A deviation from my usual "I Don't Get It"-themed posts, finally something I get. I heard about people playing Angry Birds for quite a while before I actually saw the game myself. To me it seemed like one more of those trends that would catch on, it would seem like everyone was talking about it and participating in it but me. Kind of like scrapbooking or the whole Twilight thing, which I just never got into.
Right around the time I was due to have a baby, my phone started flipping out. Battery drains, dropped calls, turning off by itself, etc. This would not do. Phones need to work when you're going to have a baby any minute. So, new phone. With Angry Birds on it.
Jeremy started playing first, and was hooked like a crack addict within the first day. He's not one to engage in much fluff entertainment, so this was weird to me. The kids played. They cheered, yelled at the phone, growled and screamed "YES!!" and I wondered what all the fuss was about.
Soon after baby arrived, I found myself sitting holding him, exhausted, trying to get him to sleep. I also found I could hold my phone and have a look at Angry Birds with my free hand. And, turns out I could fling some unsuspecting birds with that free hand. Soon things were cracking, crashing to the ground, blowing up, and pigs were disintegrating into thin air. This is AWESOME, I thought! I didn't know how badly I had been wanting to blow something up until I was doing it.
I shouldn't have been so surprised since I do have a side to me that likes a bit of chaos and mayhem, mostly the kind I can walk away from, and that somebody else cleans up. I've long thought that as an actor, I'd be the only one whose career consisted exclusively of period films (Jane Austen or some castles, anyone?) and action films (guns, running, chase scenes, and yes, blowing stuff up) if I had my way.
So maybe flinging birds at structures and pigs isn't quite the same, but there is a certain satisfaction to obliterating everything that was on a screen, level after level. I'm not hooked. I sometimes see birds when my eyes are closed, trying to go to sleep, but I'm not hooked. This game is not enriching my life or making me a better person, but if I'm going to yell at something, better some green pig in a helmet than my kids, right?
Angry Birds. I get it.
2 comments:
I could use that kind of therapy right about now.
One of David's co-workers was selling an Apple Tablet at a bargain and David was trying to talk me into wanting it. He showed me some geek features and then said "It's got Angry Birds!" while pulling up a colorful level.
Knowing how addicted my friends are to that game, I told him to put the Tablet away right there and then and I denied the purchase. I know my limits. :)
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