Health or Wealth

Yvette Garcia

September 30, 2019

CMI 3370

 

Twine Project: Artist Statement

 

            In my twine game I had three main characters. My main characters are Kimberley, Marshall and Josh. I also had 1 sub-character which was Marshall’s mom and whose name varies depending on which option the player choses- either Angela or Barbara. I came up with Kimberly, who the story mainly focuses on, by putting together situations that are commonly found in girls that come from lower income families. I also based Kimberly’s character on many different characters from Mexican telenovelas. In many different Mexican telenovelas, there is a poor girl who somehow meets this very wealthy man and she is smitten, not necessarily with the man, but with the money and what all of that money can do. Since these particular types of characters in Mexican telenovelas come from literally nothing sometimes (dirt poor) it is easy for them to be blinded by the luxuries that money brings and forget about actual emotions or feelings. A lot of character in Mexican telenovelas go through complete transformations once they are presented with money. The characters usually go from being humble to being very superficial and uptight and thinking they are better than everyone. When I created Kimberly, I wanted to make her someone that was level headed and not really impulsive or someone who got carried away over one thing, but I also wanted to make her wants vs. needs based on the circumstances in her life as she was growing up. I wanted Kimberly to analyze every choice she made and to look at the full picture. I wanted to make wants vs. needs very defined. She wanted an easier life, which would be made easier with money, but she needed someone that understood her and that would love her and support her unconditionally.

            Kimberly’s wants, and needs are very clean cut and to the point however when we are speaking in terms of one option over the other, one of the options (Marshall) ultimately gave her what she needed while also giving her what she wanted even though it took sometimes for both of those to be accomplished. I’ll talk about her wants first. Kimberly’s wants are all based on superficial things she never really had growing up or even now as a college graduate: money. Kimberly thinks that with money any problem can be solved and that if she had enough money she would be able to not only solve her own problems but also her family’s problems. Kimberley is very selfless when it comes to sacrificing her actual happiness in order to help her family live better. Kimberly thinks of every decision she makes and how it will not only affect her but also how it will affect her family who she loves dearly. If we look at her needs, we are quick to find out that she needs love and true emotional connection. Since Kimberly’s father was absent most of her life, she never knew what it felt like to have a male figure in her life and while and boyfriend/husband is different than a father, they are both still considered male figures even if their love is a different type of love. Her needs are something that no amount of money could ever buy. Yes, someone can buy all of these fancy, material things but that will never fill the void that is brought by not having an emotional connection to someone. The different branches do a very good job of really separating the wants vs needs. In one side of the story it is very clear that the concept of “emotional connection” is being implemented while on another side of the story the whole “money matters” scenario is put into place. From the very beginning it is noted who has money and who has more of a deeper connection to life and from that point on, it’s a very defined story structure with the option of going back through and seeing the “other side” of the story so that the final decision is clear to the player.

            I came up with the story beats by putting myself into Kimberly’s shoes. I put myself into her life and I thought like someone who had been in that position: love vs money. I went through both sides and I thought about what kind of problems could arise and what kind of choices I would have wanted to have if this was real life. The most difficult part of coming up with this story for me was having everything intertwine (inter-TWINE…interesting) and having it all make sense at the end. I knew what my vision was and what I wanted the player to get of this game but there were so many times were I just very confused and didn’t know what to branch off of what. I had to finish one side of the story and then start on the other side so that I wouldn’t overwhelm myself and get everything mixed up. Once I got both sides completed independently of each other, I went back and found the perfect spots to link them together to form an exciting story line. The same process when into play when I was aligning the reader’s interests with the character’s motivations.  When it comes to love and money I think that it is something that is relatable to a lot of people and I feel as if each reader could easily put themselves in Kimberly’s shoes whether the reader is a male or a female. I wanted the reader to really look at both sides of the story and choose options that were relevant to how they portrayed each situation. For some people the whole money situation wouldn’t even cross their minds because they have never had a money issue in their life and so of course they are more than likely to think that that particular   path of the story is ridiculous because why would someone choose money over actual love or an emotional connection. There are many different points of views from which to play this game with and I think that, that’s what made it enjoyable to create.