Things I've Learned from 'Mortal Kombat'

Written by Shae Rufe

​Growing up in the late ‘80’s and ‘90’s lets me be old enough to remember some pretty awesome things, but perhaps one of my favorite memories was the invention of the fighting video game and of course, the greatest action movie revolution ever. All right, that second half is probably a lie, but in all actuality, the movies I had the chance to grow up with and the video games I got to play have still had an influence on me, even all these years later. With the nostalgia of old things being remade, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the amazing things I grew up with. And what taught me more about life than Mortal Kombat? I actually used to play the SNES version of this game with my dad as often as possible. My whole goal in life was to try and beat him and the game. Sadly, neither would happen until I became a teenager, but in the meantime, there was plenty of time to practice. The game taught me so many things about life, and would inadvertently send me into a really confused part of my childhood…

Like, why couldn’t I have ice powers? Or have blades shoot out of the palms of my hand? Really, though, I learned a lot from this game. For instance, never fight with someone who is more skilled at martial arts than you are. Also, martial arts is nothing to sneeze at. Seriously, I wanted to be a master fighter so bad I begged my parents to let me do Karate…which I didn’t stick with. Turns out I have asthma! We got to learn that, and hey, life experiences. It’s also hard work, dedication, and a lot of muscle memory. Which is probably why I’m a writer and not a really cool, talented, MMA fighter…

Mortal Kombat also taught me that you shouldn’t fight people with 4 arms, because holy crap, they’re tough to beat. Also, that if you try hard enough, you’ll still probably fail. Life is all about not dying. Wow, that got deeper than I intended for this to go. But, hey, life lessons. Like, if you’re the God of Thunder/Lightning, you can still die. Did anyone else know that? I was shocked. Also, it’s okay to make mortals fight other-worldly monsters and that’s normal. Oh hey, you’re a human? Fight this God-like being from Hell! That’s how nightmares are made in normal children. For whatever reason, I really wanted to be like Scorpion. Or have fans like Kitana. Funny story time! I actually spent the majority of my life trying to find fighting fans like that. Turns out they’re based off of Korean fighting fans and the bladed tips were coated in poison back in the day. Not that I didn’t find this out until like 5 years ago…I did…I told you, I have been obsessed with this series for a really long time…

And then, the movie came out. That movie. Was. Awesome. I don’t care what anyone says, that movie sums up my childhood memories nicely and I will defend it to this very day.  Okay, its special effects aren’t that great, and let’s be completely honest, the acting wasn’t either, but for the time it was still so cool. I remember my parents renting a VHS copy of this movie…I watched it so many times they finally just bought it. I think I blame this very movie for the entire life I have lead so far. I’ve been obsessed with Eastern culture and fighting movies ever since. The movie taught me that having big hair isn’t a bad thing. Turns out, I still don’t like my hair big, but hey, the 90’s made it okay. It also taught me that if you’re going to fight a bad guy, you better do it in style. And that sunglasses were apparently designer and expensive…

The movie also taught me that women can fight just as good as men. Sonya was a huge influence, and the whole scene where she just kicks butt is pretty much the epitome of a strong female character. Really, the movie and video game held a lot of equality messages in it without any of us even knowing. Nothing else mattered, except your fighting skills…

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