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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

weekend

Okay, Computer: Some Drinking Implied

Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves star in "The Matrix."

For those looking for a sloppily interactive and vaguely competitive way to wait out the madness of Little 500 this weekend, look no further than a good drinking game. If you’re older than 21 and know of even a few seedy streaming sites, the possibilities are practically limitless. Watch a “Fast and Furious” movie and have a drink every time Vin Diesel growls about family. Have a “The Hobbit” viewing party and take a swig every time an elf stares off into the distance and whispers “war.” Or just rewatch “Donnie Darko” and knock one back every time you’re both in awe of its melodramatic majesty and embarrassed by its overwrought pathos.

It’s easy to see the appeal of these games. Drinking is generally fun. Watching Netflix with people you like is great. When you put the two together, a good time is almost guaranteed, even if the cinematic skewering harkens closer to RiffTrax than classic MST3K. Drinking with the people you love and bonding over a thing you like is enough. Or so one might think.

Anybody can create a drinking game, but there’s a real art to creating a great drinking game. It’s not hard to pick a movie most people like and establish a few rules that will have everyone on their next liver by the third act. The trick is to limit the drinking rules to one or two that reflect everything patently absurd about the movie in question.

Case in point: Stipulating that everyone drink every time someone in “The Matrix” mentions Morpheus, dodges a bullet in slow motion or uses a computer just isn’t that fun. There are too many rules, and none of them capture a single simple recurring trope that defines the film. But what if I told you to drink every time anyone mentioned some pseudo-philosophical nonsense? That rule works, because it’s easy to remember and plays off the Wachowskis’ inclination toward half-baked references to Jean Baudrillard and Daoism. It will also absolutely destroy anyone brave enough to watch “The Matrix Reloaded.”

The work that goes into creating a great pop culture drinking game is what sets the pop culture drinking game apart from other forms of chemically-compromised competition. Unlike playing beer pong or flip cup, there’s a certain level of geekiness involved in a good “Netflix and Drink” session. The latter requires commitment, creativity and stamina from viewers but also enthusiasm for and knowledge of the viewing material. A person’s appreciation of these kinds of drinking games comes as much from knowledge of the movie as it does the quality of liquor. To that extent, they’re less about getting tipsy and more about basking half-drunk in the 
glorious light of communal fandom. Whether keg-standing or Netflix-binging, there’s no wrong way to drink this weekend as long as it’s responsible, legal and in moderation. Godspeed and 
bottoms up.

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