{"id":16396,"date":"2020-10-03T11:54:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T16:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/?p=16396"},"modified":"2020-10-03T07:57:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T12:57:33","slug":"parents-guide-to-bendy-and-the-ink-machine-batim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/2020\/10\/03\/parents-guide-to-bendy-and-the-ink-machine-batim\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents\u2019 Guide to Bendy and the Ink Machine (BATIM)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back around when COVID quarantine was getting underway in the spring, my son got very big into Bendy and the Ink Machine (BATIM). It\u2019s a video game, and was distinctive from the start as being <\/span>not Minecraft<\/span><\/i>–that was a welcome change of pace for me. But apart from that, the story was compelling and drew me in. It was SUCH A RELIEF to have an appealing plot, environment, characters, etc. to sink my head into, a change from the kid stuff that up until then I had to endure all day long. BATIM very much saved my sanity when I was starting to lose it.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is BATIM<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read anything about the franchise before this, you\u2019ve probably heard something along the lines of \u201cblah blah blah Mickey Mouse something-something pentagrams,\u201d and that is part of the story, but there\u2019s more to it than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

So this is kind of a primer for parents or whomever who might be leery of the franchise because of the demon stuff, but this is my perspective and why I find it acceptable for my household. (And as an added bonus, the game has been a great incentive for learning letters and numbers. TK had to learn letters\/numbers to navigate chapters and elevator floors, and to read messages on the walls.)<\/span><\/p>\n

BATIM is the story of an early animation studio, Joey Drew Studios, fallen from glory. It\u2019s commonly compared to Disney, with Bendy the equivalent of Mickey Mouse. (I mean, there were other early animation studios, that no one knows about because Disney buried them, so perhaps a better comparison is to one of those, but you get the idea.) I would not have expected that this concept would be something I developed a fondness for. I have always found the style of old-timey animation to be deeply disturbing, and maybe that\u2019s why it works for a horror game, because it owns up to its inherent terror-inducing nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

The game also appeals to me because it is the story of a dysfunctional workplace, and that\u2019s something that\u2019s very relatable. Who hasn\u2019t had a crazy boss and annoying coworkers? What boss hasn\u2019t had their own ill-advised pet project? (If you haven\u2019t had these experiences, you haven\u2019t truly lived.) It\u2019s a delightfully quirky family of employees who hate each other\u2019s guts, but can all agree on hating the boss. (And <\/span>who\u2019s idea was it to put all these switches and levers nowhere near the utility they operate?<\/span><\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

I would sum it up as being a cautionary tale against using people, taking their very humanity, on the path to success. Joey Drew literally harvested the souls of his employees to make the most authentic character theme park ever–ultimately, for him to gain fame and wealth. Don\u2019t do that. It\u2019s bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is Bendy<\/b><\/p>\n

The <\/span>cartoon character<\/span><\/i> Bendy, referred to in show titles as a \u201cdemon\u201d or \u201cdevil,\u201d is a mischievous little imp. He does things like bake gingerbread cookies<\/a> and build snowmen<\/a>–he\u2019s not very threatening. Note the following attributes from the Employee Handbook (official game guide)<\/a>: Bendy \u201con brand\u201d is mischievous, playful, and attention-seeking. An attribute that Bendy specifically does NOT have is being \u201c[e]vil, playing mean-spirited jokes\u201d (page 205). <\/span>Bendy is not an evil entity.<\/p>\n

The Ink Demon is Bendy\u2019s real-world form, spawned from the Ink Machine, a soulless, artificially-created monster. So the animated character reverses the expectations of a devil, and then the conversion to artificial ink creation reverses Bendy\u2019s character back to an \u201cevil\u201d persona, so we\u2019ve come full circle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it demonic<\/b><\/p>\n

Bendy in any form does not have a tail, forked or otherwise. Fan art commonly adds this feature, but the official character design is tailless. No forked tail, not a demon, case closed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, maybe there\u2019s more to it than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is something that the game developers have revised throughout the release of the chapters, replacing pentagram imagery with a more sanitized \u201ctransmutation circle\u201d of alchemical symbols, putting it in the realm of pseudo-science rather than the dark arts, if you care to make the distinction. The Ink Demon and his minions are not demonic entities from hell, but man-made life akin to Frankenstein\u2019s monster.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, is the Ink Demon Bendy really so evil? To me, he appears more like a wild animal doing what he must to survive, defend his territory, feed\u2026 and maybe be a little playful. Everyone assumes he is evil, but is that his intention? What if he\u2019s trying to play and inadvertently killing you? As you respawn anyway, it doesn\u2019t even seem that harmful.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think Ink Demon Bendy is, at his heart, a sympathetic character. He’s alone and confused, misunderstood, reviled. Like a wild animal going on instinct, not inherently evil, but doing what he must to survive. He’s stuck with the unfortunate appellation of <\/span>demon,<\/span><\/i> and everyone runs away screaming instead of trying to understand him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other considerations<\/b><\/p>\n

So far this article has just been about the \u201cdemon\u201d aspect, but other considerations for parents are:<\/span><\/p>\n

Language<\/b> – a few h-ls, as in \u201cwhat the heck,\u201d and one d-n. There is also one \u201cOMG\u201d–but I mean, finding out your old boss is creating artificial living cartoon characters, might be a valid reason to call on God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scariness<\/b> – If scariness is a concern, it is that. As for my son, he finds the jump scares entertaining.<\/span><\/p>\n

Violence<\/b> – People get stabbed and stuff, but they\u2019re made of ink, soooo\u2026 there\u2019s no blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sexuality<\/b> – Nothing more dangerous than little black dresses.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Comment below if you have additional questions. If there is enough interest, I will expand on this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back around when COVID quarantine was getting underway in the spring, my son got very big into Bendy and the Ink Machine (BATIM)….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[979,980],"tags":[1074],"class_list":["post-16396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","category-reviews","tag-batim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16396"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16400,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16396\/revisions\/16400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}