Sunday 23 June 2002

Pic of the day: Why choose? The number one bestselling game of the new millenium is about having all that you want.

Redefining family values

Well, that's what it says. The Sims on Holiday. (Vacation, in the USA. I think "holidays" means Christmas there. Or Xmas for those who don't like religious terms. Actually, I suspect the phrase "holidays" has caught on exactly because it doesn't give precedence to one religion over the others ... it seems that a lot of religions have some partying around winter solstice.)

Anyway, as I was saying, The Sims on Holiday. It's an add-on for the immensely popular game from Maxis, where you design your own little humans and the houses in which they live, and then play guardian angel (or demon, for those so inclined) with their simulated lives. While the game loads, it displays various technical sounding messages, some less technical sounding than others: "Hyperactivating children" and, as I just mentioned, "redefining family values". This phrase is introduced in the Holiday add-on pack, I think. But it can be argued that The Sims has been redefining family values right from the start.

***

But who defined "family values" in the first place? It is quite a common phrase, but I don't know who introduced it. It is almost certainly American, because I heard it from there for years before it caught on elsewhere – in so far as it has even caught on elsewhere. It is definitely not a biblical expression, and yet it seems to be favored by certain Christian groups. In its most negative aspect, it is simply an excuse to persecute people who don't live like the bourgeoisie. Anything from beard-kissing men down to kids who don't say grace, it all offends the family values of someone. Usually it offends people who are not affected by it at all except for the voices in their heads.

On the bright side, families sure are nifty. Most of us would probably not have been born at all if not for families, one way or another. We don't have to reach far into the past to find that being born out of wedlock was a major health risk, not to mention being an orphan. In fact, it still carries some penalties, typically to education and socialization.

It is often argued that the family is the building block of society. In a way, this is true. But what is a family? When I grew up, it was mom and dad and us kids, and grandma and grandpa. (And an uncle in the attic, but he didn't really count.) Jump a few generations further back, and the extended family is the rule. Uncles, aunts and cousins abound. The patriarch rules like a small king, holding on to his power (and the farm) until his grave is dug five foot deep. But as the industry needed labor, young men and women were lured away from the farm with the promise of earning their own living in the city. Well, the men went first; when they had money, they sent for their sweethearts. So we got the nuclear family: Dad goes to work and earns money, mom cooks and cleans, children go to school and are bored.

Nuclear fission changed the world; but the fission of the nuclear family changed our society again. Today, man and woman has each their own career. It is not necessarily in the same city, though the larger the city the better the chance. More often than not they work together with others of the opposite sex, and they realize that their spouse is not actually the godlike being they heard about in love songs. So often as not, they go their separate ways. Kids usually tag along with their mom if they are small, while bigger kids are more evenly distributed. So we get mom and stepdad and stepbrother and half-sister. Still, for most it is still better than being found on the doorstep.

In the most modern (or post-modern?) societies, people increasingly remain single all their life. That doesn't mean they don't have sex, or even the occasional child. They just don't live together. And the kids grow up with this. How do you teach them about family values? Well, you may give them The Sims. But then again, you may regret it.

***

In The Sims, polygamy of any kind is acceptable, as long as there's no more than 8 family members to each house. I don't recommend it, because adult Sims are quite jealous and you will have to be rather circumspect with your caresses and even compliments. (Then again, nobody said it was easy in real life either.) Both man and wife can have more than one spouse - at the same time. You cannot marry someone of your own gender, but you can make them fall in love with you and move in. The kids couldn't care less who is their parent (the first two are usually adopted anyway). Whoever leaves the house last gets to keep the kids. All the kids.

Good thing Sim kids don't grow up. There has been made third-party software that let them grow up, but then they would fall in love with each other and with their parents, unless you kept tabs on them manually. With families like that, who needs enemies?