Love Child

[Primetimer]

Sarah runs the numbers on a doc that explores gaming addiction's role in the death of an infant. Proceed with caution.

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[Omar G.]

I read that the filmmaker did interview the couple but chose not to use the footage because... the translation was bad or she didn't get what she wanted out of that interview due to bad communication? That screams red flag to me, but of what I'm not exactly sure.

http://kotaku.com/the-story-of-a-couple-who-played-video-games-while-thei-1611995782

I agree, the visiting room would make a pretty wrenching documentary on its own.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Ooh, yeah. They weren't "very good characters"? I'm not that attached to the documentarian as objective information-gatherer, but if they're not in the film, my assumption is that they couldn't or wouldn't be, not that Veatch left them out because they were dull/not insightful as to their own motivations. Which, what insight could you have about leaving a 3mo alone with a bottle of ROTTEN MILK that would really explain anything.

[Kat]

I watched the last 30 min of this last night and kind of wished I hadn't. I was just so infuriated with everyone and everything.

[eteffi]

Obviously I am recording this when it plays tonight, even though I am still not even remotely over the horror and shock of Dear Zachary. I like a good masochistically depressing HBO documentary!

[panthergirl13]

I'm the parent of a 19 year old son and can officially (and depressingly) state that gaming addiction is a real thing. There's no way I can watch this film.

[bethy]

Even with an "addiction" their sentences make no sense to me. One year and no time at all? If an alcoholic or a meth addict had done the same thing, I can't imagine they'd get off so easily. A baby DIED.

[marny]

I found this doc so incredibly boring that I turned it off about 45 minutes in and just read the Wikipedia entry to find out the couple's punishments. All the unnecessary clips of kids playing and scenes from the game were just so tedious, and added nothing to the story.

[iwasish]

I found it very upsetting that the wife is pregnant again. I hope the authorities keep an eye on them once the second baby is born. What if they relapse back into gaming? Poor little babies - both the little girl that died and the new one on the way. They said these people don't know how to take care of a baby even without the gaming. Why would she get pregnant again?

Why? I wonder how, with the obsession with gaming when did they get around to sex?

[ZaldamoWilder]

Why? I wonder how, with the obsession with gaming when did they get around to sex?

 

Not only this, but these people managed to wash, feed themselves non rotten food, go to the gaming center (I don't even want to figure out how they funded this habit) and navigate the commute associated with it.   See if you can take of yourselves inside this madness, fuck your "addiction", you can remember to give a child up for adoption.   Hell even crackheads know to drop a baby off at a precinct if they can't do it anymore. Don't know when I've ever been so enraged by complete strangers. 

[beesknees]

For seven years I was an ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language) at several Korean universities. I lived in the city (Suwon, Korea, pop. 100K - about 2 hrs. outside Seoul) where this tragedy took place (but not when it took place - I lived there prior).

 

I cannot tell you how many times my university students missed 2,3 days of class in a row because they were up for 48 or 72 hrs. straight (no joke!) in the "PC Bang" (pronounced Bong / meaning room) playing those effing "role-playing" computer games. It is a real problem in Korea.  Almost epidemic.  Those PC rooms are open 24/7, very cheap (you pay per hour), some serve alcohol, etc.  Almost 100% of the time when students would be virtually passed out in class it was not from studying the night before (pulling an all-nighter) but from sheer exhaustion due to marathon gaming sessions.

 

It doesn't matter what time of day or night one frequents them, the PC Rooms are always packed and there is an internet café on every freaking corner.  Ages ranged from elementary school children to adults (mostly males).  Koreans as a whole are highly stressed.  There is a tremendous amount of pressure to excel and conform.  Saturday is a regular work/school day.  Many employees that work for large corporations in Korea only get off two Sundays per month.  Virtual gaming is a way to blow off stress and escape.

 

I know Japan is the same.  I lived in Tokyo for a couple of years. 

Edited September 27, 2015 by beesknees