Beyond the Competition
(A look at "Bang the Machine")
While some consider Street Fighter to be just a conventional form of entertainment, others acknowledge it to be much more. Throughout the country, from New York’s Chinatown Fair to Sunnyvale’s Golfland Arcade – players can be found diligently competing to win the respect and admiration among their peers. While money is certainly a factor too, (with major tournaments offer as much as $1,000), many remain dedicated to the growing phenomenon simply for the love of the game.
Speaking of which, there’s also a relative degree of sacrifice. Tamara Katepoo, producer of the new documentary observed that players “save their money from work or their allowances and they’ll travel all over America to compete in these tournaments.” One might wonder as to what fuels this unconditional love; after all – it’s just mashing buttons on a cabinet, right?
Well, hardly. At least, that’s what the producers aim to convey. Bang the Machine takes a look at several of the top Street Fighter players throughout the country who compete for a chance to battle against the Japanese national team for international respect.
While the film is based on a videogame, Bang the Machine also captures the relationships among the players, many of which can be likened to the pioneers of the community. The most familiar names include Alex Valle, John Choi, Mike Watson, David Sirlin, Jason “Apoc” Gonzales, and Eddie Lee. The film features a myriad of segments, briefly giving some “screen time” to some of the aforementioned players regarding their gaming roots or merely providing personal insight regarding the scope of competition. On the whole, the film dissects the sub-culture within the community and showcases the lifestyles of the players on and off the arcade. Contrary to what you might believe, they do have other interests in life.
Bang the Machine shifts back and forth throughout Sunnyvale, California, Las Vegas and finally Tokyo, Japan. Despite the brief smack-talking segment between Joey Cuellar and local Golfland players, the film captures some of the more disheartening aspects within the community.
“Richard Lowe, the film's co-producer and editor, said, "This intense competition that surrounds the game is involved in constructing this hierarchy amongst the group... they sort of construct this social order, if you will."
Bang the Machine doesn’t sugar-coat the fact that despite the community being united by a common interest, it’s rife with divisions and social disorder. For example, a scene towards the latter portion of the film shows a debate go down between players respectively from both coasts regarding a player spot for one of the featured games. Fortunately, a compromise is reached as the team makes a resolve to work together and represent their country with the highest integrity they can deliver.
The film does a solid job at capturing the relationships and among the players in the ever-growing Street Fighter community. Bang the Machine was featured at the South by Southwest Film Festival and most recently – the international SF Championships, Evolution 2002. For more information, visit the following websites:
http://www.bangthemachine.com
http://www.shoryuken.com
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