Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Starter Kit

I was having a conversation with a friend on what people need to know before they start roleplaying in Gor. She insisted that reading of the books is mandatory since that's the only way to properly understand the environment. As always, I call bullshit. Not only is the source text impenetrable (read: boring), but many people don't have fabulous reading comprehension. One person can read the books and decide that slavery is inherently romantic and erotic. Another can read the same text and conclude that slavery is dreary, extremely depressing and completely hopeless. These are diametrically opposed viewpoints and are both plausible interpretations (I tend to fall into the second camp, but there's no denying that the concept of slavery as portrayed by the books is hopelessly optimistic).

So, this begs the question: what materials would I suggest a noob read/look into before learning Gor?

Well, here's my suggested source material for someone learning how to be a warrior:

Goodfellas: The caste system works essentially like a mafia organization. So long as you pledge loyalty to your caste and follow the rules (written, like "no snitching," and unwritten, like "no fucking any wives, girlfriends or ex-girlfriends of anyone in the family), you can do anything you want and the caste will back you up. Break the rules or loyalty...and you'll end up like Tommy. There are no second chances or lesser punishments. Play the game the right way and you get rewarded. Step out of line and you get whacked. It's that simple.

The Wire (Seasons 1-3 in particular): The game is the game. You can do anything you want to anyone within the game, so long as you respect the rules of the game (like the truce on Sundays). Civilians outside of the games are treated with respect, anything can happen within the game and no one will get mad. The only thing to remember is that everyone has their role and everyone has to stay within that role. The king is the king; the pawns are the pawns. And that's how it is.

Klingon Empire (video relevance from 7:12 onward): Honor has nothing to do with morality but is simply the word used to describe physical prowess and a particular attitude towards combat. An honorable man is one who is self-sufficient and successful in combat, not someone who believes and adheres to some altruistic identity. But, as the video points out, honor used in this way is also completely malleable. A warrior beyond everything else, is concerned about being perceived as honorable. And because of this inherent desire to seem strong and infallible, he can essentially be manipulated to do anything.

Personally, I think that's about all you need to know to really understand the Gorean warrior: he's a cross between a mafioso and a Klingon. That would mean the essential characteristics of the stereotypical Gorean warrior are:
  • Someone in peak physical condition who is well versed in fighting
  • Someone who prefers hand-to-hand physical combat that emphasizes strength and brutality over agility and swiftness.
  • Someone who is well accomplished in battle (i.e., killed a lot of men and/or risked death to make some heroic gesture like defend a hopeless position or recklessly endanger his own life to save the lives of others)
  • Someone who would rather fight to the death than retreat or surrender
  • Someone who never snitches or betrays anyone in his family (be it his personal blood relatives or anyone in his caste). Or if he betrays someone, he is a) successful and b) has enough political influence to avoid being punished for it
  • Doesn't try to punish or kill anyone outside the "game." That means, he carries a big stick but never willingly uses it against a civilian unless he absolutely has to. However, he will have little to no patience to anyone inside the game. So if another warrior pisses him off, he'll draw his sword before trying to resolve the issue through words
  • Someone who willingly plays the pawn (since this person will be a new character, he will be a grunt in the army, not a well respected officer). That means that the pawn pledges loyalty to his superiors and does everything that is asked of him...no questions.
There are probably a lot of nuances that have not been covered, but I think that about covers the larger issues: someone who is head strong, has no principles except what is told to him, is exceedingly loyal, never questions authority, and excessively violent.

And I am able to demonstrate all those lessons using Youtube clips, rather than having someone hunt and peck through 20+ books to glean a phrase here and there. I think the level of comprehension is about the same.

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