Even now as I write this the urge to play the new Elder Scrolls VI: Skyrim is very strong. Here recently though I had a discussion with a friend about vicarious living and unlike myself, my friend is not a very big advocate of playing video games and claims that they cause people to live their lives vicariously through a digital simulation rather than actually living their lives. For a long time, I would have disagreed and said that as long as you moderate your time then what’s wrong with playing video games? They are just another source of entertainment right? What it really took was my friend’s words, and what I was doing in the game Skyrim that made me realize that I was in all honesty wasting my time playing a video game.

In Skyrim I was doing everything that I normally could do in real life. Though you start off in the executioners block where you’re about to get your head chopped off, events occur in the game that end up granting you freedom in the game to do whatever you want to do. In Skyrim you are free too: wander the world, mess around with weapons and armor, go to a college to learn magic, you can be a blacksmith, practice alchemy, or even join a military resistance.

What among all of this stuff can you not do in our own lives? Granted we can’t kill dragons or shoot lightning out our fingertips—at least not without less than desirable results. Still what’s to stop a person from learning a blacksmithing trade or something similar? Why can’t you go to college and learn something with just as much mystery as the arcane arts? Why can’t we travel our own world?

I realized I was living vicariously when I was doing everything in Skyrim that I wanted to do in real life. I bought a house, I learned to use a sword, I saw unique places and creatures, I was skilled with a bow, and I would decorate my in-game home. I’m sure that if I could write notes on what I've learned and books about my adventures as an Imperial Battlemage then I’m sure I would, but the reality of it is that Skyrim is still only a game and will never be real.

In my real life, I have long desired to own my own home. I have recently been looking into archery, fencing, and martial arts classes. I attend a gym in hopes of reaching a sense of athleticism, perhaps similar to the level of my Skyrim character. In my small little corner I have tons of books which I keep shelved and easy to access. My life’s ambition is to be a writer and every day I write down my thoughts as I meditate on the discoveries I have made in my own life, and to be quite honest it is a very fulfilling venture.

There is a concept that I remember from my days in economics courses called opportunity cost which means what else could have been done in place of a certain activity is the opportunity cost of the activity that you are preforming. Since the majority of games are spent sitting down for several hours over time our health declines due to lack of exercise, sleep, and social interaction. Think of the time a person spends in a video game perfecting a certain skill; say the skill they were learning was alchemy? In that same amount of time could you not study pharmaceuticals, how to mix a certain drink, or cook a new dish? Why would you spend time learning a skill you wanted to learn falsely instead of actually learning the skill in reality?

Video games are a source of entertainment, but it is very easy to get addicted to it just as one can get addicted to watching TV or surfing the internet. Like the effects of drugs and alcohol, sources of entertainment have no lasting value beyond making you feel good temporarily. Eventually the entertainment factor wears off, and you have to go buy the newest thing or start over to get that feel good feeling. Eventually I would become bored of my Imperial Battlemage and return to my virtual life as a Commander in Earth’s Space forces and the one human Spectre agent in the entire galaxy. After that I would probably once don my Mjonlir armor and awake in the vastness of unknown space to fight a new enemy.

When you spend too much time in video game you being to live vicariously through them instead of actually living your own life, and you end up in a never ending cycle of lives that are not real and have no real meaning to life. What should we do then, I say to those of us who feel as I have, and even some who don’t? As human beings we always have a choice; we have a sort of red pill/blue pill scenario. Do we continue things as they are and hope for something that might actually come by living vicariously through a digital life simulation or do we try to discover the potential of the unknown world around us? Regardless of the choice that is made, you should be aware that in our real lives we cannot load our last save.

(Note: An old blog I made, and brought over to Comic Vine for my friends and anyone willing to read.)

Lena Headey’s performance as Queen Gorgo in Zach Snyder’s 300 has to be one of the strongest depictions of a female character since Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor in Terminator II. Ironically, Heady has also played as Sarah Connor in the FOX TV series “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. What makes Heady stand out the most though is her depiction of the Spartan Queen that sets a precedent for what a strong female character should be in a film, or any form of media for that matter.

Headey, as Queen Gorgo, commands the screen from her earliest appearance in 300 by speaking in a confident, and somewhat arrogant manner to a Persian messenger that asks: “who is this woman that thinks she can speak amongst men?” Her reply to him was: "Only Spartan women give birth to real men." It was not arrogance for the sake of showing importance because she is Queen, but merely letting her voice be heard, being clear to an offender where she stands, and that she is not going to back down. Even towards her own husband she makes clear that she is not intimidated by the societal importance of men by telling her husband--after he receives news that he is not to march against the approaching Persian army--that the only woman’s words that should be able to make her husband lose sleep are her own. This was not a ploy to suggest that she has control over her husband, but a clear and concise point that she is confident enough in him to know that he will make the proper decision, even if she has to give him a little…encouragement.

It is through Queen Gorgo’s love and respect for her husband that will guide her in her own decisions in the next several scenes of the movie. After Leonidas leaves with his 300 soldiers to hold the Persian army back at the Hot Gates, Gorgo does her part by trying to send her husband reinforcements by appealing to the Spartan council; however, she is met with opposition via a corrupted politician named Theron. She is not afraid to speak before the council, but it is Theron that will stand against her by demeaning her voice on political matters because she is a woman, emphasize further that Leonidas had broken Spartan law, and that he should not be supported in his actions. Gorgo must win over Theron’s cooperation in order to dissuade the senate, but Theron’s corruption knows no bounds as he refuses to help her because of his own personal begrudgery of the king. Theron furthers his treachery by forcing the queen to submit herself to him sexually in order to gain his support in her appeal to the council.

Gorgo is raped by Theron, but she does not let herself be victimized by him. When she submitted to Theron’s tyranny it was a sacrifice of her dignity, honor, and credibility. Why did she sacrifice all this though to this pathetic excuse of a man? It wasn’t just because she hoped to save her husband, not just to protect her children from Xerxes army, but to protect Sparta and its citizens from being enslaved. Like all of mankind should, Gorgo was ready and willing to sacrifice herself for what is truly important to her. In Gorgo’s case it was the duty, honor, and glory of Sparta that was most important to her, and for the modern day woman that could be ensuring that her children are provided for, the safety of her family, or serving her country. Is she a victim when this happens though? No, in fact she is a hero because she has sacrificed herself for a higher calling. The only way a woman--or anyone for that matter-- to become a victim is to be taken advantage of and not retaliate against the oppressor.

Gorgo came very close to being victimized though when Theron went back on his word turned against her by humiliating her in front of the council by blatantly lying. Had Gorgo done nothing and walked out of that chamber she would have been a victim, but she did not. Instead, Gorgo grabbed the sword of a nearby guard, impaled the treacherous Theron on her sword, and echoed back the words to him that he had said to her while he raped her. Upon doing this Gorgo took back her dignity from an evil man that tried to destroy and humiliate her. When Theron died a purse of Persian gold was found on him and he was exposed as a traitor to Sparta. In a modern day setting the symbolism of that would be the equivalent of a rapist being convicted of the crime of rape and thrown in prison. In modern day society though, not all rape cases go in favor of the one who was raped.

Here recently I was in a discussion on the topic of representation in sexual assault cases. During our discussion Jamie Leigh Jones lawsuit against KBR and Halliburton happened to be brought up. In 2007 Jamie Leigh Jones claimed that she had been locked in a storage container, repeatedly raped for several days, and was told that if she didn’t submit she would be fired and lose all likely hood of getting rehired in her field. Jamie took the corporation to court for covering up her rape, but she lost her case due to some loopholes in her statement and past actions before the rape that was used to discredit her. Is Jamie still a victim though? Yes and no, a horrendous crime was done against her, and she did not receive justice for it, but like Queen Gorgo she fought against her oppression. Jamie got her dignity back, maybe not in the eyes of society, but at least for herself because she did not let herself be victimized by not doing anything against those who had oppressed her.

In one movie, through one character, Lena Heady brings the core values of a strong courageous woman to the screen. A character like Headey’s Queen Gorgo is a character I would personally like to see more of and more like. As I stated earlier in the article though, I have not seen as strong depiction of a female character as Queen Gorgo is since Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor in Terminator II, so that leads me to ask just how many strongly defined female characters are there in movies that have been filmed over the history of film? Which ones should we pay attention to, and which ones should we not. In truth there have been many like Queen Gorgo in film and television for a long time, we only have to look in the right place in order to find them, and who knows maybe we can learn something from these women as well.

I've noticed a trend going on here lately with DC Comics New 52. That trend is a cast of female characters who have had troubled pasts where they have been horribly wronged. It's not exactly a new trend, but within early issues of the New 52 I've noticed it's an issue that has been pushed to the forefront. Women being wronged is not breaking news. It's happened several times: Reed Richards abusive treatment of his wife to the rape of Sue Dibny all the way up to Bleez being tortured by members of the Sinestro Corps.

During flashback moments where their past is revealed we see these women as weak and frail victims. In Catwoman #1 we saw Selina have a flashback where she watched her friend being brutally beaten by her pimp while she cowered in a corner unable to do anything. Years later she finds this man and brutally beats him in a bathroom stall, managing to claw out one of his eyes. She doesn't stop there though. By the next issue she manipulates a situation where Renald gets into a gun fight and she grins in a maniacally happy manner as he is gunned down in front of her.

These women are turned into instruments of vengeance. Bleez, who was once known on Havania for her famed beauty and her lacking respect for any who dared suit her, watched as her mother was murdered in front of her, was enslaved by the Sinestro Corps Member of Sector 465, and repeatedly raped and tortured before she attempted to take her own life a few years later. Though her vengeance against the Yellow Lantern of Sector 465 was enacted as soon as she was chosen by her Red Lantern ring, she was a mindless beast consumed by her rage until here recently. In Red Lanterns #3 Atrocitus had her intelligence returned to her where she remembered clearly the reason behind her rage.

Their methods become cunning, brutal, and remorseless. Both Catwoman and Bleez carried out their revenge in a different manner. Selina manipulated the gunfight between Renald and the mob, by throwing a firecracker in their midst while they were engaged in a heated argument. It wasn't until after that that the bloody shoot out was commenced. Bleez beheaded Count Liib right in front of Baron Ghazz, and intended to spare Ghazz so that he might live in fear of her returning to finish him off; however, Atrocitus did not allow Bleez to carry out her method of remorseless torture and finished Ghazz off himself saying she needed to be more pitiless, but Bleez replied to Atrocitus in a cool manner that her method was far more pitiless.

The saying goes that: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Selina was once a frightened little girl probably taken advantage of sexually by stangers everyday, but she became a fearless thief that is not only able to not bat an eye at the death of a man like Renald, but is also able to seduce Batman (and quite easily I might add). Bleez was a beautiful woman who probably wanted someone to love her for just more than her looks, but instead she was tortured, humiliated, and had freedom taken from her. Though at first she was turned into a beast of rage due to the Red Lantern ring's controlling factor, she was enlightened through Atrocitus actions, and now even Atrocitus himself has said that he must be very careful of her. A scorned woman is truly dangerous. She is not only dangerous to others, but herself as well. Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned, because even if she is consumed by it she will still burn the world down around her.