on the phrase to see what all the fuss is about). However, if the statement caused you to laugh aloud, or snort aloud in some cases, then "Monster Camp" is right up your alley.
For nearly twenty years, NERO (New England Role-Playing Organization) has brought live-action role-playing or LARPing to a whole new level. Just like with other popular fantasy games like "Dungeons & Dragons" and "World of Warcraft" (WoW), players create a character to send off gallivanting in search of loot and adventure. The only difference is with LARPing, participants actually dress themselves up in pointy ears or long scraggly beards (depending on if they are an elf or a dwarf of course), dust off their magical battle-axes, and for one weekend a month completely immerse themselves into the roles of heroic champions.
Director Cullen Hoback invites viewers into this strange and fast-growing subculture phenomenon in his award-winning documentary, "Monster Camp." At the time of filming, there were approximately sixty NERO chapters scattered across North America, but "Monster Camp" focuses entirely on the NERO Seattle branch. We meet the owner and organizer Shane Macomber, learn a little bit about the game, and witness an entire party of eccentric personalities having the time of their lives.
The game itself is a lot more complex than just a bunch of Trekkies prancing around in cloaks and clobbering one another with foam swords (known as boffs). There's actually a 200-page rulebook containing hundreds of spells and abilities as well as all of the different types of characters and monsters. Plus the program even has its own group of writers who develop and compose the plots for the outings. As you can see, there is some serious gaming going on here.
Although Hoback doesn't portray any of the players in a negative light, his documentary does delve into the severity of gaming addiction. Two best friends, Carter and Brandon, play WoW upwards of sixty hours a week and giggle away when they mention that they've been in high school for 6-7 years. J.P. was one of many who started having a hard time separating fantasy from the real world and was specifically asked to take a timeout from the club. Even Dave, a self-proclaimed WoW addict, rarely can muster up the willpower to pry his nose away from his computer long enough to write plots for NERO, never mind spending quality time with his daughter. The documentary lays everything out in the open to let viewers see all sides, both the positives and the negatives, and make their own judgments.
Live-action role-playing certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea and I'm sure that most of the general public finds it downright ridiculous. But the way I see it, these gamers aren't hurting anyone and the game can be a therapeutic activity as long as the players keep a mental note not to take it too seriously. So if NERO is an outlet that can unglue hard-core gamers from their computers, allow them to mingle and bond with other like-minded individuals, and maybe even introduce some fresh air and/or some exercise into their busy gaming schedules--then all I have to say is more power to them.
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