Latest / The Autistic Mile / The Ideal-ist: Episode 16 (Compton Boole)
Transcript
- Shane: Hello everyone, welcome to the Autistic Mile. My name is Shane Gaffney, and this is episode 16 of The Ideal-ist. Today, we'll be talking about the character of Compton Boole from the Psychonauts series, specifically Psychonauts 2. And Psychonauts is a series that is definitely weird from the outside looking in, has a very peculiar art style, and it can certainly appear very unorthodox in several places. However, if you can get past that, it's actually a very interesting series that expertly tackles the subject of psychology, obviously, and various real world psychological issues. Not necessarily mental illnesses, although there are a lot of cases where it is, but various struggles that people go through throughout their lives. Everything from the ordinary to the more severe and he goes all about this in a very tasteful and well-educated educated way. And what I mean by that is that every level in this game takes place in the mind of a different person. And the way the level is designed, how it plays out, and all the various mechanics within said level, it's all thoughtfully designed to reflect whatever issue or way of thinking that the person is dealing with. Everything from a guy dealing with paranoid delusions, to a man suffering from multiple personality disorder, and even things as simple as being insecure about how your parents feel about you. And in the case of Compton Boole, he is the guy that I found the most relatable out of all the various characters that these levels are based on. With Compton, his issue is social anxiety. And I imagine that's something a lot of people on the spectrum deal with. I know I certainly do. Not everyone, but some of us. And an important distinction to get at is that social anxiety is different from introversion. I happen to also be an introvert, but social anxiety is less not wanting to hang out with people and more that you can't because being around people causes too much stress. And in the case of Compton, it really takes the form of a game show run by sock puppet versions of his friends, which are all goats for some reason. Though the reason for that is that it's a cooking game show and contrary to popular belief, goats are actually very picky eaters. So that is an example of one of the small details that a lot of people might miss when they're playing through the game, but helps to really build that connection of this is how this person operates. And with Compton, his issues carry a bit of extra weight compared to the normal individual in that He has a nervous tick in the form of a psychic ability that he possesses called "blastokenesis", which, if you can't tell from the name, involves blowing things up with his mind. Long ago when he was a young adult, I believe. It never gives us a specific age, but being a big fan of animals he found a bunch of pets that were being kept in cages, and so, being the good guy that he is, he decided to let them all free. And all the pets were so excited by being released that they cuddled on top of him all at once, which ended up sending him into an overwhelmed panic and causing him to accidentally blow up all the animals around him, thus leading to him being imprisoned because of that accidental crime. Later being bailed out by Ford Kruller. who would go on to become his friend and his personal idol. Which is why, out of all the sock puppets in his mental world, Ford is the most judgmental and cruel out of the lot of them. From Compton's perspective, he didn't really do anything to earn his position as part of the Psychic Six which Ford happened to be the head of. sure, he has great talent, and he's very good at communicating with animals with his mind. But Compton has low self esteem and so he's not really able to see the value in that. And after his friend Cassie ends up leaving him due to her own psychological issues, he's left to just sit there with this overall feeling of disappointment in himself and he projects those feelings of worthlessness onto everyone else. In his mind, no matter how good Compton does at the game show, providing excellent dishes to the judges, they always respond with a backhanded compliment or some kind of subtle insult. And none of this is how his friends actually behave in real life. It's simply his own fears and insecurities being masked on top of them. And that's the job you're given as the protagonist, Raz: you have to help Compton work through this game show and develop the confidence in himself that he clearly lacks. eventually culminating in him realizing that these sock puppet judges are not real, which is to say, not an accurate representation of what the people around him think. In fact, it's revealed that all three of these sock puppet judges, which have been spending the entire level criticizing and insulting him, were just sock puppets that were being controlled by Compton's own hand all along without him knowing. And that is perhaps on the nose, but an excellent metaphor. for how Now a lot of people will play this game and this level specifically, and they'll probably just see it as just a bunch of wackiness and entertainment, and that's perfectly fine. But that's what I like about this series. It's nice and broadly appealing on the surface, but if you're willing to extend the effort to look a little deeper and really analyze the finer details, you start to realize just how much love and care was put into portraying these issues with empathy and understanding. And that's exactly what therapy is all about, even though this is obviously a game that's purely for entertainment purposes. In a sense, what Raz does with each of these levels is a form of therapy. Just more abstract and symbolic. And what's especially lovely about all these levels and characters is that the game goes to great lengths to show you it's not their fault that they ended up this way or dealing with these particular hang-ups. ups. It's simply that circumstance didn't pan out the way it should, and they just had to deal with it however, felt most natural. And that's a perspective I feel everyone on the spectrum can agree is desirable to witness in others, but also it's a good mindset to have personally. Everyone has their own story and sure, some people are just the way they are because they make choices to be that way. But often you'll find with the majority of people they act the way they do because that's how they've been conditioned to think they should act for one reason or another. It's never about the "what", but the "why". That's a very important thing to remember for anyone going into the psychological profession, or really anyone who just wants to better understand how people work in general. Sadly I've never gotten the chance to play this game myself or its sequel because I don't own any of the platforms that these games are on. But even as just a passive spectator, I really enjoy these games. And it's become one of my favorite things to look into through YouTube. There's a lot of layers and intricate details that are fun to look through, a lot of which you'll often miss on your first time playing through these levels. And so there's really this sense that there always be more to discover to keep you coming back through more. But that's about all I have to say about Compton. Obviously, after Raz helps him. to manage his social anxiety he ends up reuniting with his friends and generally obtaining a happy turnout. That much is not very surprising. But still all the same, it is appreciated. And for anyone who deals with similar issues or issues that are touched upon in this series, it's important to know that often these things happen as a defense mechanism because your brain doesn't know how else to really cope with the world. But it doesn't mean you can't get better. If you're happy with how you are, then that's perfectly good. But If you're miserable because of such hang-ups, ups, then It's not something you're necessarily stuck with. There are people and resources out there that are able and willing to help. It's only a matter of taking the time and finding the courage to really take that first step. But yeah. That'll be it for this episode. Leave a comment if you want to. comment, and subscribe, and I will see you next time. Thank you.