Henry Jenkins Weighs in on Moral Kombat Film
Henry Jenkins Weighs in on Moral Kombat Film
November 30, 2007
Every gamer's favorite academic, Prof. Henry Jenkins of MIT, blogs a two-part series detailing his impressions of the controversial documentary film Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat.Jenkins, who appears in the film, is enthusiastic:Moral Kombat is perhaps the most important film ever made about video games.and you should see it if you get a chance. The film will force people on all sides of the debate about games and violence to re-examine their own positions and ask harder questions...
I will admit to having had a crisis of faith when I first saw the trailer. It felt sensationalistic and one-sided... don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge this film by its preview.
Frankly, I have been deeply troubled by those in the gaming community who would seek to silence this film, even if its perspective were fundamentally opposed to our own. Surely, we can't defend the free speech rights of game designers and players by seeking to silence those who disagree with us... How does that make us any better than what we are fighting against?
I am proud to have been included in this important work. I hope my readers will be open-minded enough to check their assumptions at the door, give the film a chance, and think through the implications of what it has to say with fresh eyes.
Full Disclosure Dept: Spencer Halpin is the brother of ECA president Hal Halpin. The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
I'll be glad if it isn't a one sided bit of propaganda or sensationalism for either side; that's a good thing. I will probably watch it at some point and judge it on its merits, but clearly Spencer made a misjudgement releasing the trailer in the form it was in.
...I hate myself.
Anyways, the film itself was really good. I recommend it heartily.
And if we have to pay, somebody needs to seed it or post it on Youtube.
now the only major question is: where do i get a copy?
is the ECA going to sell them? is Halpin himself?
I think that Dennis has posted this to help alleviate the concerns that many people have on this film. The trailers that have been shown here and elsewhere have seemed quite one sided. So Dennis has posted the opinion of a respected person in the game industry to counter the misinterpretation by many gamers.
I look forward to this film and will gladly buy it when available. I will also be buying Playing Columbine and the Discovery Channel's documentary.
Can't wait.
Why should we not have to pay for seeing this movie? It took time, effort and money for people to make the film, why shouldn't they be able to make it back? It'll be hard to see it because it's a documentary, which won't be showing many places, but that's not excuse for thinking that we're entitled to see it for free.
How many documentaries have you paid money to see?
While the question was directed elsewhere, I have paid to see Bowling for Columbine, Supersize Me and Touching the Void. All were very good and worthy of the price of admission.
Documentaries are just as much worthy of release as Films and not all are funded by TV Companies to allow them to be made and free to air. A Documentary maker needs to make money just as much as the next person.
Truth be told.. None. I'd pay to see this one though.
Someone'll put it on YouTube. Eventually..
He woudln't have agreed to appear unless he was getting some form of monetary compensation
When Henry takes the time to call it significant, that's worth writing about.
also I liked his comment
"Frankly, I have been deeply troubled by those in the gaming community who would seek to silence this film, even if its perspective were fundamentally opposed to our own. Surely, we can’t defend the free speech rights of game designers and players by seeking to silence those who disagree with us… How does that make us any better than what we are fighting against?"
I hope that they show good examples of videogames like Mario and Pokemon, also commenting on how Pokemon was accused of Animal violence by critics who 'never played the game'
It is all too easy to blame videogames for the problems of the world, but the real way to combat this is not trying to say that they are wrong, but to also prove that on many occasions their words are biased and also misleading,
In orther words, perhaps the only mistake that the Videogame industry has made is that they have not been able to have a good spokesperson on behalf of the industry until recently.
Plus Miyamoto at the GDC this March has said that the public perception of videogames is one of the greatest challenges facing the industry as a whole.
Since they talk about violent videogames as if they have played them, it would be good for a gamer to point out that if they did play videogames, why do they still say that games reward players with points when they shoot police officers???
It will be interesting how they would comment on that.
The only way we as gamers can fight against these anti-gamers is to point out that their comments show that they might not have played videogames at all, instead they just make up arguments of what they perceive videogames to be like.
Also if we can also rebut their statements that most videogames contain violence, we should get an accurate tally of how many games with an E rating and T ratings and measure that against the number of M rated games.
It is all about integrity and we have to debate that their integrity is not as strong as they try to portray in the mainstream media.
Trying to say that these anti-gamers are n00bs are not really a professional way of attacking their arguments and it makes us gamers look like we are selfish.
"I hate old people."
And not that it's ever going to happen, but if they do take away our First Amendment rights, then we won't be able to say anything about it.
Because we won't have the right anymore.
Thier right is being respected. Ours is not.
I've always been of the mind that turnabout is fair play. I think it's fine to deny people a voice. Espically when that voice is shrill, unhelpful, and teeming with lies and disinformation.