THE FADER - FILM ISSUE - ISSUE 41 - OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006
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Darkon is part of a growing microgenre in film: the dorkumentary. Joining the ranks of Trekkies and Wordplay, Darkon focuses on Live Action Role-Playing, a human-to-human version of Dungeons & Dragons. Named after the fictional country where the participants of one LARPing society create their mythology (actually a forest outside of Baltimore), directors Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel capture battles with bravado and home lives with a quiet sensitivity.
The point of other documentaries is that the socially awkward create these communities to be who they can't be in real life, but in Darkon the players tow their personalities across the line dividing real and fantasy worlds. "Most people assume that role-playing is an activity that people take up as a result of not being able to deal with the world," says MEYER.
"What is often overlooked is that they do what they want to without caring what judgments other people put on them. It's indifference to what is considered normal." - Eric Ducker
