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#like. thats how harry would be treated if he wasnt a REAL cop. thats how wed see him.
moodr1ng · 1 year
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rly insane how half the disco elysium fandom like.. completely fails at understanding even basic messaging of the game that even i got while being really bad at understanding themes lol. like yeah sure i relate hard to harrys mental health and substance use shit, and yeah, i think kim is fun and goofy, and i like their dynamic and also want to see on screen gay sex.
but like.. this is The Politics Game and half of the fanbase has taken from it exclusively "omg my blorbos meow meows babygirls" and seemingly failed to engage w the political text of the story. like ok if you came out of disco elysium and saw a man who is like.. at best 1 week sober from extreme substance abuse that has made him actively suicidal and threatening to others around him, who is desperately in need of actual, urgent help, AND who is a POLICE OFFICER, like, THEE person who absolutely should NOT be a cop, on top of, yknow, that, like, police are bad already??? a man who has canonically committed serious and traumatic police brutality due to this very instability and disregard for anyones safety and has continued to be allowed to occupy this position? and you get an ending in which his co-workers who have basically just been watching from the sidelines being like.. exasperated at him but not actually doing anything about the massive risk to himself and all these civilians safety just going "well, yknow, hes a good guy after all, and he hasnt been getting drunk and waving his police issued firearm at frightened civilians for a whole week, and he sure saw a bug, so, like, just come back to work man" and thought that was a satisfying and good ending...... after all the talk abt copaganda white ppl is the same
#disco elysium spoilers#de spoilers#and to be clear i dont think de is copaganda.#i think it fails in its clear attempt to depict the police as inherently morally bankrupt tools of power#bc it doesnt. just. let you stop being a cop.#like its undermined IMO by the fact that you cannot actually get an ending that would be good but its still treated like it is#but i think the rest of the game IS v critical of cops#which is why its insane that it seems to fly over ppls heads#i also dont think 'harry cant stop being a cop' is an inherent story flaw btw!#part of the tragedy of this story i think is ppl only give a shit abt harry bc he is a cop.#eg kim would not give harry the patience time compassion he shows him if harry was a regular civilian acting the way he does#being seen as worth helping in this critical episode is dependent on being a cop for harry#particularly venomously shown w pigs i think#like. thats how harry would be treated if he wasnt a REAL cop. thats how wed see him.#but anyway point is. being a cop may be literally inescapable in harrys pov bc he has no other point of reference for social worth anymore#however.#my issue is that its FRAMED as a fulfilling happy ending. not something he is stuck in. not an exercise in futility.#continuing to be police is not a tragedy or a cowardly attempt to remain socially worthwhile#its the good thing to do to heal and help others in the end.#which i think betrays not only reality. but also the messages of the game itself about police throughout#so yeah
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