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What Will Geeks Make Of The New Roleplaying Game Comedy, Zero Charisma? [VIDEO]

by Jill Pantozzi | 6:00 pm, February 2nd, 2013


Troll 2 actor and director of Best Worst Movie, a documentary about Troll 2, Michael Paul Stephenson, has produced a South by Southwest comedy entry called Zero Charisma. Directed by Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews, with a script by Matthews, the trailer seems to have a stereotypical view of a game master and his roleplaying crew. But will the film turn into something more? Give it a watch and let us know your first impressions.

(via /Film)

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=658295430 Calum Syers

    I must say, I winced when I read The Mary Sue’s Twitter link to this. The name “Zero Charisma” just brought to mind Comic Book Guy-esque stereotypes. However, in the name of giving things a fair shake, I watched the trailer.

    Unfortunately, I did think the view of those who play role-playing games was fairly stereotypical, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t chuckle a couple of times (the grandmother throwing the remote at the main character’s head, to name one).

  • Kifre

    I think the secondary characters will make all the difference. The main character is a walking stereotype, and receives stereotypical responses from ‘normal’ characters. Buuuuut, he does also epitomize a very certain subset ( I think his inability to find a person to fill the open seat says it all, no?). Some of the set details are perfect, though.

  • http://magicalgirlman.blogspot.com/ Matthew Abely

    Yeah, it was a little characatured, but I was fun. Seems though just the main character is a stereotype and everyone else is fairly typical people who just like to D&D. Also seems only reason main character is a stereotype is because he wants to be due to own lack of self esteem

  • http://www.facebook.com/darkelvenwitch Alisa Ann Kreuzer

    This trailer definitely caught my interest and I would totally watch the movie. Love the DM guy and feel sympathetic to his “being a nerd used to mean something” plight. I feel like nerd culture is slowly getting diluted into other stereotypes and more acceptable. Being somewhat of a purist it saddens me.
    -Proud Nerd

  • http://www.facebook.com/aliciaftw Alicia Copeland

    The main character *is* a stereotype, that’s true, but it’s clear he’s trying to live up to that stereotype.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lucy.coll.946 Lucy Coll

    Reminds me of the movie Unicorn City.

  • http://twitter.com/lunchstealer lunchstealer

    Depends on his depth. I mean, I can point to a dozen or so of my friends, and say they’re similar to his character, and while they have the characteristics of the stereotype, that’s not who they are. So if they give him actual motivations, and an arc, then he surpasses the stereotype.

    Besides, he’s less broadly drawn than the guys in Fear of Girls, so there’s that. I’ll withhold judgement.

  • Timothy Tankersley

    I saw another trailer for this film back in 2011 that focused more on the ‘old school uncool nerd’ versus ‘hip new nerd’. I am not sure it exists anymore as the video has been removed by the user from youtube. It was more comedy and I felt it was asking some pretty neat questions about the conflict between the two types of nerd. This trailer here is more character based and a lot darker, I wonder if the film itself has been changed or reshot?

    Wait, nevermind, here’s the old one, and I like it much better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5w9LHaK2cE Also, they’ve definitely re-shot some scenes.

  • http://twitter.com/rockinlibrarian Amy W

    Actually, I thought a title like “Zero Charisma” made it feel a little more like an in-joke, because would anyone who doesn’t play RPGs even know what that means? So maybe they’re playing with the stereotype, deconstructing it from the inside out…

  • Countermass

    I have seen too many of this roleplayer-sterotypes. Even if the movie is good, as a long-time Roleplayer myself it just bores me. I’m a woman and the best GM in my area, fellow players and GMs have usually high educations, there are lawyers, designers, women, men, some straight, some queer, some few single, most of us are in relationships or married. Maybe it’s a phenomenon in the US, but here in germany I never really met guys that were like those sterotypes in the movies.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    “Being a nerd used to mean something”? I’m sorry, did you go to high school in the late 80s and early 90s and were you a nerd back then? It was Hell on Earth, let me tell you that. Getting stuck in a locker by a bunch of jocks was no fun. Being ostracized, made fun of, beaten, ridiculed to the point of tears? That’s what it used to mean, being a nerd. I’m sorry, I’ll take being a 36 y.o. nerd nowadays over that, anytime.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jose-Saucedo/1588113963 Jose Saucedo

    Every keeps harping on the main character, saying that he is a stereotype but man he is exactly like the guy that I currently play with. Like to a tee. I had to check to make sure my friend didn’t become an actor overnight. It’s uncanny even down to the living situation. My friend is a bit more mellow than the character, but it’s him down to the cracking open the ice tea and the shorts. For every non-sterotypical DnD nerd there is one that seems to go out of his way to embody it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aliciaftw Alicia Copeland

    No kidding. I’m GLAD I’m in a culture where my tastes and likes are widely appreciated. It’s rather nice that so many enjoy it now, honestly. “Being a nerd used to mean something” sounds pretty hipster. =P Let the masses enjoy !

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