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## Multimedia Discussion

### The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Earthbound - Page 1

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#### The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Earthbound

Posted by: bwill11
Date: 2019-07-24 09:05:27
I finally got around to reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy recently. It had always been on my radar, due to the fact that it gets referenced by every piece of media imaginable. The verdict is that it's a hilarious, self-aware book that I enjoyed a lot. However, one thing stuck out a lot while reading it, and that was how similar its humor was to that of Earthbound and Mother 3 (I have yet to play Mother 1/Earthbound Beginnings, but I'm sure a lot of similarities apply to it too). Some similarities are readily apparent, like how both Hitchhiker's Guide and Earthbound have a very self-aware writing style that is made even more ludicrous by what's going on in the story, and how they poke fun at everyday life. However, there are more similarities that I can't put my finger on. At the very least I would definitely recommend Hitchhiker's Guide to fans of Earthbound and vice versa.

#### Re: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Earthbound

Posted by: Torchickens
Date: 2020-03-19 11:06:14

> I finally got around to reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy recently. It had always been on my radar, due to the fact that it gets referenced by every piece of media imaginable. The verdict is that it's a hilarious, self-aware book that I enjoyed a lot. However, one thing stuck out a lot while reading it, and that was how similar its humor was to that of Earthbound and Mother 3 (I have yet to play Mother 1/Earthbound Beginnings, but I'm sure a lot of similarities apply to it too). Some similarities are readily apparent, like how both Hitchhiker's Guide and Earthbound have a very self-aware writing style that is made even more ludicrous by what's going on in the story, and how they poke fun at everyday life. However, there are more similarities that I can't put my finger on. At the very least I would definitely recommend Hitchhiker's Guide to fans of Earthbound and vice versa.

Sounds interesting. I have a (biased) head-canon interpretation that the Mother series has elements that poke fun of everyday life in the context of America and consumerism, science fiction, but the strange aesthetic in general ; in the end heart always wins. In Mother 3 (in Japan too the number 3 is unfortunately associated with dark concepts), according to Itoi it was originally much darker; an apparent paradox of censorship is that after success, these things are later revealed. However, the final Mother 3 game is dark too; in which Porky/Pokey Minch trapped himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule after abuse, when really he had a heart but let his shadows take over. As a result, this was a figurative 'abyss' - yet the game is balanced with a light hearted approach. In the West, history associated gritty RPGs with places like the United States; but in the East, one can find covert grittyness too. It's unsettling because well.. lots of us want to escape with kawaii, cartoons, anime etc. ; but there is a message about marginalisation here. Mother 3's logo is of metal and wood - a concept that seems unsettling; how can you merge nature/idealism and wood/hard facts together, but it's better to be marginalised and true than to wear a mask forever like the Masked Man (or is it): We forget that there are two sides to everything (or is it?). Shigesato Itoi named Mother after a John Lennon song according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAxDwc5S4bk - but yeah we have a strange relationship with truth; people can claim everything, and what is known in media studies (also history) may very well be a lie. Excuse, I digressed a lot there.
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