It doesn’t. After all, when you get down to it, wasn’t Deleuze’s work in L’anti-oedipe an attempt at reuiniting the two ?

You’re right, Duncan: Freud’s understanding of the fetish is by no means the only one, or the one most commonly accepted. But, as pointed out at the beginning of the post, I think that our obsession with video games fits within that more commonplace definition of the fetish as well.

But I thought Freud was passe these days with the intelligentsia? Or has he made a retro comeback?.

As far as actual psychology is concerned, Freud is definitely passe. But he’s often useful in other areas, such as literary criticism (which is the model behind this post). What I mean is, he doesn’t have to be right or wrong for his theory to be fun/constructive/interesting to apply to gaming.

i tend to place more stock in marx's idea that membership in a social class is what drives most people towards certain goals
Hi, Matt. I think that’s a valid body of theory to bring up – though I don’t know that it negates the Freud (both because you can apply both to games, as an exercise, and because seemingly contradictory theories are often, in fact, complementary :-). Could you elaborate? In what way does our class status push us toward the fetishization of games? Also, Marx has a lot to say about fetishes, too, right? The commodity fetish, if I’m remembering right. Maybe you know more about that…?

its pretty much impossible that I ever had this "horrible" moment of revelation that my mother didn't have a penis.

It’s important to remember (and I think I didn’t make this clear enough) that Freud isn’t saying that everyone has this moment of horror. He is saying that everyone has this moment of realization of difference, but, for the fetishist, it’s a trauma. Also, as for whether or not you’re a fetishist (in the Freudian sense) because you play video games… that’s not really my point. I just mean to show how Freud’s theory can be applied to our gaming experience. Like I mentioned above, it’s like an exercise in critical thinking.

That's probably Bonnie's cue to argue that addictions are actually fetishes too, ones fraught with sexual overtones.
And fetishes are addictions. In the BDSM community (Kelly Rued will probably shake her finger at me for the term, but, where I live at least, there really is one :-), I’ve heard fetish described as something you need to get off.

To be fair, I don’t think most people would characterize that as an “average” upbringing. You couldn’t have that “horrible moment” of realization about your mother because you knew all along. And one mustn’t forget the time and place Freud was doing his work – late 19th / early 20th century Europe – not exactly the most sexually liberated era. Then there’s the belief that we treat sex and nudity as taboo (and intrinsicly linked) only because we are taught they are taboo (and intrinsicly linked). If you grow up in a more liberated environment, you end up less sexually repressed – or at least with a different set of problems. :-)

Bottom line: your upbringing was probably quite different from the upbringing of most of Freud’s subjects, which doubtless influenced your psyche differently.

“As for games as a fetish, I'd say they're more of an addiction than a fetish.”

That’s probably Bonnie’s cue to argue that addictions are actually fetishes too, ones fraught with sexual overtones.

I mean, sucking on a bong? Impaling yourself with a needle? Isn’t it obvious?

:-)

As for games as a fetish, I’d say they’re more of an addiction than a fetish. While admittedly there’s an escapist aspect, I don’t think the game really constantly reminds a person of what they really are, anymore than the game lets you forget who you really are.

I just started playing Master of Magic again after taking a couple of years off and I just can’t stop playing. I must find out what happens on the next turn. But I’ve never actually thought “I am a powerful wizard” while playing, anymore than I confuse myself with my (female) Night Elf rogue character when I play WoW, or, for that matter, anymore than I confuse myself with the characters in any books I read.

Now, I do sometimes confuse my life with Sailor Moon’s life, but since I routinely transform and fight monsters animated out of household objects to bring about the creation of Crystal Tokyo that’s hardly surprising…

with that in mind, i’m inclined to run with duncan’s version of games as a “fetish” in that for many of us they are "an object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence” and i suggest that this “excessive attention” is made possible by the nature and means of our social class. and, while there’s an undeniable link betwixt sexuality, escapism and gaming (and entertainment in general), i offer that the fetishistic approach to gaming is due more to class affiliation as the modern replacement to television than it is related to childhood sexual trauma.

. . .

I swear that makes more sense in my head.

Interesting post: I’ll have to mull it over. As Carl said, gaming as escapism is nothing new, but tying it to fetishism? Now that’s pretty clever. David Wong may have said it best, though: some day, it’ll all be about Awesome You. :-)

But I thought Freud was passe these days with the intelligentsia? Or has he made a retro comeback? Hmmm…

Fetish is also generically defined as “an object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence” (Dictionary.com). Something that we put a lot of our time and attention into. The sexual overtones that have been collected and hoarded by this word often obscure the much simpler definition. I’d be interested in learning other reasonings behind the development of fetishes. Freud could be a little, um, focused for my taste.