Loading Level, Building Terrain
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Lying in front of a pixelated dirt background, pixels spiral out and expand into an array of squares within squares, until the original 43 by 43 black pixels are filled with color. This was the loading screen of a Minecraft world, the start of the Minecraft Movie, and a catalyst for my own nostalgia and reflection.
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My addiction developed at the young age of 8.
Unbeknownst to anyone, I had fallen deep down into the realm of Minecraft Youtube videos, running home after school just to watch the latest episode of “Minecraft Diaries” that dropped while I was away. With parents who worked the late nights, I found company and solace in a pixelated world behind a screen. At night, I would fantasize about creating my own little world and its hidden stories. I just had to get my hands on a copy of the game, and two years later, I finally found the perfect moment.
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“What’s that?” my Grandpa asks as the Walmart cashier scans my Minecraft redemption gift card.
“Nothing! Just a gift for my friend. It’s her birthday soon.” I quickly reassured and attempted to redirect his attention to moving the rest of our groceries onto the conveyor belt. At times like these, I was thankful my grandparents couldn’t understand English.
I discreetly tucked the card into my jacket pocket, only to pull it out after my bedroom door was locked. My plan was a success.
Download? Complete.
Account creation? Complete.
My mouse hovered across the “Create New World” button.
I click.
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My eyes widened in anticipation. It was my turn to build my own world, block by block.
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“You wanna hop on Minecraft?”
I paused, slowly turning to face my best friend. We sat next to each other in AP English Language and Composition.
“Nah, I’ll pass,” I decline half-heartedly. I slouch further in the acrylic classroom chairs and returned to fidgeting my pen.
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It was silent in Room 615.
I was far away from home, far away from the people I found comfort and conversation with.
Staring out into Red Square, a gentle breeze accompanied by a ray of sunshine slips through the opening of my dorm room window.
I roll away from the window and back to the desk. Without anything better to do, I load up and scroll through the Youtube recommended page.
My middle finger pauses on the scroll wheel of my mouse as my eyes widen.
The cursor inches towards a thumbnail of a familiar scenery. A calming light blue sky spotted with clouds and a lush, grass-covered plain. In the center stood a blocky house, constructed with cobblestone, clay, and birch.
I click.
A red bar slowly progresses at the top of my browser as the grey webpage loads into the first episode of my new, yet old infatuation.
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“Say Cheese!”
Our group of 12 college students smiled awkwardly in the lobby of Regal Movies. Behind us stood the one and only poster for the Minecraft Movie that we had scoured all the floors for.
I never would’ve believed you if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be watching the official Minecraft Movie in theatres, and that Jack Black was cast as Steve.
Due to my attention span drastically shortening in the past few years, I’m not usually one to enjoy movies in an actual theatre. Nevertheless, a bunch of my friends were going, and I thought, “might as well go for the memes.”
Prior to the movie’s release, all social media platforms were filled to the brim with short clips of the most quotable lines pulled from the movie. We knew all of them and couldn’t wait to experience the full context ourselves.
Feeling full from our “Flint n’ Meals,” we sat in a room full of anticipation. An ocean of murmurs comes to a silence as the lights dim.
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The movie was starting.
As I watched, I couldn’t help but laugh at the littered innuendos and cheer for the moments that I had recognized. My eyes lit up with joy as I pointed out cameos of the very same Youtube content creators I grew up watching.
It wasn’t just me, too. The theatre was filled with chatter and excitement, which I oddly did not mind in this case. The environment was something that I hadn’t experienced in a really long time, an atmosphere filled with shared experiences and nostalgia.
All in all, the plot wasn’t Oscar-winning – it was objectively pretty bad. However, throughout the whole time, I found myself reminiscing on my younger years. Seeing how Steve and Henry found their escape and uncovered their passions through Minecraft reminded me of how I did the same. Just the same, seeing how they also returned to the present at the very end exemplified the transition that I, including many of the other audience members, underwent in our lifetime.
As we progress through our own stories, things are bound to change. Responsibilities grow and priorities shift when you age. Things will never be the same as they once were, but there are things that still stay the same.
Although I might not find the same joys in Minecraft as I once did, I have been generating my own world around me, loading in new chunks, traveling to new destinations, building my own creations, and sharing it with the people I surround myself with.
