This was a very challenging assignment for me. Not because of the technicalities and work that needed to be put into making the actual Twine game, but because of the subject matter. It took me awhile to find an issue that I not only felt very strongly about but something that I would be able to feasibly create a game about while helping the player to feel something. That last part, the emotion, ended up being harder than the research itself.
I decided that, in light of recent events, I wanted to create a brief but powerful game that would help others having trouble empathizing with the LGBTQ+ community to have that opportunity. The source I used most heavily was the YouTube channel of a high school friend of mine, Ashley (https://www.youtube.com/user/HeyThere005). She is a lesbian, and has a really popular channel that attempts to bring into the light a lot of things that remain in obscurity about LGBT relationships, and in turn very much humanizes the community. Some of her videos, especially "Dear girlfriend, will you," have really emotionally impacted me and helped me to feel something I didn't realize I had very little of - empathy. They are people just like us, even if they don't fit our straight Christian template. To me, this fits in very well with the TED talk from Chimamanda; if we only have our one story, our straight Christian story, we won't be getting the whole picture. Hearing the story from others in different backgrounds helps illuminate the big picture, and promotes empathy and understanding. This was what I strove to create in my short game.
Due to its nature of being a catalyst for this project, I was doing some research on the LDS policy change, and came across this article. Some great points about equality and inequality were made in the article, but foremost I was impressed by the quickness of the rally's organization. True, some people inexplicably hate protesters and will turn a blind eye to them, but this is toxic. These people gathered because they are people too and deserve our attention, not because they are somehow lesser for getting the short end of the stick and being genuinely upset about it. Wikipedia also turned out to be a great source for intel on this. There are obviously several prevailing theories and ideas about the nature of homosexuality, but what I kept coming back to as a read through this article was that non-straight people are just like me. You can use words like Oedipus, ego-dystonic, and disorder, but these are all just labels and attempts to categorize the uncategorizable - a deep spiritual and emotional connection that can be forged within many different types of sexuality. I struggled to find the appropriate time to reveal the homosexuality of the main character in my game, and ended up determining that the best time would be right after the player has made their decision, and assumes that they are straight (an assumption I make, as this is for a BYU class).
I feel as if the game is effective, particularly if a sad outcome is reached. If you get one, you will know, and you will hopefully empathize with those people who have experienced this marginalization and mistreatment in the past and even recent years. This is my ultimate goal - empathy for others we may not understand.
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