By Caelyn Rose
Abstract
When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit many wondered why Animal Crossing: New Horizons became one of the biggest games at a time when there was so much uncertainty and anxiety. Authors like Chris Comerford and Lin Zhu have addressed the massive success the game reached amid the pandemic and the role that escapism, a lack of normality, and prolonged social isolation play. One thing missing from this topic is how fairytales like Rapunzel play a role into it all and why people specifically turned to this type of fantastical activity as a way to deal with the harsh realities of the pandemic. Because of the open-ended plot line, ample in-game choices, and social connectivity to people around the world I argue that Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be interpreted through the lens of “Rapunzel” as a small sense of control in a disorderly world. Both “Rapunzel” and Animal Crossing: New Horizons encompass a lack of control, autonomy, and the effects of social isolation. For this project, I will be doing a close reading of “Rapunzel” by the Brothers Grimm. This project will help us better understand why in a time of adversity and hardship, many people turn specifically to the fanciful worlds of video games as a way to escape from an unpleasant reality. It also shows how media like video games can help people handle distress and fears similar to the comfort and insight fairytales provide.
Autonomy and Social Isolation in “Rapunzel” and Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The story of “Rapunzel” by the Brothers Grimm and the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons are two seemingly different things but are similar in theme and certain elements. Both “Rapunzel” and the discussion around Animal Crossing: New Horizons influence amid the pandemic involve topics of independence, control, and social isolation. “Rapunzel” is a story about a girl who was given away by her parents in desperation for rapunzel lettuce. She was locked away and isolated in a tower by Mother Gothel with the only way to get in or out being by climbing on Rapunzel’s hair. She met a prince and Mother Gothel punished her for meeting with him by sending her away to a desolate land. Eventually the prince found Rapunzel and she went off to live happily with the prince. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a life simulation game published by Nintendo on March 20th, 2020. The game revolves around the player’s character who moves to a deserted island after buying a getaway package from Tom Nook, the head of a traveling services company called “Nook Inc.” The game inadvertently came out at the right time when the pandemic was at its peak and is currently the 16th best-selling video game in history and the 2ndbest-selling game of all time in Japan. The story of “Rapunzel” in certain ways can inform us about the impact Animal Crossing: New Horizons had amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a need for control during a time of uncertainty and adversity. Because of the open-ended plot line, ample in-game choices, and social connectivity to people around the world I argue that Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be interpreted through the lens of “Rapunzel” as a small sense of control in a disorderly world. In recognizing this connection people can better understand how fairy tales and video games influence people and provide consolation in a time of considerable distress.
Open-ended plot line
The open-ended plot line in Animal Crossing: New Horizons provides players with a small sense of control in a world that is out of their control. The game allows freedom over how the game progresses and there is a lack of definitive deadlines. Players can postpone the development of the island in favor of other side activities and create the island to one’s playstyle. In support of this sentiment, in Chris Comerford’s study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons players, a participant claimed that one convenience of the game was, “the ability to have control over the aspects of my in-game life when I didn’t have control over my actual life during lockdown” (Comerford 105-106). Similar to the freedom in the game’s progression, there is freedom within gameplay as there is not a way to play the game incorrectly. In contrast to many other games, in Animal Crossing: New Horizons there is no way to lose the game, die within the game, or penalize the player for playing wrong. This concept is also reinforced by Comerford who states that, “unlike other games that encourage learning through failure and negative feedback loops ACNH is largely devoid of this” (106). Similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, in the story “Rapunzel,” Rapunzel’s hair provided her a sense of control amid uncontrollable circumstances. Lindsay Wells has similarly stated that the fairy tale is a story of possession and a struggle for growth and personal freedom (Wells 81). The tale also serves as a way to understanding the human condition, and opens the door to self-understanding (Mitchell 268). Rapunzel’s entire life and future had been at the control of someone else’s hand as a result of Mother Gothel locking her away in a tower. In “Rapunzel” this is shown when it is stated that “when she was twelve years old, the sorceress locked her in a tower located in a forest. It had neither door nor stairs, only a little window high above” (Grimm 490). Rapunzel’s hair, however, was the one small thing that allowed her to be in control of something, and eventually became something that allowed her to reach part of the outside world and the prince. Rapunzel has control over who accesses the tower since the only way in or out is by climbing her hair. She decided on her own and out of Mother Gothel’s control to allow the prince in to bring silk and aid in her escape, as stated by the text, “they agreed that until then [the ladder is finished] he would come to her every evening, for the old woman came during the day” (491). Rapunzel has no choice about most things in her life except in these instances. In these ways Rapunzel’s hair brought control to her life in a way similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ open-ended game progression. In a time where many things that happen in people’s lives are no longer in their control, the game provides at least one thing people can control.
Ample in-game choices
Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ ample in-game choices afford players control and choices absent amid the pandemic. There is flexibility amongst the various activities within the game like harvesting, maintaining the island, shopping, gardening, etc. In reinforcement of this statement Comerford says that, “in terms of day-to-day gameplay, ACNH affords significant freedom, allowing the player to choose their preferred activities to aestheticise the island and earn the in-game currency – Bells – needed to support it” (Comerford 104). The player gets to determine what activities satisfy their specific playstyle. This is also supported by Comerford who states that, “it is largely left to the player to determine self-set goals for gameplay gratification and feedback loops, including the aesthetics and material goods that will be deployed on the island, and the location of the island’s shops and homes” (104). Similar to this concept, apart from her hair, Rapunzel had no choice in many things that happened in her life. At the beginning of the story, her parents abandon and give her away for rapunzel lettuce, as stated in the text, “in his [Rapunzel’s father] fear, the man agreed to everything, and when his wife had the baby, the sorceress appeared at once. She gave the child the name of Rapunzel and took her away” (Grimm 490). This abandonment along with being locked in a tower for majority of her life reflects the lack of control she had over hardship in her life. The fairy tale is a screenplay of adversity, quest, struggle, and acceptance (Zehetner 161). Rapunzel’s entire life circumstances has been dictated by other people, but her hair allows her to control who goes in and out of the tower. Similarly, Animal Crossing: New Horizons provides a sense of control and comforting space for players amid the pandemic. These beneficial effects are apparent, and it has been stated that, “ACNH’s activities can grant positive mental health benefits, a factor endemic in gaming as a whole” (Comerford 110).
Social Connectivity
Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ social connectivity to people around the world grants players social interaction amid social isolation caused by the pandemic. Through the gameplay and communities formed around the game it “satisfies people’s unwillingness to be lonely and their deep inner desire for the social interaction to get rid of the loneliness” (Zhu 158). Players can collaborate within the game through trading and exploring other player’s islands. In support of this account Lin Zhu states from her case study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons that, “the gamers not only can invite others to their islands to trade items but also can talk and hang out virtually” (158). The game not only connects people within the game but also in community groups outside of the game on other social media platforms. This is reinforced by Comerford who states that, “the Animal Crossing series has a history of encouraging player collaboration, interactivity, and creativity, embodied both inside and outside the game by players and player communities” (Comerford 113). The widespread nature of the game has provided one way for people to connect despite the ongoing pandemic. Similar to the pandemic, Rapunzel was isolated from most of society, and unable to do anything due to the circumstances. Rapunzel’s hair was her one connection to the outside world during her time locked in the tower which was spent entirely in isolation and solitude. Similar to the game, the tale of “Rapunzel” serves as a medium of working with people’s troubles in a secure, trustworthy, and unconditionally accepting ambience (Sanyal and Dasgupta 46). At the beginning of the fairy tale, the only person Rapunzel has ever seen is Mother Gothel. There are no others in Rapunzel’s life and the vehicle for the connection between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel is Rapunzel’s hair (Andresen 71). Rapunzel’s hair also connected her with the prince as it is stated within the text that, “all at once the hair dropped down, and the prince climbed up” (Grimm 490). Similar to what Animal Crossing: New Horizons is for people who must stay isolated in their homes amid the pandemic, Rapunzel’s hair was her only way to connect to people outside of the tower. This type of social isolation has been proven to be detrimental to people as “there is one meta‐analysis [that] estimates that loneliness and social isolation can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day” (Zhu 158). Overall, these connections can aid in understanding and helping people confront adversity and isolation in their lives amid the pandemic.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both “Rapunzel” and Animal Crossing: New Horizons provide a small sense of feeling like your life is in your hands again. Rapunzel’s entire life was controlled by other people and her hair provided what in many ways Animal Crossing: New Horizons provided for people at the height of the pandemic. They both afford readers and players with a sense of control, and Rapunzel’s hair even ends up being the reason for her escape from Mother Gothel. Fairy Tales are used to provide comfort to people and help them overcome their worries and Animal Crossing: New Horizons provided that same sense of comfort in a different way and helped people affected by isolation caused by the pandemic. By making this connection people can better understand how media such as video games can help many people cope with adversity, and the widespread impact they can have due to their pervasive nature. The interpretation of this theme through the lens of “Rapunzel” and relating it to what Rapunzel’s hair provided for her in a bad circumstance can serve as a way to better understand people coping through adversity and provide hope for the future as Rapunzel was eventually freed from her unfortunate situation.
Works Cited
Andresen, Jeffry J. “Rapunzel: The Symbolism of the Cutting of Hair.” Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, vol. 28, no. 1, 1980, pp.69-88. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1177/000306518002800104.
Comerford, Chris. “Coconuts, Custom-Play & COVID-19: Social Isolation, Serious Leisure and Personas in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Persona Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, Mar. 2021, pp.101-117. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.21153/psj2020vol6no2art970.
Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. “Rapunzel.” The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, edited by Jack Zipes, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001, pp. 489-491.
Mitchell, Meredith B. “Learning about Ourselves through Fairy Tales: Their Psychological Value.” Psychological Perspectives, vol. 53, no. 3, July 2010, pp.264-279. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/00332925.2010.501212.
Rose, Caelyn. Screenshot entitled “My Animal Crossing Character :)” May 2021, taken by Caelyn Rose from the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo, 2020.
Sanyal, Nilanjana, and Manisha Dasgupta. “Fairy Tales: The Emotional Processors of Childhood Conflicts in Dynamic Interpretative Lens.” SIS Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, vol. 24, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp.39-47. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121809595&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Wells, Lindsay. “Open Space Rapunzel.” Psychodynamic Practice, vol. 9, no. 1, Feb. 2003, pp.81-85. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/1353333031000073311.
Zehetner, Anthony. “Why Fairy Tales Are Still Relevant to Today’s Children.” Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, vol. 49, no. 2, Feb. 2013, pp.161-162. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=85603936&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Zhu, Lin. “The psychology behind video games during COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Human Behavior with Emerging Technologies, vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp.157-159. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1002/hbe2.221.
