Weekend Heroes On the Path to Glory

There is great upheaval in the realm. The peoples of Darkon grow weary of war. To stop the relentless spread of the cruel Mordomian Empire, Bannor of Laconia faces the armies of Keldar on the field of battle. The air trembles with the clash of arms. Challenges are issued. Treachery is done. And there will be duct tape. Lots of duct tape. Welcome to "Darkon," land of the LARPers.

LARP-ing ("live action role playing") involves normal men and women pretending to be the inhabitants of a fantasy world and fighting pretend battles for pretend land in their pretend country. It's "Dungeons and Dragons" played on soccer fields by people dressed in homemade armor, with shields and swords wrapped in foam and held together by the aforementioned tape. The documentary "Darkon" could easily have become an excuse to poke fun at other peoples' passions, but it's a credit to directors Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel that it's actually a chronicle of true heroism.

The battle between the cruel Keldar and the beleaguered Bannor is also a battle between Kenyon Wells, whose parents are thrilled that the game has given their introverted son an injection of self-confidence, and Skip Lipman, a stay-at-home dad who was fired from his family business for punching his brother in the mouth. For them, "Darkon" is less of a silly hobby than a serious attempt to keep their dreams alive in a world where a minimum-wage job is as close to heroism as they may ever come.

The LARP-ers of "Darkon" show real courage by opening their hearts and exposing their deepest dreams to potential ridicule. As one young man says, "I hope that the game gives me the confidence to one day maybe, you know, go up and start talking to ... a girl." That kind of willingness to reveal oneself so baldly is rare in the world. In fact, it's practically heroic.