Monday, August 30, 2010

Is Portal Purgatory?

So, has anyone thought about how Portal is a giant allusion to Purgatory?

There is (seemingly) no reason to be putting Chell through these horrible experiments other than for GLaDOS' sadistic pleasure.

But what if it's REALLY a test?

Not a scientific test, but a test of character and determination as to redeem oneself? Perhaps GLaDOS' taunts of "All your other friends couldn't come either, because you don't have any other friends because of how unlikable you are. It says so right here in your personnel file; 'Unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned.'.... It also says you were adopted. So that's funny too." isn't just pointless mocking, but a reminder of Chell's former life?

It's also heavily implied that GLaDOS could possibly be much more knowing, being as some kind of tester for Purgatory, with quotes like "Speaking of curiosity, you're curious about what happens after you die, right? Guess what? I know."

Quotes like this have a much more significant meaning when thought of in this context.

"I feel sorry for you, really, because you're not even in the right place."
"This is your fault. It didn't have to be like this."
"You're not a good person, you know that, right? Good people don't end up here."

19 comments:

  1. Am I seriously going to be the first to comment on this?
    My mind just sparked.
    Such a new and surprisingly delicious tasting pasta, to such a familiar game.
    No one else got it?
    Think about it....
    "Good people don't end up here."

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  2. Why isn't this tagged as Video Games?

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  3. Or cell used to be a criminal and aperture science buys them for testing?

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    1. My theory is that Aperture Science is a government-owned organization that gets to perform tests on criminals on death row.

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  4. Anon, you're correct for asking why it's not. Thanks for reminding me that Portal is still a video game.

    Also, lol.

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  5. You're giving me reason to want to try out Purgatory. I never really paid attention to the Portal storyline anyway, but now I have reason to.

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  6. graviteh, I hope you know Purgatory is the Catholic place where souls go before they go to Heaven or Hell and that Purgatory is not a video game. Unless you're talking about "Painkiller" which is a video game that takes place in Purgatory.

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  7. No, Graviteh was talking about killing himself to try out this "Purgatory" and kill enemies with plasma rifles.
    Little does he know; In purgatory, you use laser swords.

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  8. As soon as I read the title, I knew what would be said. Even so, I clicked on it and read the first sentence and stopped. I knew excactly what was to be said. It doesn't sound like anything creepy, just something a bit "Ok, what about this!" No offense, and I'm not trollin' but lately, these stories are sucking. Try to make it a bit less predictable....(Maybe they suck because I'm a picky reader.....)

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  9. This is like all the other "??? is Heaven/Hell?!?!?!?!?!?!" It just feels like a repeat. Spice it up with more originality.

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  10. I don't find this as scary, but instead as fridge horror. You get told straight out everything. You have to find what is outside of everything. For example, GLaDOS, or this form of god, tries to kill you in fire. Now, trollers can come with 'KILL IT WITH FIRE!!' jokes but... that's a damn scary thought.
    Fridge horror. Some people may not realize it, but I love this concept. Thanks so much to the writer for showing me this total outlook on the game that I never had.

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  11. GLaDOS is actually King Minos, judge of the damned.

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  12. Agree with Barry Burton... Oh, wait! Barry Burton!? What the fuck are you doing here!? Crap, you should be helping Chris and Jill! Now I know were have you been this whole time! Anyway, good concept about that game that I neve had played but I know a lot about him =)

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  13. When you defeat GLaDOS, you float up into a white light in the sky

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    1. WRONG you get sucked out of aperture and wake up outside then faint and get pulled back in by a robot into aperture

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  14. A short and simple, tasting pasta. Nothing more.

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  15. At the end when you kill Glados you get sucked out of aperture and you see peaces of Glados fall from the sky so its not purgatory just a strange testing facility with the secret rattman rooms with creepy stuff on the walls it feels like purgatory but its not just a weird facility


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