Dr. Ellis: Jacob, your mother wanted me to talk to you about what she called your
addiction to a video game called Mass
Effect. So what’s up with you and the game?
Jake:
Doctor, I prefer to be called Jake.
Dr. Ellis: Sure Jake, but why do you prefer the name Jake?
Jake:
I don’t like the biblical Jacob is one reason. He cheated his brother Esau and lied
to his father. And the Bible says that Esau was man of the field and a hunter.
He also married Canaanite women. Jacob comes off greedy to me. Esau gives up
religion and becomes a man of nature. So he’s more like my Dad, a Jew who gave up
on religion, though he’s more into numbers than nature, but he’s about science, not religion. Besides, I’ve never
met anyone named Jacob. It was my grandfather’s name. His family were old
fashion Jews.
Dr. Ellis: Since you brought up religion, I’d like to know a little about your
family. So your father isn’t religious?
Jake:
Dad’s Jewish but he doesn’t believe in God, which does seem a little weird. But
Mom’s a Catholic. I think she does believe in God.
Dr. Ellis: What about you? Are you religious?
Jake:
No. I mean why would I want to be? What difference does it make believing in
God? Like what’s going on in the world today. If God exists, he ain’t
interested. Actually, I got that from my dad. He believes that religion is the
reason for the Gaza
war when Jews and Palestinians both came from the ancient Canaanites. He said
Putin has sponsored the extreme evangelicals in the U.S. who serve as Trump’s
MAGA shock troops and believe they and the Russians will join together in a
Christian alliance.
Dr. Ellis: So you talked about religion with your dad?
Jake:
A couple times I asked him questions. You know like him being an atheist Jew.
But he has a friend who comes over and they talk politics a lot in the
backyard. I sit with the dog and listen. His friend used the phrase dark and sinister place to describe
what’s going in America and the world. So Dad thinks about this stuff a lot but keeps it to himself because it makes Mom nervous.
Dr. Ellis: Did your dad say God’s indifference to us is the reason he became an
atheist?
Jake:
My dad’s a scientist. He sees the world in the way science does.
Dr. Ellis: Did your dad give you any advice about religion?
Jake:
He said there are a many religions and they’re very different. He said if I’m
interested in religion then I should go to the library and get a book on
religion or search religions of the world on the Internet.
Dr. Ellis: Hmm. So he didn’t try to tell you what to believe about religion.
Jake:
No. Dad’s not that way. He said when he was in college he took a couple classes
in region because he was curious. But nothing came of them. Mathematics is
Dad’s thing.
Dr. Ellis: What about your mother? I assume she’s not Jewish.
Jake:
She’s Irish Catholic.
Dr. Ellis: You have an interesting family, Jake. Does your mother go to church?
Jake:
Yeah. She goes on Sundays. Dad stays home and reads the New York Times. When she comes home we go out for breakfast at a Jewish
deli.
Dr. Ellis: Have you gone with her?
Jake:
A couple times like on holidays.
Dr. Ellis: But it didn’t appeal to you?
Jake:
No. I didn’t hate it. Some of my friends hate going to church with the family.
But Mom realized it wasn’t my thing. She said I was like Dad. But she doesn’t
really care. I think going to church lets her forget about all the bullshit
that’s going on. Sorry about the cuss word. My friends use them a lot. So do
adults, but I know some people don’t want to hear them. I watch my language at
home, but that’s about it.
Dr. Ellis: I understand. Cuss words are forceful. But tell me about what you mean
by all the bullshit.
Jake:
Dad says the country is in rapid decline to what no one knows. The world is all
messed up with wars and threats of more wars. I think that’s one reason Mom goes
to church. It’s an escape, but she doesn’t understand that’s what I do with my
video game. It’s an escape.
Dr. Ellis: So do you think everything is messed up, Jake?
Jake: Looks like it. Dad says the country has been taken over by cults. Where we lived before it was
the woke cult for a while. Even some of the teachers were preaching anti-American wokeism in
class, which made my parents angry. Then came the MAGA cult. A bunch of bullies
with their silly MAGA hats. That’s when things got really crazy. Lots of signs
on lawns, signs being stolen, a few windows broken, that sort of thing. The
MAGAs are all about bullying people. Made Mom nervous. That’s when I started
playing video games full time and Dad
decided on the great escapee to here.
I asked Dad about what’s going on. He said we’re caught a butterfly effect. Of course, I asked him what he meant. Do you know it?
Dr. Ellis: I do. What did your dad say about the butterfly effect?
Jake: He said that a bent cop killing a black gangster caused the Black Lives Matter riots which resulted in Biden becoming president, which resulted in a backlash against the Democrats and Trump becoming president. But the conditions had to be just right for the butterfly effect to occur. He said the worst case of the butterfly effect in the twentieth century happened when an archduke was assassinated resulting in World War One which produced Hitler and World War Two and the Holocaust that led to the 1948 Jewish invasion of Palestine and the creation of state of Israel, which resulted in wars between the Jews and the Muslims, the 9-11 attacks, acts of terrorism in Europe and the U.S. and the war in Afghanistan. And World War One probably help cause the Russian Revolution which created the Soviet Union and the Cold War. He said Russia wasn’t anti-western until the Communists took over. And the Communist revolution created Putin as a KGB agent, who today wants to recreate the old Soviet Union by conquering countries like Ukraine. So here we are, just because of an assassination and a bent cop killing a black gangster.
I asked Dad why that sequence of events couldn’t be stopped. And he said in humans reason is no match against the irrational, which often takes control of reason to serve serve its agenda. That was one of Sigmund Freud’s great insights into human behavior. You know him, don't you?
Dr. Ellis: I do. Anyone in my profession knows Freud.
Jake: Then Dad went on to say that another important characteristic of that destructive scenario is that men were the primary motivators, just like today. And I thought wow Sky was right and I’m glad I playing a FemShep. Weird huh?
Dr. Ellis: Very weird. Let's change the subject. You live in University City.
Jake:
Yeah. It’s close to where Dad works. I’m bused to an expensive private school. The
students are pretty cool. No bullying there. The parents are upscale, doctors,
lawyers, professors, business people those kinds of people.
Dr. Ellis: What do you think about those kinds of people?
Jake:
I don’t know. They’re not stupid, not political religious fanatics.
Dr. Ellis: A good neighborhood and private school. Your dad must have gotten a good
job.
Jake:
Like I said, he’s a mathematician, I mean like high up. He got a PhD from MIT.
Dr. Ellis: That is impressive.
Jake:
Dad told me that a good education allows a person to live anywhere, like become
a scientist or a doctor.
Dr. Ellis: And does your mother work?
Jake:
She works in an office. She’s a manager of some kind.
Dr. Ellis: So your parents just picked up and left.
Jake:
Mostly for mom. Dad didn’t care. He said math is the same everywhere. I don’t
think he liked the people in the community once the cults took over, thought
they were stupid.
Dr. Ellis: What did your dad think about these movements beyond their being cults.
Jake:
He thinks they’re irrational, that they take over people’s minds like Hitler
and the communists did. He said political cults ruin politics. Look what happen
in Germany.
Dr. Ellis: Does he think that’s happening here?
Jake:
Yeah. He thinks Trump would have admired Hitler, maybe he does.
Dr. Ellis: Why do you think he believes that?
Jake:
Well, Trump’s right-hand man Musk is obviously a big fan of Hitler. And Trump admires Putin who is just a Russian
Hitler. He thinks Trump is just a stupid man who surrounds himself with stupid
men and women who stroke his ego.
Dr. Ellis: That’s interesting. What about Elon Musk the richest man in the world?
Jake:
Dad thinks he’s a Nazi, says he knows how to make money off American taxpayers who he then screws over, but that doesn’t mean he’s not stupid, only treacherous. Like he and Trump brag about putting a
flag on Mars, but Mars is a hundred and forty million miles from Earth. Dad
says it would take seven to ten months to make the trip. Like Buzz Lightyear
Trump adds going to Mars and beyond. The trip to Jupiter would take five to six
years. And those are one-way trips. Most likely the travelers would arrive dead
or would soon be dead from radiation sickness if the rocket didn’t blow up on
the launching pad which they tend to do. So Dad supports Trump, Elon Musk, and J.D.
Vance making the trip. Even better
building a spaceship big enough for Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, RFK junior, Kristi
Noem, and Kash Patel. Those are the members of the MAGA cult he really hates. I
think, though, he’d be fine with getting all the Republicans and Democrats got on
board.
Dr. Ellis: Was your dad kidding?
Jake:
Kidding but serious.
Dr. Ellis: So your father thinks the richest man in the world is a stupid Nazi?
Jake:
Dad equates enjoying hurting people with stupidity. What about you?
Dr. Ellis: Well, most likely Putin is the richest man in the world, but at the
moment also the most evil man in the world. And I tend to believe that evil is
a form of stupidity. So I guess I agree with your dad.
Jake:
Dr. Ellis, why do you equate evil with stupidity?
Dr. Ellis: Because in humans evil equals the absence of morality and the absence of
morality equals stupidity.
Jake:
But many animals lack intelligence.
Dr. Ellis: That’s true, but animals don’t engage in evil acts. In fact, most if not
all animals are morally superior to the evil men we’ve been discussing.
Jake:
You can be moral without being intelligent?
Dr. Ellis: You said you have a dog, Jake. From a moral perspective do you consider
him a good or bad dog?
Jake:
His name is Winston. He’s a good dog. Getting old though. He comes back with a ball happy but out of breath. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, a flea maybe but
not a person. He doesn’t even chase cats. He’s a loving dog.
Dr. Ellis: I understand. I have such a dog. How did you decide on a name?
Jake:
Winston Churchill.
Dr. Ellis: Did you choose the name.
Jake:
My Dad and I did. Churchill is a hero of Dad’s because he didn’t mess around
with the Nazis like the Americans did. He said had it not been for the attack
on Pearl Harbor, the Americans would have sat out the war and let the Jews and
everyone else die. He said the idea was that Hitler would rule the western
world and the Japanese would rule the eastern world, which is what Putin and the
Chinese want to do today. Right?
Dr. Ellis: It does look that way. What about Franklin Roosevelt?
Jake:
Yeah he wanted to get in the fight but the rest of the government and the
people were chicken like the Republicans today who don’t give a shit about
other people, only about money. The country even kept doing business with the
Nazis. I don’t know why they call it the greatest generation. It wasn’t that great.
Dr. Ellis: Before going on, I need to point out that the greatest generation was
the young men who fought the war, not the spineless politicians and businessmen
profiting from the war. I’m not surprise that young men whose families had been
struggling with the Great Depression and who themselves were just starting their lives
didn’t want to fight in a war in Europe when their own country was still
suffering from the Great Depression. But when the fight came home, they bravely
did their duty. Personally, Jake, I wish that generation was still with us rather than in graveyards because they would help fight the MAGA movement that is destroying America.”
Jake: “Why would they help?”
Dr. Ellis “Because they helped to save the world from the Nazis. MAGA betrays their sacrifice as much as it does us.”
Jake: So you’re no fan of MAGA either. Why’s that?
Dr. Ellis: “The MAGA movement has become totalitarian, like the WOKE revolutionaries they condemn.”
Jake: “I don’t know what totalitarian means.”
Dr. Ellis: “A government becomes totalitarian when it attempts to control what people think and how they live. That is what the WOKE movement tried to do and why it was rejected. Now the MAGA movement is doing the same thing. As a psychotherapist I’m very much against controlling people’s mind.”
Jake: “Wow! That’s what the bad guy the Elusive Man does in Mass Effect. He turns people into flesh bots. That why Ashley Williams doesn’t trust Shepard at first. She thinks the Elusive Man is controlling her. But he can’t control her and that really pisses him off.”
Dr. Ellis: “And you fight him.”
Jake: “My FemShep does, yeah. So tell me , doctor,was then like today, Americans couldn’t care less about Europeans or anybody but themselves?
Jake: So was then like today, Americans couldn’t care less about Europeans or anybody but themselves?
Dr. Ellis: I’m not a historian, so I would rather look at the situation as it is. President Zelensky and the Ukrainians are not asking American troops to fight their war. They just want the materials necessary for them to fight the war. But President Trump is even worse than the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan who didn’t help the injured man for religious reasons. He won't help people because values money above human life. Compassion and moral goodness are meaningless to him. So he is not quite as evil as Putin who is a mass murderer, but he is willing to allow women and children, the sick and the elderly to suffer and die when he could help them without putting Americans, and certainly not himself, at risk. His miserliness knows no bounds. In the New Testament Judas represents such a man. For thirty pieces of silver he denies the poor, sick, hungry, and oppressed the help they would have received from Jesus. I don’t know who gave Judas thirty pieces of silver but I do know Donald Trump is on Putin’s payroll. And that makes him an accessory to evil.
Jake: I got a question, Doctor, that I have to ask. Are
you religious?
Dr. Ellis: I’m supposed to be asking the questions, Jake, but I guess it’s only
fair for me to answer that question. I don’t believe there’s a God. Like your
father said, if he exists he’s not interested in helping us. He allows too much
death and destruction, often committed in his name. So, if he is unwilling to
help us then he is unworthy of the name.
Jake:
What about Jesus?
Dr. Ellis: Jesus was a good man who believed in God and in helping people in need.
And he was surprised, just as the Jews were during the Holocaust, that his God
abandoned him when he was on the cross suffering greatly.
Jake:
So you don’t have a religion.
Dr. Ellis: Jake, one doesn’t need religion to live a spiritual life. I believe that
was Jesus’s message about the Good Samaritan who helps an injured man. Jesus
believed that the Good Samaritan expressed greater spirituality than did the so-called
religious men who ignored the injured man. And consider this. What if Jesus
didn’t believe in God, or at least not in a humanoid deity, yet lived the life
he did, which was to help people and to teach how to live spiritually by living
morally. Jesus proved in the way he lived that he was a morally and spiritually
good man even if he didn’t believe in God.
The
Jews who didn’t help the injured man were a priest and Levite, both muckety-mucks
of Judaism. Moses and his brother Aaron were priests and Levites. The Jews who
ignored the injured man were neither moral nor spiritual men, yet the Good
Samaritan who was a nobody was both. That’s the point of the parable.
Jake:
So Jesus was different?
Dr. Ellis: Yes. The Old Testament Jews were all about God, not people, not pagans
not even their own people if they did not obey God. Moses and Aaron murder
thousands of their own people for worshiping an idol of a Golden Calf and
enjoying themselves, which was the pagan way, even though it was Aaron’s idea
as I recall. They stoned a man to death for collecting firewood on the Sabbath
probably to feed his family and keep them warm. Jesus offered a new religion
that was people centered rather than God centered. The God of the Old-Testament
Jews didn’t care about people, only about himself. Jesus version of God is that
God does care about people. And obviously Jesus didn’t care about what happened
to him. What Jesus offered was a humanitarian religion. That was not the
religions of his ancestors. He makes that clear when he prevents the Pharisees
from stoning a woman who committed adultery. The Pharisees didn’t care about
her, but Jesus did.
Jake:
Were the religious men who ignored the injured man evil?
Dr. Ellis: No. They lacked compassion. To me they were dead men inside. Religion can
have that effect on people. Make them dead to the needs of people. Trump uses
the God word a lot, but he has shown he doesn’t care about people be they Africans,
Greenlanders, Ukrainians, Europeans, Canadians, or Americans. I believe that atheists who wouldn’t ignore an injured person are far superior than religious people
who would. Most humans are inherently compassionate if something like ideology
doesn’t destroy their compassion. Thus, the religious men who ignored the
injured man lacked the spirituality and the humanitarian morality that Jesus
shows repeatedly. However, the men who harmed the injured man were evil.
Jake:
That means Putin is evil and Trump and his crew lack spirituality because they
lack compassion for Ukrainians and everyone else.
Dr. Ellis: Trump and his crew, as you call them, have sided with Putin and have
acted to put the existence of Ukrainians at risk. They have cut off aid to the
poor and sick of the world, which Jesus would condemn them for doing. They’ve
harmed even Americans. They have intentionally caused harm and sided with Putin
an evil man who rivals Satan. Thus, they too are evil.
Jake:
Dad says that for fourteen billions years the Universe has been evolving from a
state of disorder to an increasingly orderly state. On the way it generated new
orderly forms like galaxies, stars, planets, and here on Earth forms of life.
The life producing process was disrupted by a meteorite that destroyed most of
life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. He said that there are other natural
causes of disorder such as storms, floods, fires, earthquakes, and diseases
that destroy life. So there are two forces at work in the Universe. One that creates order and
one that causes disorder that destroys orderly forms of existence like our Sun,
Moon, Earth, and the life forms on Earth. He says that men who side with
disorder are more stupid than the Universe itself because they should know
better.
Dr. Ellis: Because the Universe sides with creating order, not destroying it.
Jake:
It really doesn’t take sides because it doesn’t think. But it is amazing that
when you look at the history of the Universe you see that it evolved from the pure
disorder of the Big Bang to an orderly world like Earth. Dad thinks that there
are probably other planets like Earth in the Universe but they that would be better off
if humans never find them.
Dr. Ellis: That’s a first.
Jake:
Read Ray Bradbury’s The Martian
Chronicles and you’ll see why Dad thinks that.
Dr. Ellis: I’ll do that. Still, your dad doesn’t believe in a cosmic guiding force.
Jake:
No. He believes science can explain how it happened without introducing an
unnecessary make-believe entity into the story. And it’s absurd to think the
whole effort of an infinite Universe was to produce tiny Earth. Earth is like a
rare stone, like Musgravite and Painite, stones more rare than diamonds. And he
says if there was a God he’d have to be a really stupid creator because he’s a
far greater destroyer than a creator. An all-powerful, all-wise, all-good God
wouldn’t have caused so much harm and destruction to produce one orderly world.
That’s why he finds it hard to believe that his people, the Jews, would have
worshiped the God of the Old Testament. He was as much a destroyer as he was a
creator. But they did.
Dr. Ellis: Well, Jake I do agree with your dad on that point. Does your Dad ever talk
to your mom about religion?
Jake:
No way. Why would he? Dad believes people should believe what they want a long
as long as they’re not hurting people. Besides I think Mom goes to church to be
close to Jesus and Mary because there are two big statues of them in the
church. In Mary she sees sadness and love. In Jesus she sees suffering and love. In his suffering
she sees the harm caused by evil men. I mean he looks really helpless. Maybe
she feels the same way because of fools like Putin and Trump and their mindless
followers, just like Illusive Man’s indoctrinated soldiers.
Dr. Ellis: Did your mother tell you that about Mary and Jesus?
Jake:
No. That’s what I see, which is really what Mary and Jesus represent. Like
there’s no hope. That’s why men like Putin and Trump and their Henchmen are
like Joker and his goons and thugs in DC Comics. They
lack love and sorrow and cause suffering. You see, Doctor, the video games get
it right.
Dr. Ellis: Who’s Joker?
Jake: You don’t know Joker? Wow! He's Gotham America's president.
Dr. Ellis: I get it. The evil guy in the Batman movies, but I’ve never seen one. You’re giving me quite an education, Jake.
Jake: Not just movies. There's a lot more Batman video games than movies.
Dr. Ellis: Some of which you’ve played, I assume.
Jake:
Yeah a few. Batman Arkham City, Batman Arkham Asylum, and Batman Arkham origins. Great games. But
they are different from shooters. Lots of fighting but the kind that means
being really good at using button combos, which I’m not very good at.
Dr. Ellis: I don’t know what button-combos are, but I don’t think I need to know.
Let’s go back to your father’s rejection of religion. Is that why he became a
mathematician?
Jake:
Don’t think so. Clearly he gave up the religion of his people. I once asked him
if he found other religions more appealing. He said found religions that
contained a good deal of wisdom, but they were all Eastern religions. Taoism,
Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism are the ones he mentioned.
Dr. Ellis: Did he indicate their wisdom?
Jake:
Buddhism is concerned about people suffering, Taoism is about living in harmony
with nature, and Zen Buddhism sees life as a mystery. Have you heard of any of
them?
Dr. Ellis: Yes I have, and I agree with your dad. And what your dad said about
order and disorder and the Universe is interesting, but it is even from a religious
perspective. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes God creating order
out of disorder and that “God saw that it was good.” And the culmination of the
creative process is Earth.
Jake:
But you don’t believe in God either.
Dr. Ellis: True, but the Bible tells us a lot about people that is true, especially
what they want out of life and what is important to them. And what Genesis
tells us is that order is perhaps most important to people. So important
to them that they associate it with divinity. And Genesis also introduces us to
Satan, who is evil because he causes disorder and harm.
Jake:
But you don’t believe in Satan, do you, Doctor?
Dr. Ellis: Your dad said there are two forces operating in the Universe, but we can
also apply that idea to humanity.
Jake: I get it. The forces of good and evil. Good people create and preserve order that benefits life and evil people destroy order and by doing so harm life. That is why Putin and Trump are evil and President Zelensky and his people are good because they are fighting the forces of disorder that seeks to destroy Ukraine, which was once an orderly society, then in bully fashion would seek to destroy some other small nation. Putin and Russia really are like Harbinger and his Reapers who reside in dark space, which I suppose describes Russia as a place like Raccoon City in Resident Evil.
Dr. Ellis: Very good, Jake. I won’t ask about Raccoon City, but I assume it a scary place. And isn’t that what you do in your game?
Jake: It is.
Dr. Ellis: And isn’t that what you do in your game, choosing to do good?
Jake:
Yeah. But there is more to religion than just morality, like having something
to worship. Right?
Dr. Ellis: Worship means expressing reverence, to regard someone or something with
awe or devotion. I feel that way about good people, children, plants and
animals. There is much more to love and appreciate in the world than there is
to hate, which really is reserved for evil men. Certainly there are diseases and
other natural catastrophes but they don’t intentionally harm anyone. You’ve
really dragged me into the conversation, so I’m going to tell you something not
many people know about me. I’m a surfer. I love surfing. I love the ocean, the
waves, the sun and sand, and all the people who come to the beach to enjoy the
ocean. I don’t know why one cannot have a religious relationship with the world
without God.
Jake:
You’re a surfer. Wow! I’m shocked but think that’s really cool.
Dr. Ellis: It is really cool. Let’s get back to Mass
Effect and the idea of escape. You said going to church is for your mother
an escape from all the bad stuff going on. What about your dad?
Jake:
Math and watching old movies on television, I suppose. He gets angry about the
bad stuff but has no need to escape from it. Like he’s constantly reading the
newspaper to find out what’s going on.
Dr. Ellis: Did your dad ever tell you what attracted him to mathematics?
Jake:
To Dad mathematics is a language that reveals an aspect of the deep structure
of reality. He says it’s a universal language not because it can be learned by
everyone. Any language can be. It’s universal because what it reveals is
universally true about the nature of reality. He considers it’s a tool that
reveals a certain type of information that everything in the Universe
possesses. He said that’s what attracted him to mathematics was not so much mathematics
itself, though he loves the language, but to him it’s the essence of logical
thinking. But he likes the idea that the reality of each and every thing can be
considered a bundle of information that mathematics reveals.
Dr. Ellis: That’s absolutely fascinating. Has what your dad told you interest you
in mathematics.
Jake:
No. Mathematics to me is a logic game. I’ve taken logic at school, and I like
it. But Dad says you need two things to be a mathematician, a talent and love
for numbers and equations. I’m good at math, but not in the way Dad is. And I
like it okay, but I don’t love it. I even told Dad that I’m not that interested
in math all that much.
Dr. Ellis: They teach logic at your school. It must be a really good school.
Jake:
It’s taught mostly for students interested in computers and computer languages.
Computers are logic machines. Some students are interested in writing game
programs.
Dr. Ellis: Interesting. How about you?
Jake:
I like to play games but have no interest in writing programs for them. I find
doing that is hard and tedious. I don’t have the love or talent for doing that.
Dr. Ellis: What did your dad say when you told him that you weren’t that interested
in math?
Jake:
He said that mathematics is a tool that can reveal aspects of reality that
other tools can’t. But there are many such tools that offer different
revelations about the nature of reality. He said he used to go to the museums
in New York City. He would go by himself. He said museums are great places for
thinking about life and the visual arts offer revelations about what life is
all about in ways that are most important to most people. Paintings are about
the meaning of life for life, in other words for living organisms, especially
humans. He said that mathematics and physics reveal the deep structures of
reality but really have very little to say about the meaning of life which is
like a rainbow. Life has as many meanings as there are people. That’s not true
for mathematics and physics. And it is art that explores those many meanings.
Dr. Ellis: Your dad is really interesting. Do you talk a lot with him?
Jake:
I mean like normal. He’s my dad. It’s just occasionally a topic comes up and we
discuss it. Otherwise, he’s just like any other dad. He and I go to school
games together.
Dr. Ellis: With you’re mother?
Jake:
Nah. Too noisy. I think she enjoys a quiet evening at home with Winston. She
likes to read.
Dr. Ellis: As a psychologist I understand that the meaning of life varies with the
interests and experiences of people. Like your dad, I don’t believe life has a
single meaning.
Jake:
So you don’t tell people how to live.
Dr. Ellis: My job is to help people to avoid ways of thinking and behaving that
harms themselves or others. For example, my job right now is to determine
whether your playing Mass Effect is
detrimental in some way to you.
Jake:
And what do you think?
Dr. Ellis: After our session I’ll tell you what I think. But right now, let me
finish telling you why I don’t tell people what way of life they should choose
for themselves. There are endless ways people can live their lives. Anthropologists
have identified close to four thousand distinct cultures in the world. So
culturally one shoe doesn’t fit all. The same goes for religion. There are about
as many religions in the world as there are cultures. You, I, and apparently
your father believe that religions with anthropomorphic deities are false. But
if your mother was a patient of mine I wouldn’t tell her that the gods of the
Bible—Yahweh and Christ—are false. Now if she said she considers herself a
sinner because the Bible says so and her believing that makes her unhappy, I
would say that the Bible saying so doesn’t make it so. I would ask her what she
believes sin is. And we would discuss that. I would try to avoid telling her
that what she believes is false. And often false religious beliefs can be
psychologically beneficial, which apparently is the case for your mother.
Jake:
And my games give my life meaning along with other things. I really like playing my
games, but other things are more important to me. Like being with my family. My
dog is more important to me than are my games even though I spend a lot more
time playing the games, though he’s usually lying on the floor close by. He’s
always with me. Well, not always. He does like hanging out with Mom in the
kitchen because he knows she’ll give him a treat. He sometimes lies on the
floor next to Dad when Dad reads his newspaper. It’s interesting that his just
being with us is meaningful.
Dr. Ellis: Why is that, Jake?
Jake:
I’m not sure. I think of him as a creature, not just a dog. That makes him more
mysterious. That’s what Dad says, everything is mysterious, and explaining
things with mathematics doesn’t make them less mysterious. So, Doctor, what
makes things meaningful, not just things but doing stuff like surfing?
Dr. Ellis: The philosopher Plato said humans relate to the world in three different
ways and those ways can be combined to create new complex meanings. The first is
though the senses. Sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste are all sources of
meaning. Each can give us pleasure and pain.
Jake:
I get that. I like eating pizza and listening to music. Swimming in the ocean
is pleasant, though I’m not a surfer. What’s another way?
Dr. Ellis: The emotions are a source of meaning, and like with the senses the
meaning can be pleasant or unpleasant. How do you feel about your dog?
Jake:
I love my dog. So what’s the third way.
Dr. Ellis: The intellect.
Jake:
That would be you and my dad.
Dr. Ellis:
So life is meaningful in endless ways. And your mother has her church and you
have your video games.
Jake:
That’s right, but Mom thinks my playing video games, actually only Mass Effect now, isn’t normal but going
to church is.
Dr. Ellis: And what does your dad think about you playing video games?
Jake:
He doesn’t care as long as I get good grades.
Dr. Ellis: And do you get good grades.
Jake:
Yeah. It’s not that hard really. But I make sure I get A’s in math and science.
He likes that.
Dr. Ellis: Are those courses hard for you?
Jake:
Sometimes, but I like math and science. Both give you different perspectives on
things. Perspectives most people don’t care about.
Dr. Ellis: What about other courses?
Jake: I like them okay. History is interesting. I guess it’s important because my teacher said that people who don't know history keep repeating the worst parts of it like today. But I don't think evil people care. But I like it. Like we read about Plato and Socrates. The teacher spent more time talking about Socrates, whose philosophy was to question everything. For that the government executed him. That's what Putin does. I like lit because I like reading stories. Computer science I like. Language not so much but it’s not a big problem.
Dr. Ellis: You must be pretty busy.
Jake:
Yeah, that’s why I need to take a game break.
Dr. Ellis: Which you do with Mass Effect.
Jake:
Yeah. Do you know the game, Doctor?
Dr. Ellis:
I’ve never played a video game. I have two daughters but they’re not interested
in video games. I did look your game up after your mother told me that you play
it all the time. But I’d like to know more about the game from your perspective.
But first, you no longer play other games?
Jake:
Used too. Played most of them. Now I just play Mass Effect. Do you think it’s an addiction, doctor?
Dr. Ellis Could be, but not all addictions are harmful.
Jake:
Like smoking?
Dr. Ellis: That’s right. Smoking is physically harmful. I had an uncle who was a
big smoker. He died of lung cancer in his fifties. He was a good uncle so I
hated to see him die. It’s an addiction that many smokers are unable to quit
even though they know it’s harming them.
Jake:
I don’t smoke and think playing Mass
Effect doesn’t harm me.
Dr. Ellis: I don’t believe your mother thinks the game harms you. Her concern is
that for whatever reason it seems to have taken over your life. What do you
think?
Jake:
I wouldn’t say it’s taken over my life. My mother doesn’t understand that a
game like Mass Effect isn’t like
Mario & Luigi, Pokemon, or Pac-man games. It’s an RPG that takes a lot of
time. It’s like reading a book.
Dr. Ellis: Wait a second, Jake. What’s a RPG game?
Jake:
It’s a game where you interact with other characters. It’s not just about
shooting bad guys. It’s like a play, but your character makes choices. Usually
you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy. I prefer being a good guy. I
don’t want to be evil like the enemy I’m fighting. One important part is that
the decisions you make can have good or bad consequences later in the game. In Mass Effect bad choices can get your
friends killed. I try very hard to keep my mates alive, but two die no matter what I do, and they’re right at the top of my favorites list. One is a kind of mystic and the other is Mr. Reason and super sensitive, that’s why I like him so much. In response to some evil action he’ll say “Unacceptable.” Both die to protect members of other species, not their own. The weird thing is I’m really bummed when they die. I find that bizarre because they’re fictional and lizard-looking. Lovable lizards. But perhaps that’s not so weird. I’ll probably feel that way when Winston dies.
Dr. Ellis: What do you learn from those two characters?
Jake: You sound like my English teacher. But I get it. What determines the goodness of people is what they think and do, not their appearance.
Dr. Ellis: The game sounds interesting. And do you have friends who play the game?
Jake:
Lots of kids I know have played the game, but they play other games as well. I
don’t. Some are game fanatics playing games all the time, constantly buying new
games and downloading expansion packs that add content to a game. I guess I’m a
fanatic too but only with Mass Effect.
Dr. Ellis: So many of your schoolmates play video games.
Jake:
I don’t know if they all do, but many do. All my friends do. I mean guys like
me are video game junkies. Maybe Mom’s right. But I think the world has change,
but people her age haven’t. She’s old fashion, but I get that. The Internet
world is weird to her though she likes Facebook and knows how to use the
computer like at work. But for her it’s just a tool. And she doesn’t trust the
Internet. I get that too.
Dr. Ellis: That’s interesting, Jake. What is it that you think your mother finds
weird about video games?
Jake:
Too much violence, which of course she wouldn't be into. They’re also a virtual
space you go into. I interact with artificial people. I mean I’m closer to some
of them than I am to most the people at school, real people she would say. Sometimes
she gets so worried like when I play the game I’m in an alternate reality. I
have to laugh. I mean isn’t that what happens to her when she goes to church?
Dr. Ellis: Have you ever told her that?
Jake:
I would never do that. She’s already a nervous wreck because the world is so
fucked up. I think she’s afraid of Trump. It’s like DC Comics Joker and his
gang have taken over the White House. She escapes the stupidity by going to
church and I escape by entering the virtual world of Mass Effect. Actually it pisses me off that scary clowns like Trump
and Putin make Mom a nervous wreck.
Dr. Ellis: I have to ask, Jake, does the game serve as an outlet for your anger
toward men like Trump and Putin.
Jake:
Big time. Like Call of Duty lets you
go after the bad guys, who are often Russians. In that game the American
president is the good guy. That idea is over.
Dr. Ellis: You mean American presidents being the good guys.
Jake: Beginning with Bidden because Dad said that the Biden-Harris administration convinced conservative Americans that the United States government had become an anti-American institution and by doing so created an enormous amount of negative energy that fueled Donald Trump’s return to the White House. So he thinks both Biden and Harris were incompetent politicians, not evil just incompetent, but their incompetence upended the country. Still, Dad thinks Trump is way worse than Biden.
He says Trump won’t make America great because he will make it in his image
just like Putin has made Russia in his image. Like Hitler made Germany in his
image. Except for Roosevelt, Dad hates politicians. He says both the Democrats
and Republicans are self-serving cowards who don’t give a shit about America or
Americans or anyone else, though Dad doesn’t use bad language.
Dr. Ellis: I know video game gamers, as you call them, play online. Do you?
Jake:
No. I play Mass Effect on my Xbox 360.
Dr. Ellis: Is that because your mother won’t let you play online?
Jake:
No. Online games are like sports. You play against other gamers. I never got
into that. I mean it’s all about shooting. It’s too intense. There are even teams.
I’m just not interested in doing that. I just want to be with my Normandy crew
and Winston. Forget about the world for a while. And I don’t use of my computer for games like a lot of other guys do. I use it for information, like for
school work, and it’s really doesn’t have the horsepower for online gaming. Besides,
I want to take a break from my computer to play games. And I’m low tech. Like I
said, I play Xbox 360. I have a PS3 stored away in the garage. But new game
won’t play on old systems. There is an updated version of Mass Effect call Legendary Edition. I’d like to give that a try but
I’d have to upgrade to an Xbox One. I like my 360 and have a lot of games for
it. You know if anyone is addicted to the Internet, it’s my mother. She’s on
Facebook a lot. I mean is that sick?
Dr. Ellis: But she’s communicates with people she knows, not with artificial
people. Is that right?
Jake: I don’t know if she communicates with her friends. It’s not like email. She doesn't post anything. She
just looks at what her friends and other people have to say or show then
indicates a like. She’d never respond with a dislike. Afraid she might offend someone. She has a cousin who is an absolute right-wing MAGA Nazi. She
complains about her every day. I tell her to unfriend her or whatever. But oh
no she wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings. Mother is a real softy. And there’s
other stuff, but for Mom all the communication is one way.
Dr. Ellis: And the game isn’t like that, is it?
Jake: Totally different. All my friends in the game are virtual friends.
Dr. Ellis: And what do you and your friends do?
Jake:
Mostly fight the bad guys, but we talk to each other. Actually, the really bad guys are more than bad.
They’re evil. That’s what Dad told me, not about the game but about Putin and
the MAGA cult. He says bad guys rob banks. Evil people, men mostly, kill
innocent people and destroy cities.
Dr. Ellis: No comment about the game?
Jake:
No. He doesn’t know about the game except that I play it. Like you, he might
have looked it up to see what I’m into, but that’s about it.
Dr. Ellis: You don’t tell him anything about the game?
Jake:
No reason to. But I sometimes refer to the game when he’s reading the paper and
says something out loud about the Russia and Ukraine or Trump.
Dr. Ellis: Your dad reads the paper rather than getting information online.
Jake:
It’s a tradition with him. The New York
Times. He’s been reading it all his life. He grew up in New York. Sometimes
he’ll say “I’m a New York Jew, that’s all.”
Dr. Ellis: What does he mean by that?
Jake:
Can’t say really.
Dr. Ellis: What about Israel? Does he feel any connection with Israel?
Jake:
I don’t think so. He said he is a Jew by birth, not by region or culture. I
don’t think he likes Israel all that much. He thinks it has caused too much
unnecessary harm.
Dr. Ellis: Why’s that?
Jake:
Lots of wars and the mistreatment of the Palestinians. You’ve seen what they’ve
done to their communities. They just blow them up, don’t matter who’s inside the
buildings. Pretty sick I’d say.
Dr. Ellis: I have to agree. The death, harm, and suffering is incredible.
Jake:
And Dad doesn’t want to be associated with that. I think he identifies with
brainy Jews like Einstein and Freud. Like they’re a Jewish society of brainiacs.
Now he feels that way about America. We’ll soon be moving to Canada.
Dr. Ellis: That’s interesting. When?
Jake:
After the school year.
Dr. Ellis: Why, if I may ask?
Jake:
He thinks America has become evil because of President Trump and his MAGA cult.
Dr. Ellis: Why does he think that?
Jake:
He called Trump a Judas because he is a betrayer.
Dr. Ellis: Do you agree, Jake?
Jake:
Of course. After he said that I did a little research on the Net. Trump has
fired thousands of Americans, ended programs that help sick and poor people all
over the world and here, betrayed the Ukrainians, turned against our European
allies, wants to conquer Canada and Greenland. Yeah, there’s nothing good about
the man. Dad said he’s a traitor. What do you think, doctor?
Dr. Ellis: I have to agree with your father. You know, Jake, my parents were
Jewish, and I too grew up in New York.
Jake:
Wow, then you’re like my dad, one of those brainy Jews.
Dr. Ellis: I suppose I am. But I would like to know more about your family moving to
Canada. How do you feel about that?
Jake:
I don’t mind. I’ll take Mass Effect
with me. Actually, it's a Canadian game.
Dr. Ellis: Jake, do you feel more at home in the game than in the neighborhood
where you live?
Jake:
In a way I do. I like hanging out with the Normandy crew. In a weird way I feel really close to them, like I’m one of them. I suppose that’s my fictional self. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I don’t really feel a part
of a community. Where I live is a suburb, not a community. School is my community but I
commute to school. And I don’t participate in clubs or sports. I don’t hang out
with particular group. No school mates live where I do. You’re going to think
I’m some sort of weirdo, but actually a lot of students are like me. They’re
not anti-school but are into other things outside of school. There’s girl who
is a ballet dancer and another who is a violinist. I know that because they put
performances at assembly. But they study off campus. I even know a Jewish kid Mark
who takes advanced classes at the community college. His family had to flee Russia. He's a brainiac Jew like Dad, takes all the hard AP science courses. And he does cross-country.
Dr. Ellis: But you're not into sports?
Jake:
I’m a spectator. What I’m saying is a lot of students do their school work but
aren’t otherwise connected to the school, except for games. Like I said, even I
go to games—football, basketball, volleyball—but I’m not athletic. You can look
at me and see that.
Dr. Ellis: Maybe you’re a free spirit.
Jake:
Mom doesn’t see me that way. More like I’m antisocial nerd, which maybe I am,
but she thinks it’s a sickness. Is it?
Dr. Ellis: I understand sickness as being in an unhealthy state. You’re happy in
spite of the world and country being messed up. And you’re productive and not
causing other people problems. So I don’t think you’re sick. You’re obsessed
with the Mass Effect game, but people
become obsessed with sports, dance, and music. And some become really good at
what they do. But those are socially acceptable activities that involve other
people. Your mother sees your playing video games as unhealthy because it
isolates you from other people and probably because you spend a lot of time in
what you call virtual reality interacting with virtual friends. I understand
that your mother would see that as peculiar.
Jake:
What do you think?
Dr. Ellis: Well, if you are moving to Canada, I’m glad you can take with you
something you’re familiar with, but I would say that wherever you go in Canada
try to become part of the culture. Don’t let the game cut you off from a new
culture that you might find interesting. Besides, you said you like Esau because
he was man of the field and a hunter. In Canada you will find infinite fields.
Do you think you would be interested in hunting?
Jake:
No. I like animals too much. Don’t worry. I won’t cut myself off. Like Esau
I’ll do some exploring. I’m not as antisocial as Mother thinks. In fact, we’re
moving to a part of Canada where they speak French. I think that will be
interesting, so I’m learning French. I was taking Spanish but Dad told me to
take French. So he must have been planning the move for a long time.
Dr. Ellis: Do your parents speak French?
Jake:
Dad said the Canadians speak both French and English, so he’s not worried.
Dr. Ellis: I’m curious, Jake. Do you see a connection between what’s going on in
the world today and the game you play?
Jake:
Big time. Harbinger is the big baddy. He or it takes control of people,
creatures really, minds and bodies. Makes them enemies of the good guys. Harbinger’s
armies attack planets and eventually Earth. It wants to take control of all
life or destroy it.
Dr. Ellis: Who is like Harbinger in our world?
Jake:
For sure right now it’s Vladimir Putin, but in the real world there are many
Harbingers. Any bad guy with demonic armies. Harbinger’s army is the Collectors
controlled by a big bug named the Collector General. They invade planets to
either kill or kidnap the inhabitants. Of course, the Russians do both, kill
adults and kidnap children. Next it might be Xi the president of China. And
North Korea’s fatso rocket man. In the past it was Hitler. These guys, and it’s
always guys, are so creepy they belong in video games. No, I take that back.
Men like them transform the world into a scary video game like Mass Effect or Resident Evil. That’s why I like killing
them.
Dr. Ellis: That’s understandable. By constantly threatening harm, such men are the
greatest source of global chaos and anxiety. I suppose in the game Harbinger is
defeated.
Jake:
But not before Earth is destroyed. That’s the big downer of the game. Earth is
destroyed. My character dies along with most of her crew. It’s a real
depressing ending. But a happy ending would be a lie.
Dr. Ellis: I would have expected a happy ending.
Jake:
The game makes it seem like it has a happy ending because all the bad guys are
killed and the world will restart again with a new Adam and Eve. But the story
the gamer identifies with is over and gone. And that is how it will be for
everyone if there’s a nuclear war. Like I said, a happy ending would be a lie.
You know in the story one ending prevents war from ever happening again. But
that’s a lie. Like the girl who convinced me to play the game as a female
Shepard said as long as there are men there will be war.
Dr. Ellis: Tell me, Jake, why did this girl...
Jake:
Sky’s her name.
Dr. Ellis: Interesting name. So why did Sky think you should play the games as a
female?
Jake:
I ask Sky the same question. She said doing so totally changes the game—feminizes it
she said. I had played the game as a guy with the imported character, just like
any other game. At first I thought creating a female Shepard was a little
weird. But right away I realized it wasn’t. Playing a chick goes all the way
back to Regina in Dino Crisis. And I
had been playing females in all the Resident
Evil games. I wasn’t sure about her feminization idea. It took a while but
then I got it.
Dr. Ellis: Got what, Jake?
Jake: ’ll give you some examples. Lots of characters relate to a FemShep, as the female Shepard is called, differently than they would to a male Shepard. Like early in the game Miranda and Jack are really hostile to Shepard. Jack and Miranda are a lot alike, angry because they were messed with by men when they were young, which Sky made sure I understood. But down deep both are softies. And by helping them Shepard brings out their loving sides, which otherwise might have remained hidden by their anger.
I hated both at first but then came to really like them, like I would never allow them to die in game two even if I had to restart the mission because that would mean they wouldn't show up in game three where they're a lot nicer. That change of heart in me was a big surprise. I thought I'd always dislike them. I think the FemShep gets credit for that. The same happens with Ashley in a way. In the end they all love her, but without the sex shit because she's a female. Even the robot EDI treats her like a mom. She’s a kind of daughter to spinster Dr. Chakwas. She’s an matriarchal equal to the female Krogan shaman Eve. She a kind of human sister or super good friend to the Garrus Vakarian, which is amazing because he a kind of scary lizard. Liara T'Soni an Asari is in love with her. They end up in bed but no real sex. I tried to be just Liara’s friend but you can tell it bums her out, and she deserves being happy.
There’s Joker the pilot, totally unlike the DC Joker. It’s like him and Shepard grew up together.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya the Quarian loves her but again like a girlfriend. No
sex, which could happen if Shepard was a guy. For that reason I don’t get to see Tali’s face because she wears a mask, even after I die repeatedly to save her people. That's really unfair, though not her fault. It’s the fault of the dumb sex-obsessed game designers. But I wouldn’t romance her—a euphemism taking her to bed—even if I were male Shepard.
In game two there’s Kelly Chambers. She’s a sweetheart. I like her and talk with her more than any other character because I have to ask her about the crew and stuff. Liara isn’t a crew member in game two, so in a way Kelly is my girl. I get close to her so that I can save her life in game three. But the game designers have her dirty dancing for Shepard at the end of the game. Really sick! I mean they equate sex with love. Obviously, they never watched Casablanca with Bogart and Bergman so don't know what love is. Of course, they’re Canadians so maybe they thought Americans wouldn’t buy the game if it didn’t have a little porn.
Dr. Ellis: So you watched Casablanca. That’s a pretty old movie.
Jake: One of Dad's favorites.
Dr. Ellis: Anyone else?
Jake: Perhaps the best is Shepard’s shuttle pilot Steve Cortez. He’s gay and really cool because he such a good, sensitive person. Totally devoted to Shepard’s safety. And because he’s gay he treats Shepard in the best way of all—pure friendship, perhaps the best expression of friendship in the game, friendship as love.
So I saw what Sky was getting at. A female Shepard reveals a feminine
relationship to people—humans and aliens—that brings out the best in everyone.
She spares Niftu Cal a chubby Volus who thinks he is a biotic god but is really
just high. My FemShep doesn’t get a kick out of seeing people getting hurt. Even
the Elusive Man can’t hate her as much as he would like to. Wow where did all
that come from?
Dr. Ellis: It came from you. I had no idea how complex the game is.
Jake:
It’s cosmic. You can see how it’s possible to live in the game.
Dr. Ellis: I do. You call the people in the game characters but they’re more than
that to you. They’re real people.
Jake:
Weird, huh.
Dr. Ellis: I don’t think so. Clearly, the game is very tolerant toward different
people, even strange looking aliens. Are there black characters?
Jake: Two. Jacob Taylor is a straight up soldier. A decent guy, sometimes a little too much by the book like his colleague Miranda. They’re a lot alike, and apparently had a thing way back when. He tends to be a little too gung-ho so is always playing the big hero and getting himself killed. Miranda does the same thing. It can be annoying, so you have to park them behind cover to keep them alive. I think he’s not popular with gamers because he gets all superior with Thane who’s one of the most likable characters in the story. And he wants to space the robot Legion. It’s an attitude you just don’t expect from a black dude. His colleague Miranda has the same attitude toward Jack and Shepard. Jack has it toward everyone. Maybe that makes them more realistic. But they all become lovable in game three, so in the end it don’t matter.
The other black guy is Captain
Anderson. He’s like a father figure for a female Shepard. I don’t see how that
would be the case with a male Shepard. Except at the beginning of game three he
doesn’t do any fighting. But to me he’s important. In three he
leads the resistance when the Collectors attack Earth. They ought to make a
game about that. It would have to have a brand new crew under Anderson. Could be a cool game. I might even buy an Xbox One to play that game. Maybe I
shouldn’t have said that.
Dr. Ellis: Not to your mother. But why do you play the game when the ending is so
unpleasant?
Jake:
I don’t like the ending but I think it’s realistic. Did you know that there are
about 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world today?
Dr. Ellis: I knew there were a lot, but not exactly how many.
Jake:
So there’s a good chance that Earth will end up like it does in the game. And
most of those weapons are in the hands of the evil dictators like those who control the prison states. That's what Dad calls Russia, North Korea, and China. And now the United States, which is becoming like them.
Dr. Ellis: Now we’re one of the bad guys?
Jake:
That what Dad said ever since Trump became Putin's puppet and his MAGA cult took over the country. He
says trump is known as Agent Krasnov in Russia.
Dr. Ellis: Yes, I’ve heard that rumor. Hopefully it’s untrue, though Trump does
seem to be the kind of man who would be easily bought.
Jake:
Wasn’t he bought by Elon Musk?
Dr. Ellis:
Apparently so, for a quarter of a billion dollars. And it looks like it was a
good investment for Musk but a bad one for America. But tell me, Jake, is there
someone like Trump in the game.
Jake:
Oh yeah. He’s called the Illusive Man. In the second part of the game he’s on
the side of the good guys who are fighting Harbinger's Collectors and other bad
guys like Husks,
Cannibals, Marauders, who I really hate, and Ravagers, badass Banshees, lots and
lots of bad guys. Just like today, I guess. The Illusive Man is all about
helping humanity against alien enemies, but then he flips and joins humanity’s
enemies and attacks the good guys who are fighting the evil aliens.
Dr. Ellis: How is President Trump like the Illusive Man?
Jake:
Like Dad said. He joined up with Putin against America and America’s allies. Dad
says he's a traitor. He joined Putin against the president of Ukraine...what’s
his name.
Dr. Ellis: President Zelensky.
Jake:
That’s him. He’s like Jesus trying to save his people and Trump is like Judas.
I mean like you said. You saw how Trump and his Brown Shirts bullied him in the
White House when he was just looking for help for his people.
Dr. Ellis: What do you mean by Brown Shirts?
Jake:
That’s what Dad calls MAGA cult bullies like the ones that attacked Capitol.
The Brown Shirts were Hitler’s Storm Troopers. Dad says that the MAGA cult and
their leader Trump is a Trojan horse. Do you know that story, Doctor?
Dr. Ellis: I do. Go on, Jake.
Jake:
They don’t love America. They hate it. They don’t want to make America great
but to destroy it and then replace it with a right-wing dictatorship like
Russia. Dad believes they have taken over and other politicians are too
cowardly to stand up to them. That’s why he wants to leave the country. Just
like his grandparents left Germany.
Dr. Ellis: Does he believe Trump would go after Jews?
Jake:
Trump goes after anyone who disagrees with him. So that’s not the reason. He
just doesn’t want to live in a country run by an evil dictator responsible for
thousands of deaths. He said that being part of evil makes you evil, but there’s
nothing he can do against the evil that has taken over the country except to
leave.
Dr. Ellis: I’m finding our discussion really interesting, Jake.
Jake:
Why’s that?
Dr. Ellis: I just do, especially the relationship between your playing the Mass Effect game and what’s going on in
the country and how your father feels. So your father isn’t afraid of the Trump
government because he might lose his job?
Jake:
He’s never said that. He doesn’t work for the government. He just doesn’t want
to live in a country he thinks has become evil by cutting off aid to poor and
sick people. Trump fires people and makes them poor then makes sure they can’t
get help from the government by disbanding organizations that help poor and
unemployed people. That seems pretty evil to me. And you know he stopped sharing intelligence
with the Ukrainians so thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers can’t
defend themselves from Putin’s drone and missile attacks. I mean that’s evil
don’t you think?
Dr. Ellis: Yes, I do.
Jake:
Dr. Ellis, are Putin and President Trump mentally sick?
Dr. Ellis: Psychologically I really can’t say. But both men are morally sick. They behave like narcissistic psychopaths.
Jake:
What’s a narcissistic psychopath?
Dr. Ellis: He's a person who is sadistic and lacks remorse for harming people. He lacks empathy
for others and often suffers from criminal tendencies. His ego is so immense that it leaves no room for love or compassion, which seems to describe
both men.
Jake:
Yeah, that does sound like Trump and Putin. I think they’re murderers.
Dr. Ellis: So in response to what is going on your father decided to leave the
United States and you fight evil in your video game.
Jake:
That’s about right.
Dr. Ellis: Tell me a little more about the character you play. I'm wondering if she is an alter ego.
Jake: What's that?
Dr. Ellis: Another expression of yourself.
Jake: You mean Shepard.
Dr. Ellis: If she's the character you play.
Jake: Alright. First of all, you can create your own character, male or female. Like I
said, a friend got me to try a female. I had played it as a male Shepard and
thought it pretty much like other shooters with male protagonists. Nothing
special for me. Really I shouldn’t be surprise that playing a female Shepard
caught on with me. Part of it was that I was given a choice. With most action
games about soldiers or cops your character is a guy. And I’ve played plenty of
those games. So creating a male super soldier wasn’t really a big deal to me,
but creating my own ass-kicking female super soldier was. Another thing is a gaming
friend had given me an old Xbox and a bunch of Resident Evil games. I had never played Resident Evil. He said I had to. Man was I hooked. They’re old
fashion but really creepy and scary if you play them in a dark room. I loved
them.
Dr. Ellis: Hold on a second. Who are the bad guys in those games?
Jake:
Monsters produced in military labs and the famous zombies. I thought Russia
must have a lab where it creates it soldiers.
Dr. Ellis: And you found being in such a world entertaining?
Jake:
In way. Like watching a horror movie but you’re in it.
Dr. Ellis: I don’t watch horror movies.
Jake:
My friend and I talked a lot about the Resident
Evil games. We concluded that they show the scary side of the world. Like
what we’ve been talking about. Of course the scary people in the world don’t
look like monsters but they are. And like in the Terminator movies they are the truly evil people who make monsters.
I mean isn’t the Russian soldiers in Ukraine killing anything that moves,
raping women and then killing them, kidnapping children, bombing homes and
hospitals, aren’t they monsters and isn’t Putin a monster-maker like Harbinger
and Illusive Man?
Dr. Ellis: Yes, they are monsters because they lack morality and enjoy hurting
people. But we were discussing why you chose your Mass Effect character to be a female.
Jake:
I was saying a gaming friend, probably my best friend, wanted me to play some Resident Evil games. They had some crazy
lovable chicks who could kick ass. If they didn’t, they were done because the
baddies in the Resident Evil games
are really bad. Anyway, my first girl was Jill Valentine. For whatever reason,
I was hooked on her. Don’t ask me why. It wasn’t sexual though. Yeah, she sexy
but video game chicks are always sexy. Same with movies. Have you seen any of
the Resident Evil movies?
Dr. Ellis: I haven’t, Jake. Apparently you and I live in different worlds.
Jake:
That’s okay. Anyway, the actress is super beautiful and from Kyiv, Ukraine. How
weird is that? That’s what Putin is destroying. But he doesn’t give a shit
about beauty because he makes everything ugly. So fat and ugly is okay for
monsters but not female heroes. Her name is Milla Jovovich. You see her naked
in the movie. She’s beautiful, but not sexy. I mean I don’t see her that way,
but I’m not a perve. She’s very cool and can have the sweetest smile when she’s
being nice like to a lost girl hiding from the monsters. Just like in Ukraine. Little
girls hiding from Putin’s monsters.
Dr. Ellis: I would like a little more about the Mass Effect character you play.
Jake:
In a way I play her but I don’t. I’m not Commander
Shepard. My job is to keep her alive. When you go on a mission there are three
characters. One you control. Your job is to kill the bad guys and keep your squadmates
alive. In some games you can change the character you control. So I’m not
really Commander Shepard, but I am part of the crew or squad. In a way I’m a
puppet master, but I don’t see my character as my puppet. Okay, you want to
know why I chose a FemSheprd. I suppose the big reason was Sky. What she said
was interesting, and I kind of like her. But I suppose appearance is another
reason. Like Jill Valentine she is more fun to look at than say Chris Redfield,
unless you’re a chick. In Mass Effect three there is James Vega. He’s cool, but I wouldn’t
want him as my main man. He’s muscle bound like Schwarzenegger. I would rather
play Lena Headey in Terminator: The Sarah
Connor Chronicles than Schwarzenegger. He’s impressive but she’s kind of
wonderful. I did play a Terminator game. Had no choice but to play the cyborg. Another good white guy for the second Mass
Effect is Kaidan Alenko. But I had him killed off in game one because he
came on to my femShepard and he’s lame compared to Ashley Williams. It was a
choice between him or her. Ashley can be a pain, but she’s loveable in her own
way.
Perhaps
the main thing is that I play what is called paragon rather than renegade. My
Shepard does the morally right thing whenever possible and wants to help people
and save lives. I did have her punch Han Gerrel a Quarian admiral for firing on a Geth ship while
Shepard and her mates were still on board. You just can’t be nice to some men. Sometimes
she’s a softy, and she’s better at that than a male Shepard would be. Or maybe
I just want a badass female to take on and defeat the
evildoers both human and alien for doing what evil men are doing today, hurting, killing, and
destroying. Women are helpless to prevent that except in video games. Tomb Raider is another great game where you play a female hero where the Russians are the bad guys. The leader Vladimir is
a monster of a man. Whoever named him must have been thinking about Putin. Russians always seem to be the bad guys in
video games. I can see why.
Knocking
at the door.
Dr.
Ellis goes to the door.
Jake’s
Mother: You’ve been talking a long time. Is Jake okay?
Dr. Ellis: Come in and take a seat. We have been talking a very long time. Jake is
a very interesting young man. And he’s fine. Your boy is just fine. I don’t
think you have to worry about his playing video games. He does so in a very
intelligent way. He told me that your family will be moving to Canada.
Jake’s Mother: Things are getting too crazy here. The government is so negative toward everything it seems motivated by hatred, hatred of government workers whose jobs are to help Americans, of course hatred Democrats, hatred of Mexicans, black people, and Asians, anyone who isn’t white unless they are Europeans because they hate them too. Trump and his followers want to conquer Canada and Greenland. I think that’s why they admire Putin, because he’s driven by hatred of Europe and wants to conquer them. I’ve lost faith in the American people who I once admired above all people. Yes, they had their flaws but were great in spite of them. And I thought America was progressing as a civilization. Then suddenly it all fell apart because of the MAGA cult. It’s like a disease that takes over people's minds. Turns them into monsters of negativity.
Dr. Ellis: So you decided to move?
Jake’s Mother: Yes. I want to get away from the hatred. I know Canadians aren’t filled with hatred. And I don’t Jake living here. It’s strange. We’re refugees leaving a country where refugees in the past came to escape persecution.
Dr. Ellis: But not all Americans are fans of Trump and his MAGA cult.
Jake’s Mother: Of course not. There are people like us, but we seem to be a minority. Before MAGA was Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and the WOKE cult. They all were filled with hatred. I don’t think there is much love left in the country. And after a Jewish leader of the Democratic Party sided with the Republican Party that supports a Nazi advising the president Jake’s father thought we'd be better off leaving. A French university offered him a job, but then he was offered a job in in Canada. I love France but don't speak French. And as you know Canadians speak both English and French. And we can visit family in New York City as long as Trump doesn't close the border.
Dr. Ellis: Jake and I have discussed that. And like you said, America is changing
but not in a good way. And that might be one reason Jake spends a lot of time
playing his video game. He said that once you’ve relocated to Canada he will
spend time getting to know the people and culture. And he loves the outdoors,
and there is plenty of that in Canada. I think Jake feels cut off for a fuller
life living in a suburb. So for now the video game allows Jake to escape the
confining nature of suburban life and perhaps from all the bad news he is
exposed to living in America.
Jake’s Mother: I understand that. Since that monster Trump became president America
has become hateful, violent, and unhappy. We are fortunate that we can leave.
So I shouldn’t worry about Jake spending so much time playing that game he
seems to love so much?
Dr. Ellis: No you don’t. It allows him to escape the bad news that’s everywhere in
the country. And so what he is doing is what the whole family will do once you
move to Canada.
Jake’s Mother: Should he see you again?
Dr. Ellis: As much as I enjoyed talking with Jake, he doesn’t need to see me again. Good luck in your new home.
Jake’s Mother: Thank you, Doctor.
Jake
getting up: Thanks, Dr. Ellis, it’s been great talking with you.
Jake
and his mother leave the office. Dr. Ellis sits back in his chair. To himself:
I guess I will be getting many more patients thanks to President Trump.
