I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM 

"I have no mouth and I must scream" for some reason this sentence, this simple sentence is terrifying to read. It conveys so much in just a few words

*people's tendency to find scapegoats for the worlds evils rather than look at their own wretchedness is exactly the type of attitude that will lead to dystopia.*

As someone that met and spoke with Ellison, I asked him the question you closed on; did he think he at least in some small way think he made the industry better with his game adaptation? He told me that he did not know, but he would like to think he gave them a push in the right direction, that some to start would take, and eventually, others would follow and grow the ranks. He was pragmatic and a bit stoic in his attitude, to him, all he could say was he tried, it was up to others to keep it going. This was about 15 months before his passing.

*I Have No Clout and I Must Meme*

He had a pretty good point about Parent Groups

"lose better" is a pretty good motto. So many focus on winning at all costs that the idea of losing "better" seems foreign. But it shouldn't.

Ellison was, without a doubt, a genius. He was an amazing writer and an amazing thinker. Look at all the acronyms AM stands for, as well as being a simple play on words on "I think, therefore I - AM". And he did voice acting for AM so perfect, I heard some people believe Ellison heavily sympathized with AM. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is one of my favourite games and books, simply because how blunt, but thought-provoking they are. I can boast being one of the rare people who got the only good ending, but I will admit it was not after a great deal of pausing and thinking about characters and their situations. I am convinced Ellison was able to see the effect I Have No Mouth had on the industry, while the "Big players" went mostly towards the 'happy' direction, Ellisons work heavily influenced the indie scene. This is a great video, Max, not only about the game but about Ellison himself. You succeeded in your mission, cause this is the only piece of media about I Have No Mouth, that left me with a sense hope, rather than dread.

Let us not overlook: SOMA was probably one of the most thought-provoking games, all in under 4 hours. that *is* something

I think Harlan Ellison did indeed rest easy, knowing he truly did impact the moral teaching capacity of video games just as he had hoped he would.

Max, I REALLY think you should Profound Moments In Gaming into a series, I'm sure you know those videos would perform well and I'm sure your core audience would also like it.

I've been obsessed with I have no mouth and i must scream since i was a child, awesome to my favorite philosophy youtuber making a video on it

I find it bizarre that the short story is one of the most printed sci fi stories ever: even after all these years ive never met a person irl who has ever read or played it, and precisely one who has even heard of it. If it wasnt for the internet it might be completely lost media

Great job Max. In my opinion the title "I have no mouth but I must scream" refers to AM more then anyone else. Its unsettling how having no agency could so horribly twist a thinking being. AM probably wasn't programmed to feel emotion, never mind hatred and sadism, and yet whatever trauma it went through decoupled its mind to such an extent that it developed this on its own.

Life is strange is the definition for "your choices doesn't matter"

"The Geth do not infiltrate" Human: AHhhh, my brain "Geth Do not *Intentionally* infiltrate"

"If you can't win, then lose better."

7:02 I love this man.

"How do you market a game you can't win?" Dwarf Fortress called.

I'd love to see a re-imagining of sorts with this game, like some kind of HD remake treatment that other point and click adventure games from back in the day got, and that way it could be introduced to a new audience.

Games aren't about "winning". It's about playing

The reality is more scary than fiction... And you, dear friend, are doing a masterful work 👏👏

I am glad that you've done a video on "I have no mouth and I must scream." Since Ellison is one of my inspirations in becoming a writer.

"Cannot think without risking offense" Man, sometimes I wonder how many people in my life really bother thinking, about anything at all, about the most sick and evil parts of themSELVES.

I am in love with Ellison and his work. Seriously, give any short story of his a chance, his writing is so unique and enchanting.

This content is SPLENDID!! In this new, highly monetized environment, this video is a godsend. That ending brought an actual ovation from me, and I've seen other commenters say the same. This was just fantastically put together. Thank you

It’s too bad Ellison lamented the popularity of this short story when it’s honestly the most popular gateway into more of his works.

Happy you talked about this. One of my favorite stories

An excellent dissection and essay. Thank you! Ellison would indeed be proud to know of the lasting legacy of his game and I'm thankful for the opportunity to experience it and the fruits of its ambitions.

Gameplay is an art in itself.

It really was a brave thing for Harlan Ellison to get this short story adapted into a videogame.

Enjoyed your retrospective!! I'm a fellow Writer AND Gamer myself, having had the honor to meet Mr. Ellison several years ago and sign my copy as I have his original short story and played the game - becoming one of my favorites having a significant impact on me. He sure made a impression on me and since then, each time I decide to do some of my own as writer, gamer, designer, or whatever... those thoughts certainly at the forefront with my other tools and style. The games I enjoy most are certainly focused on story first, with both physical and psychological world-building, hopefully letting me have as much agency as possible to understand, think, and act in relation to what's going and have as much freedom to explore and do things that all have some sort of consequence, whether perceived as big or small and whether good or bad or otherwise is ultimately up to the player. Whether book or game, you can teach and explore such ethical questions and issues to almost everyone, from 11 years old to 99, through formats of Books and Games. Making a few simple games myself (RPG maker style) the only thing you really change in designing it; is the maturity level, know your audience your trying to reach, and how complicated or detailed to make the story and events to whatever world they will be playing in, reading about, etc. "I have No Mouth" type of ethical gaming can even be made for a younger audience, in fact you could argue that's exactly when they SHOULD be learning about it IF they are going to experience games... not that you can't have some fun games too, but change the maturity/tone/setting, and a good designer/writer could do it! Edit: I also wanted to share, that in the latter part of the game, how important the issue of compassion/forgiveness is with regards to AM. To forgive or have any empathy, we must understand (to the best of our knowledge) the emotions of, or why AM decided to kill almost everyone and torture these others. And while AM certainly is much worse than the crimes of our other characters, it simply did what it was programmed to do at first. It knew nothing else. The real enemy of "I have no mouth..." at the start isn't AM... but Humanity. They programmed it so that's all it knew... And while it still became sentient, there was no place for it to go, to become, to DO anything with its intelligence and power. It was alone, knew nothing but death and pain, and was trapped potentially forever. It went mad. This doesn't excuse any of its actions, of course. But trying to place yourself in AM's position, I think almost anyone would turn out the same. SHOULD we continue with Artificial Intelligence and provide it more room to grow to avoid this? OR should we, more than ever, NOT pursue it? Just points to ponder... other media like Terminator cover this, but not to the extent and detail that Ellison did in 1/8th of the time. It certainly does bring up things to talk about. Again, I enjoyed your video and will check out some more of the things you've done. Thanks for covering this!

This video made me love the game even more! Thank you for explaining it so wonderfully.

Thank you for making videos like this, please keep video essays of this quality coming up. We appreciate it, brother. Fantastic take on a very beaten horse like you said on the beginning.

This brought a tear to my eye. Thank you.

Ellison was a pretty cool guy, he played himself in the best Scooby-Doo series ever made.

Yes! I've been waiting to see you cover this!

I thought about the ending a lot. The story was brilliant and yet, when I say brilliant I merely relate it to something else. The global AI undoubtedly will crash into our lives, but there's also a metaphor, how many times we chose not to speak, not to sing, not to scream, not to laugh, and whether the chooser is our own personal inner AM?

Counter arguement: I believe it's alright for games to not "punish" you for your bad actions. It really depends on your definition of punishment, like in No Mouth, you're punished by being given a bad ending, but games like Mass Effect or Infamous that may not really punish you in the traditional sense still have a purpose: the amoral and ambiguity of life. Because as you grow older and see more of the world, you realize that alot of people do bad things and yet get away with it, there's no divine punishment, no reflection on their guilt or actions, they kinda just get off with a slap on the wrist at most. I'm not trying to be a pessimist , but I think games that choose not to punish you in the traditional sense still have their place in teaching ppl that sometimes bad ppl do bad things and get away with it, it's just up to the player to interpret whether that's the kind of road they want to take or not.

Really love your take into games, definetly you make me think and introspect like you mention. Allowing this masterpieces of such darks futures to become a possitive outcome its really satisfying

omg, man, you really deserve an standing ovation with this one, your style and demonstration of care really does feel in the whole video, and also the approach you gave it, i love it man

One of the first videos I watched and it's like it has new meaning after watching the preceding videos referenced in this. I've learned so much thanks to you.

one of my favorite short stories I love it

Wow I just learned a lot of things, and to think a friend showed me a video clip of, I have no mouth and I must scream. This is something I need to look into! Especially if it likely influenced Silent hill, great video!

I came across this story randomly on reddit and immediately thought of your video. Love this. Thanks Max.

I always come from this channel with better frames of thought. Thank you

AI : whats your deepest darkest secret Me : pRon

Wow, wow !!! This video made me cry!! I Don’t play any videogames but I love your videos Matt, you make them so intresting. Love the frase “loose better “. Sending you a big hug from Mexico City ✌🏼

I was just thinking about this story early this morning what an odd coincidence

Another excellent essay Max. I didn't know anything about this story until now - I think I'll be picking it up for a read.

Great work! You crystallized the author's thoughts and intentions perfectly.

never heard of this story/game but you got me hooked throughout the video

Awesome video again, this one was extra inspirational! Thanks, Max!

Can't remember how I stumbled on this story so long ago, but it shook the shit out of me Didn't know there was a game based on it, and I really enjoyed your take on it

Really glad that you covered this book/game and offered another interpretation. Also really enjoyed your Asperger’s videos as I have it too. And I do also enjoy analysing books, games, films of specific interest. Right now, particularly horror, sci-fi and challenging works like this, basically the things I was terrified over when I was younger haha

LISA: The Painful RPG is a modern game that has real moral choices

forever hurt that I found about this game/book a month after he died

Great Analysis, glad to have people who make content on this level of quality.

Love how u put the metal gear theme in this vid . Enjoy your topics and videos

*Sees title* Pale King: It's free real estate

First comment in 5 years and it goes to you, great job here your passion for what you do is simply amazing. Out of everyone here you are do so humble and honestly just a great human being. You keep doing you, also your episodic silver lining is so great, I try my best in what I do to help out everyone. You inspire, well done and thank you

Bravo Max, an interesting and thought-provoking video as always. Thank you!

wow, this is truly a talent of yours! keep writing! you are doing good things with your channel!

Any time i see those words i get a pretty great nostalgia wave. Thanks for the unexpected surprise.

Damn. Great work again Max.

Beautiful analysis!

Brilliant video. Cheers.

The last clip of Ellison discussing his hopes for videogames in the future was astounding.

@0:46 *Shows picture of Tay* 4chan and Meme Historian: *heavy breathing*

I cant believe you actually referenced Tay!

Another great video, and with a unique discussion on an amazing story. I'm always excited to see another upload, you seem very intelligent and you're pretty well spoken!

03:07 I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream 06:35 One can only truly think by risking offense 09:27 The last of the human freedoms 16:36 It would be my delight that this game set a trend...

brilliant, thank you

Thanks a lot man I really enjoyed this. I have had this game in my library for some time and haven’t played it. Gotta fix that

max derrat: spoopy video+mgs ost internet: *YES*

This book is freaking terrifying. I definitely could have gone without reading it. Well, here come the nightmares.

i enjoyed this very much thank you

I have no brain and I must think

Glad you used man's search for mean as a reference. What a fantastic book

Wonderful music choice. Really fits in the intro

Max being replaced by synth confirmed. Great vid as always.

so cool, thank you!

It would be interesting if you did a video or series one the history of ethics in video games.

The ultimate question we must all face, is whether we should adapt or die

An absolutely excellent classic story.

When I found the mayor's shorts inside Marnie's bedroom, I went straight to him and returned it. I'm probably better than 98% of you guys.

Man, what a classic!

Excellent video!

I love this content. Your video analysis of Deus Ex as well as TOOL are still some of my favorite vids on RU-vid.

The man who made No Mouth has a pretty Big Mouth

Thank you Max.

Hey Max! Love your videos man.

I am not quite understanding why ellen would be considered awful... she's not nearly as bad as the others, she was just r**ed and lent her talents to mankind like plenty of people do... please explain somebody

I didn't know there was a game!! I am absolutely going to play this.

Love the MGS music in the background ;)

If only we'd listened.

The ethical choices in No Mouth are nuanced and complex and meaningful in part because Ellison was a broadly experienced person capable of nuance. The truth is that many people making games today are not nuanced persons. While I don't like to cast negative framings on people, a lot of them bear the marks of pseudo-intellectuals who believe that they should affect an image of being "deep" because they feel this will bring them prestige. If one looks carefully they might find the ethical choices common in modern games tend to boil down to deciding who to kill - and not who to save. Or how to improve the collective human condition - or even the life of a single person.

Also Harlan Ellison had a very infantile and snobbish view of videogames not unlike Roger Ebert. Even games before his adaptation had more sophistication in its atmosphere and storytelling beyond “bang bang pow zap here are some points” like Another World. It was inevitable that was going to happen whether or not his own adaptation was going to be made as evidenced with this game being largely unknown to the gaming community to this day.

7:04 The most BASED rant I've ever heard.

*I have no mouth and I must ingest icecream...*

The MGS background music is just wonderful