Taboo; or The Thin Lines Between the Virtual and the Real

As per someone’s recommendation during my précis presentation, I went ahead and watched the “Fantasy Lives” episode of National Geographic’s show Taboo. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, as a show with the aim to expose other’s taboo habits is confronting the viewer with a specific angle; however, I went ahead with my mind open in regards to the validity of the show to find myself both appalled and entertained.

The show’s segment on Second Life involved the story of a man from Tampa, FL named Kevin Alderman who was addicted to Second Life and played it for many hours every day. To him, he described the show as just a “fantasy…a creative outlet.” Much like the man I encountered yesterday, Kevin is fully aware that he is just playing a game, but he enjoys it because there are “no rules, [and] no consequences” in the game. He also recognizes that he has a life that demands his attention as well, since he has a real wife and children. The show portrays as a good, regular dad who is a family oriented conservative; however, Kevin’s draw to the game is that he can be whatever he wants to be in the game, and he has chosen for his alter ego to be Stroker Serpentine, a self-deemed “sex god” where Kevin is able to “be sexy, [and]…salacious and do things that in real life would be frowned upon” since “nothing is taboo in Second Life” since it is a blank canvas which can be filled “with the paint of your choice that excites, compels and motivates you.” Much like my experience with the Second Lifers who are more into exploring the taboo and unrealistic aspects of the universe, Kevin proves that when you enter the universe of the game, you are merely a proxy version of the self, one that can be free from judgment and shame in real life, making one free to do whatever he wants. Kevin finds that his extension, is “more boisterous” than he would ever be, but he doesn’t really care, a similar attitude to the obese Goth I ran into yesterday, as both appear to be using their avatars to be exploring much more of who they are or could be if they were free from the confines of other people’s judgment and shame.

Kevin is so wrapped up in the world of Second Life and often spends many hours out of the day away from his wife and children to spend time with his virtual wife and daughters. These virtual people are not just the online representations or proxies of Kevin’s real life wife and children, but entirely different people. Also, this is not a traditional relationship since Kevin alter ego has online sex with not only his wife, but also his daughters. However, Kevin sees no problem in this as he reassures himself, his wife (who has no problem with it) and the viewer that this is just a fantasy world and that none of this is real, but then he also adds that he cares for them and that he can find himself feeling real emotions like love for his virtual family, fear (which is an emotion I experienced while in the depths of NecronomVI,) and also that of violation (which was a topic explored in Julian Dibbell’s “A Rape in Cyberspace.”)

While all of these avatars are made and operated by adults who have to agree to the terms and conditions of Second Life (but actually does anyone read those though?) Kevin states that everyone is consenting. However, as Michael Bugeja states in his article “Avatar Rape in Second Life” that 40% of complaints on community incident reports “concerned ‘indecency: broadly offensive content or conduct’;…sexual harassment; and…intolerance,” which goes to prove that “harassment and assault are frequent infractions in virtual environs.” Taboo interviewed Princeton professor Peter Singer who stated that “you can…break these taboos…[without] harming anyone,” but statistics like Bugeja’s show that we need to fully understand how moral codes work in the world of virtual pleasure. Do ours carry over to theirs, or do we need to come up with a fully new set for the virtual world?

The program also interviewed Dr. David Morgan who stated that users can easily become addicted to Second Life and living in and exploring all of these different worlds and because “fantasy worlds have not been that available before.” The newness of Second Life makes it easy for vulnerable people to fall into traps because they are unsure of the extent of what they are willing to/can do with their alter egos in Second Life. It’s a doubly dangerous world since they can also get addicted because their real world might never, ever be able to compare to it.

However, while it does take a certain amount of skill to be able to spend the right amount of time in both worlds some people can do it. Kevin has made millions of dollars creating purchasable animation packages and sex-related furniture that he sells to other avatars in the game to make their sex lives more realistic and exciting. So to a few people with great time management skills, investing time and money into Second Life is more than just a hobby, it’s a way of life. However, while that is the case for Kevin and both his virtual and real family, through my travels in Second Life, I have seen many people who have difficulty between reconciling Second Life with the reality, as evidenced by people truly believing they are vampires and can harm me in real life, which I thought was simply ridiculous. The show stated that “by inhabiting a fantasy world, some feel more able to cope in the real one,” which may be true, but I also think that quote can easily explain why so many people are addicted to the escapist qualities of the virtual world and shirk their real world responsibilities. Maybe they should seek a psychologist instead.


Works Cited: 
Bugeja, Michael. "Avatar Rape." Insidehighered.com. 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 12 May 2012.
"Fantasy Lives." Taboo. National Geographic Channel. Television.