Marah Betillman  

Professor Furlong  

Writing for the Social Sciences 

March 27, 2025  

The Heart of a Gamer 

In FieldWorking, Reading and Writing Research, the author, Bonnie Stone Sunstein, defines subculture as “… any self-identified group of people who share language, stories, rituals,  Behaviors…” (5). Subculture wasn’t something I was intentionally familiar with; I knew of it loosely but listening to how broad the definition goes brings a new meaning to subculture and what it means to me. When I was assigned to my partner, Angel, I was incredibly nervous and unsure what to expect with this assignment. I wasn’t sure we’d mesh well since he wasn’t very talkative during class. After our first encounter distributing contact information, I could tell he was more chill like id predicted. 

The Arrival  

On a fall-like winter day, I made my way to my bus stop, a bit late. As me and Angel were texting back in forth to get our ETA’s I willed my bus to move faster as we were to meet in 5 minutes. Once the bus stopped closest to school the anxiety of speaking to someone new plagued me. As I walked into the library confused about where Angel sat, I texted to find out at the same time he texted to let me know where he sat.  
As I sat in the crowded library, the silence between us was palpable, but I chalked it up to him waiting for me to get situated. Once seated I apologized for being late and that turned into a conversation about NYC transit. Angel was annoyed about his commute and wanted to vent it to another student. After hearing how long his commute my immediate response was “and you choose to come here” conflicted on why he’d choose this college of all places to attend. As we talked, I became less nervous, and my shoulder started to relax and conversation became more open, because of that when asked “Do you wanna go first?” I agreed.  

The Interview & My biases  

To start our interview, I asked “what’s your subculture” so I could tailor my previously vaguer question to his topic. “Gaming, being a gamer” was not the response I thought I would receive. I thought gaming as a subculture seemed like a bit of a cop out, I assumed he would choose something more “serious.” Gaming has historically been male dominated but there is a small percent of lesbian women who make up its female population and my grandma happens to be one. The idea of gaming is not new to me, but it does not hold much value in my life, it is not a part of me simply because I have been exposed to it. After I asked my next question, I was immersed deeper in why he chose a topic that originally seemed unserious. “My dad was big on games; we used it almost like quality time.” Angel said. He went on to explain how his family would gather and play games together, how he would enjoy that time spent with his dad. He talked about it with a sense of fondness that I did not have when id speak about watching someone play video games.  

Angel was a very shy kid without a way to socialize so when he was introduced to video games he was immediately enamored. The ability to speak online with others really sold him on video games. He needed an outlet and the ability to crack jokes and make connections while also playing video games was the thing for him. Due to his ability to create friends in this way, it helped him see not everything is serious and he now has a more “carefree” attitude. I could tell he had a lot of pride in being a part of this community so when his response to “how do you feel about your subculture?” was “ I love my subculture, at the end of a day getting to relax, I like that I get to bond with others and speak to them.” I wasn’t surprised.  

I was interested in how society has impacted how he feels about his subculture. I have seen people hide the fact that they like a certain type of game in fear of ridicule. Gamers have one of two looks in my head and I wanted to know which ones he aligned with if any. He affirmed one “gamers in general are a little crazy.” He continued that gamers often have an emotional outburst depending on their point in the game and how they are doing. We both laughed at that, we both have seen videos of men freaking out after losing. He thinks “everyone has their own getaway from life, almost like a therapy session” I took that to mean, the outbursts are a way for these men to get out their excess anger or excitement and it works for them. 

 This conversation led me to asking the positives and negatives about being a part of the gamer community. Angel enjoys the communitive aspect of online gaming, when asked “would you say it builds community?” he answered “yea, definitely.” Since I knew he started playing video games early, I questioned which ones he happened to play and he said GTA, a 2013 action-adventure game set in the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, where players control three protagonists, Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips, as they navigate a world of crime and heists, an extremely violent game. He said being exposed to this game brought awareness to the different displays of violence and he learned to be more socially aware. I understood this point; I was also exposed to this game early on in life and I found myself surprised people could act and talk like that without remorse or consequences. He also enjoys 2k25, a video game centered around being in the NBA (national basketball association), which he says fueled his love for basketball. With that being said he also said the gaming community can be very “toxic, depending on what community you’re a part of.” Since you can speak to anyone you find, they could be disrespectful, making the games less fun. I wondered if he ever witnessed any of this behavior directed at female gamers at a higher rate.  

I asked about his other favorite games, and he told me 2K25, Warzone, Call of Duty, MLB, UFC, WWE 2, and I questioned why most of them are violent, and he said they are the most entertaining. I could tell I was making a confused expression; I could never understand why these games were so popular. I questioned myself on why beating and hurting others is so popular especially with young boys. This came up when I asked if gaming is “depicted on the college campus” he agreed there are gaming clubs, but they do not play his favorite games, so I wonder what games they play that put Angel off.  

Throughout the interview I noticed how the library quieted down and we quieted down along with it. We became calmer and started to just have more of a conversation, at times when it became robotic, we took some time to speak about other things outside of gaming. We bonded over not enjoying this assignment and how well our English class was going despite that. It became like we were trying to get to know each personally rather than just to get information out of each other, I learned he is not a first-year student and has changed his major as a “junior” and is looking to become an English teacher which I think is great. 

Conclusion  

After the interview I had a new outlook on subculture. Anything that you are connected to can be a subculture, a community you are a part of. I started this interview with biases about being a gamer and some were affirmed, and some are now skewed. Angel expressed his love for gaming well and I can tell it is an activity that he will continue for years.  

Work Cited 

Sunstein, Bonnie Stone, and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater. Fieldworking: Reading and Writing Research. 1996, ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB12369927. 

Questions For interview  

1. How are you?  

2. How was your commute here? 

3. What is your subculture?  

4. How does your family structure/traditions affect your subculture?  

5. How does your friendship reflect in your subculture?  

6. How do you feel about being in this subculture? 

7. How do you think society views this subculture & does that change how you’ve viewed it? 

8. What are the positive vs. negative characteristics of your subculture?  

9. How does your subculture affect the media you consume?  

10. Do you see your subculture depicted on the college campus? 

Interview Notes  

1. Gamer, being a gamer. 

2. Dad was big on games, his family used it as quality time and a way to bond. 

3. Was very shy, hard time putting himself out here. Gaming gave him an outlet to create friendships. These friendships help him create a carefree attitude and become less shy.  

4. “I love my subculture” after a long day getting to relax, I like that I get to bond with a lot of people and speak to them” 

5. “Gamers in general are a little crazy,” they often have big outburst of emotions depending on their point in the game.  

Everyone has their own getaway from life, almost like a therapy session”  

6. Positive:  

Game with anybody, it’s easy to speak with others (builds community) 

Me: would you say it builds community Angel: yea definitely  

Make you aware (GTA), displays a lot of violence and playing can make you aware. Also makes you culturally aware.  

• Started playing games (8-9 years old) (GTA, 2K13) 

• !!!!Used to be violent but gaming helped alleviate some anger!!!! 

 (incredibly surprised by this as a psychology major)  

Negatives:  

“Can be very toxic, depending on what community you’re apart of” it also causes distress when playing if you lose.  

Specifically, nonviolently  

7. Watches YouTube videos of others playing video games but have stopped because this line of work (streamers) has become so saturated leading to creators caring about money therefore leading to them weaning off gaming content.  

Favorites: 2K25, GTA, Warzone, Call of Duty, MLB, WWE 2, UFC  

Me: why are they mostly violent? 

Angel: the most entertaining and had other stuff outside violence that makes it interesting.  

Enjoys the “online” function of gaming because of the community aspect.  

8. Yes, although they’re not his type of games he still sees it  

• Wouldn’t join even if they played his favorite games because he rather be in his own space on his own time, (doesn’t know members so uncomfortable)