December 27, 2006
Perhaps you've read Gerard Jones' excellent 2003 book Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes and Make-Believe Violence
.Even if you haven't, check out Bonnie Ruberg's insightful Gamasutra interview with Jones, who dishes on the politics of video games, comic books, sex and violence.
Some highlights:
Video games have been so much under attack recently... I think anyone who’s a decent person but who finds himself or herself attracted to aggressive or violent imagery is a little troubled... People in the games business are particularly inclined that way, being, for the most part, a gentle group in a medium where violence has become so prominent.
Jones offers a quick history lesson in censorship:
The first big attack in the United States was against popular novels, dime novels... there was a huge outcry driven by teachers and doctors, bought into by parents and politicians - who saw a way to generate votes. This outcry was probably more virulent and widespread than the attacks on video games now...
You find it again about movies in the late 20's and early 30's when they got sexier. You find it again about movies in the early 90's when gore was coming up. And certainly music too... Whenever there’s a new medium, or there’s a distinct new style, there will be this.
Could the recent wave of video game legislation actually signal the beginning of end of the culture against video games? Jones thinks so:
What happens is, bills get written. So you start to see legislation popping up late in the cycle... So it’s not unlikely that during the flurry of legislation, which might be when the industry is most frightened, that might actually be when it’s about to stop.
What about GTA and Hot Coffee?
There is a certain absurdity that parents make peace with Grand Theft Auto, until naked women appear in it. It has something to do with the fact that it was snuck in... With violent games, we’re learning to accept it. Your kids’ friends have these games too. But then our threshold for violence has always been higher than for sex.
Catch the rest of the Gerard Jones interview at Gamasutra. For more info on Jones, check his Wikipedia entry. Jones, by the way, is currently listed as Jack Thompson's opponent in a proposed college debate tour. No dates for the tour have yet been scheduled, however, according to word GP received from Jones last evening.
Comments
I believe this is more along the lines of 'If you are attracted to these kinds of games, the amount of attack they've been under probably troubles you' rather than 'If you are attracted to these kinds of games, you're probably troubled in the head'. 'Troubled' as in worried, not tetched. Though, yeah, I had to reread that part a bit to make sure of what I was seeing.
Thanks for clearing that up. That's a good analysis of that part of the article. Also register to vote to make your voice heard on this issue. The politicians will stop attacking these games if we turn it into a negative for their re-election campaigns. We have to vote, so they will come after our votes and stop attacking our games.
Fun, fun, fun.
I agree. If we do see more legislation, it will probably be for educational purposes such as a media awareness campaign on the ESRB rating system so parents know what games might or might not be approriate for their children. We are also starting to see media awareness groups such as NIMF and others pointing the fingers at parents rather then the retailers and game makers, which is also a good sign.
Anyway, i agree that the legislation period is almost over.