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wOct 24, 2005 | |
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The Bane of Society Only yesterday I read the second volume of the Priest manga, in which the main character is a man who has sold his soul the devil, and fights against a demonic priest. In this particular volume, mutilated rotting corpses hang from crosses, zombies graphically eat the flesh off of a live human being, two characters are attacked through the use of voodoo dolls, and a man has all of his ribs burst outwards through his flesh. Of course, copious amounts of stabbing and blood spraying are also present. Why am I not hell-bent on, say, getting up this morning and slowly killing my roommate with the steak knife I’ve got while subduing her with my pepper spray? Why do I not pack a gun and go to one of my classes and open fire so as to recreate the bloodbaths I’ve seen in movies/anime and read about in books/comics? It must be because yesterday I forgot to train on my favorite “murder simulation” video game. I didn’t get my practice in with pressing the X button repeatedly so that I could learn how to use an assault rifle against human beings. Yes, it amazes me that so many American children are allowed to train to be violent criminals in our own homes. The obvious culprit in our culture rampant with apathy and crime (wait, isn’t it at its lowest point in 30 years?) is an evil corporate nemesis whose goal is to corrupt our children: The Video Game Industry. I am obviously not a fan of banning books, comics, or movies, but if you’re going to attack video games, it seems a bit ridiculous to ignore every other facet of the media market. Blaming the media at all for an increase in violence is moronic. The kids who massacred fellow students before turning their guns on themselves at Columbine were not more inclined to do so because they listened to Marilyn Manson or played video games. The reason they came to school and shot up their classmates was because they had easy access to guns and because they were obviously in some way alienated to the point of insanity in their high school. High schools are a great place for the unfortunate "geeks" of society to get shat on every day of their teenage lives until finally, in some way or another, they snap. It is not video games that "train" people to become criminals. If anything, video games provide people with a way to disassociate from reality and vent emotions. People have yet to prove causation, or even a correlation, between video games and violence. And yet, people are using politics to implement a ridiculous “standard” so as to protect minors from viewing violent images (only in video games - TV, movies, anime, books, comics, and music (okay maybe not so much music) are all okay) that have yet to be proven to cause any direct correlation/causality with actually being violent. If you’d like to inform yourself about the horrific goings-on in such places as Michigan and California, do yourself a favor and visit Game Politics.com. If nothing else, you can give me a shoulder to cry softly on. On a completely unrelated note, I have more news regarding Saturday's zombie protest that I mentioned yesterday. Someone at the Daily Cardinal this evening said that some of the zombies stood next to the Christian protesters (who like to stand at the start of State Street and tell everyone they're going to Hell) and held up signs saying "Eternal Life for All." Yes. Goblet of Fire soundtrack is online for legal, public consumption. Current Music: Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blindscribbled mystickeeper at 10:42 PM  
4 comments 4 Comments:
I always find it bizarre how myopic our society is for dealing with "bad" things. For some reason, they target video games almost exclusively (possibly because they appeal to a relatively niche market, while TV and movies are more generalized audiences) for their violence. Yet, sex (which, although it has definite issues- STDs and unwanted pregnancies high on the list) is targeted even more than violence. WHY is it okay for kids to watch movies that show people murdering each other, but NOT okay to watch movies that contain nudity or sex? I'm sorry, but in my hierarchy of what is bad, killing is worse than sex. The one takes life, the other potentially creates it. You can still live your life if you get pregnant or get an STD- in comparison, think of all the damage that happens to families when someone is killed!
By I believe that someone said yes, they did. It wasn't in today's paper, and I don't remember seeing it in tomorrow's, but not all of the photo slugs were in when I left.
By I asked Ben, and he said they'll be in tomorrow. I'm sure I'll link them, ;)
By Yay!
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