What is Weird and Funny Art?
I haven't played the Mother series...
Recently, I posted that I’d never played the Mother series, despite people often assuming I had:
First off, I am genuinely curious if there are specific areas/characters/plots/etc that make people think this (as opposed to simply “vibes”). Feel free to comment below if you know the secrets. Incidentally, I also haven’t seen much David Lynch stuff, but that is a discussion for another day haha…
I’m not above referencing stuff or being inspired by games of course! When I began writing Anodyne 1, riffing on Link’s Awakening quotes was like… pushing off the ground to gain momentum on a bicycle. The extent of that riffing feels pretty wacky to me in retrospect, in the sense that it’s hard to imagine doing something like that now. But I think it suits Anodyne 1.
Anyway, it is odd to me that the Mother games are treated as a sort of “patient zero” for games being funny and weird. Games have always been funny and weird! For better and for worse, being goofy, meta, and lampshadey is one of the most approachable ways to make art for aficianados of any form. In Stephen Sondheim’s annotated lyrics tome Finishing the Hat, I remember him bemoaning the tendency for novice librettists to spend more time goofing on “their betters” (I’m pretty sure he actually used this phrase… amazing) than simply working straightforwardly on their craft.
I’m also reminded of a quote that I can’t remember the source of. It was a musician saying that if you want to learn to play like your idols, you can’t just listen to them. You need to listen to who they listened to.
Purpose and Depth
Even if I had played Mother, I don’t think that you necessarily make a game that is good in interesting ways by trying to “do Mother”, so to speak. The best weirdness and humor has purpose and depth, rather than existing to achieve an aesthetic or provoke an exact reaction. You want to convey something, share something. You are giving someone a present. You can wrap it up nice, to make them feel special in the moment, but ultimately there is a something inside, and that something is what they take forward into their life, in a way that you have no control over.
To use a different metaphor that I’ve been dwelling on lately: if you make art primarily to capture An Aesthetic, it’s like trying to cook with pre-digested food. For example, my current WIP, Angeline Era (Wishlist Today!!!), is set in an alternate history 1950s. It’s been complicated to visually design, because “the 50s” feel totally digested as an aesthetic. When you try to research, you see the same old iconic flourishes that have become overexposed within 50s pastiche. The wave of nostalgia hits quick, then just as quickly passes through your system. Of course, to have actually lived in the 50s was not an aesthetic, but rather an overlapping, self-contradictory, and unfathomably vast field of visual information. Part of how I’m trying to ground Angeline Era is by leaning into my own personal memories of objects owned by my grandparents and great grandparents. This is not to say that pastiche is “bad”, but it’s worth thinking about what kind of “ingredients” you are leaving for future generations. Mixing in less-digested ingredients will demand more chewing from the audience, and that is delicious and nourishing! This advice is mainly geared towards people slightly older or non-beginners.
James the Bear
Lets do a case study with an iconic NPC from Anodyne 1. James is simply bear who stands in the woods. The following is James’ basic dialogue:
James: Berries are a good kind of food. I like berries
James: Please make sure not to defecate on the berries.
James: So far I have had sexual intercourse 18 times this season. Also, I have eaten 389 pawfuls of berries.
James: Do you have any berries for James?
James is based on a simple concept: that knowing animals “thoughts” would probably be kind of jarring. But it still allows for people to have a wide range of reactions to James. Some people find James funny in a relatable/endearing way. Other people find him funny as shock value or enjoy posting about him in a shocked way. Still others find him kind of upsetting or think that the game is using “cheap” gross out or shock tactics. “Weirdness for weirdness’ sake”.
When I think about James, I think it’s nice if the player can have an experience of “funny” with James. In fact, I would say that the lines are written with comedic timing in mind. But emotionally, I am sincere. James doesn’t think he is being funny or weird, and certainly not disgusting! With nearly every NPC I am trying to convey at least a tiny bit of something that I really care about, even when it’s mostly just a one-liner or a reference.
People temper the strangeness of reality by projecting stories onto the world around them. Most of the “weirdest” parts of Anodyne 2 are literally the most “realistic”!
Outro
I’ve had to do some soul-searching about the place of humor in Angeline Era. Firstly, it covers some sensitive topics and previous drafts leaned in a more “realistic” direction. Secondly, I have just not felt that funny recently. But lately the narrative tone has really been hitting its stride! There’s textual humor, but I’m also excited that we’re going harder on visual and design slapstick than we ever have in the past. What is "design slapstick”? Well… in the same way that level design can sort of “talk to you” to indicate a secret passage or something… it can also tell “a joke”. There are many kinds of humor and this post only explores a little corner.
So what do you think it is to make weird and funny art?
i'm so excited for future installments of this newsletter! lots of astute insights all around (love the sondheim shoutout too!). what you wrote about how nostalgia flattens memory into pastiche was especially salient.
on the topic of weird and funny art: i think the reason cultural juggernauts like mother and the works of david lynch get classified as the "patient zeros" of "weird art" is because they're some of the most prominent examples of works that subvert conventions held within their respective form. i think it's this approach itself that causes audiences to associate mother with games that barely resemble it in mechanics, aesthetics, or overall presentation -- it's an appreciation for the magically real, whatever form that might take. in this sense, "weird" in this context is almost like the word "queer"; it's defined by the negative space around a dominant system or set of ideals, not necessarily restricted to distinct and rigid criteria.
for what it's worth, though, none of your games feel particularly derivative of anything, and i wouldn't have thought to relate them to mother or david lynch myself. in reality, all the vitamin d-deficient freaks out there (like myself) know that the best pieces of "weird art" are nearly impossible to describe in any terms besides the terms set by the work itself, making for deeply intimate and personal connections between the art and the audiences for whom they most resonate.
that's certainly how i felt playing anodyne 2 -- as ravenous weirdo art-likers, we find the holes that were made for us and then we don't look back!
Nice to see these posts. I had a longer comment but I'll just say I look forward to more in the future. I didn't play Mother either even though I have them loaded on GBA carts.
It is interesting to see the dichotomy between the extremely analytical nature of a developer like yourself and a simple consumer. I've never made a game (besides a text adventure in Texas Instruments BASIC over a decade ago), I am considering dabbling in the "art" after playing such cooll games as Sephonie, Anodyne & many other indie devs games, but I sort of like to abstract away a lot of these thoughts and let the experience wash over me.
My favorite game humor is in Kingdom of Loathing or some increpare games