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Stephen King speaks what should be common sense concerning video game violence (and the laws being put forth that are intended to curtail it), but which sadly isn't common sense in the real world, apparently.
He hits the nail squarely on the head, in my opinion. But then, he's not the first to have done so, and probably won't be the last either.
Of course, the huge problem, as always, is that pretty much all of those who need to actually hear this common sense and learn from it are likely to simply ignore Mr. King and keep doing their "gotta pertect the chil'uns from the ebil vidjya gaems" thing, just as they have ignored anyone and everyone else who has said this very same thing for the past two decades or so. I'm honestly curious as to what will be the next big cultural boogeyman and scapegoat to dare to rear its head, once video games have finally become mainstream enough that this kind of thing is no longer an issue.
The novelty here, for me anyway, is that this is Stephen frickin' King saying this, a guy who, in the opening scene of one of his novels, has a clown in a sewer rip the arm off of a small child. I mean, if the the people I mentioned above aren't standing in King's lawn with torches and pitchforks even now, then why the hell do they have such a hate-on for things like GTA or whatever, which are relatively tame by comparison?
"They float," it growled, "they float, Georgie, and when you're down here with me, you'll float, too—"
George's shoulder socked against the cement of the curb and Dave Gardener, who had stayed home from his job at The Shoeboat that day because of the flood, saw only a small boy in a yellow rainslicker, a small boy who was screaming and writhing in the gutter with muddy water surfing over his face and making his screams sound bubbly.
"Everything down here floats," that chuckling, rotten voice whispered, and suddenly there was a ripping noise, and a flaring sheet of agony, and George Denbrough knew no more.
Dave Gardener was the first to get there, and although he arrived only forty-five seconds after the first scream, George Denbrough was already dead. Gardener grabbed him by the back of the slicker, pulled him into the street...and began to scream himself as George's body turned over in his hands. The left side of George's slicker was now bright red. Blood flowed into the stormdrain from the tattered hole where the left arm had been. A knob of bone, horribly bright, peeked through the torn cloth.
The boy's eyes stared up into the white sky, and as Dave staggered away toward the others already running pell-mell down the street, they began to fill up with rain.
Seriously, picture this for just a second. If there were ever a scene like this in a video game, heaven help us all, it would be as though the END TIMES were finally upon us, at least according to the usual suspects (Jack Thompson, FOX News, a vast number of elected officials, etc.) Yet none of them seem to bat an eye at the fact that pretty much anyone, regardless of age, could stroll into a store and pick up this book. Or how 'bout the movie*? Personally, I'd recommend the book, because the movie sucked rather hard.
* - I'm sorry, but it always hurts my brain every time I try to imagine that this is the same man who does the voice of Gabriel Knight.
(EDIT)
And to preempt a potential criticism that I've seen cropping up elsewhere in response to arguments similar to mine above: No, I don't necessarily want books and movies to be put under the same microscope that video games are currently under, as though for some strange sense of "getting even" or whatever. I just want there to be fairness in dealing with all forms of media, rather than the knee-jerk ignorance that rules the day now regarding video games. Turning a blind eye is not a good idea, but flailing about like a dumbass trying to ban things isn't the way to go either. Mostly, it's the hypocrisy of the "video games are the devil" crowd that sticks in my craw, given that equal, or in many cases far worse, content can be easily found in other media, but doesn't get nearly as big of a rise out of them, if it gets one at all.
(/EDIT)
He hits the nail squarely on the head, in my opinion. But then, he's not the first to have done so, and probably won't be the last either.
Of course, the huge problem, as always, is that pretty much all of those who need to actually hear this common sense and learn from it are likely to simply ignore Mr. King and keep doing their "gotta pertect the chil'uns from the ebil vidjya gaems" thing, just as they have ignored anyone and everyone else who has said this very same thing for the past two decades or so. I'm honestly curious as to what will be the next big cultural boogeyman and scapegoat to dare to rear its head, once video games have finally become mainstream enough that this kind of thing is no longer an issue.
The novelty here, for me anyway, is that this is Stephen frickin' King saying this, a guy who, in the opening scene of one of his novels, has a clown in a sewer rip the arm off of a small child. I mean, if the the people I mentioned above aren't standing in King's lawn with torches and pitchforks even now, then why the hell do they have such a hate-on for things like GTA or whatever, which are relatively tame by comparison?
"They float," it growled, "they float, Georgie, and when you're down here with me, you'll float, too—"
George's shoulder socked against the cement of the curb and Dave Gardener, who had stayed home from his job at The Shoeboat that day because of the flood, saw only a small boy in a yellow rainslicker, a small boy who was screaming and writhing in the gutter with muddy water surfing over his face and making his screams sound bubbly.
"Everything down here floats," that chuckling, rotten voice whispered, and suddenly there was a ripping noise, and a flaring sheet of agony, and George Denbrough knew no more.
Dave Gardener was the first to get there, and although he arrived only forty-five seconds after the first scream, George Denbrough was already dead. Gardener grabbed him by the back of the slicker, pulled him into the street...and began to scream himself as George's body turned over in his hands. The left side of George's slicker was now bright red. Blood flowed into the stormdrain from the tattered hole where the left arm had been. A knob of bone, horribly bright, peeked through the torn cloth.
The boy's eyes stared up into the white sky, and as Dave staggered away toward the others already running pell-mell down the street, they began to fill up with rain.
Seriously, picture this for just a second. If there were ever a scene like this in a video game, heaven help us all, it would be as though the END TIMES were finally upon us, at least according to the usual suspects (Jack Thompson, FOX News, a vast number of elected officials, etc.) Yet none of them seem to bat an eye at the fact that pretty much anyone, regardless of age, could stroll into a store and pick up this book. Or how 'bout the movie*? Personally, I'd recommend the book, because the movie sucked rather hard.
* - I'm sorry, but it always hurts my brain every time I try to imagine that this is the same man who does the voice of Gabriel Knight.
(EDIT)
And to preempt a potential criticism that I've seen cropping up elsewhere in response to arguments similar to mine above: No, I don't necessarily want books and movies to be put under the same microscope that video games are currently under, as though for some strange sense of "getting even" or whatever. I just want there to be fairness in dealing with all forms of media, rather than the knee-jerk ignorance that rules the day now regarding video games. Turning a blind eye is not a good idea, but flailing about like a dumbass trying to ban things isn't the way to go either. Mostly, it's the hypocrisy of the "video games are the devil" crowd that sticks in my craw, given that equal, or in many cases far worse, content can be easily found in other media, but doesn't get nearly as big of a rise out of them, if it gets one at all.
(/EDIT)
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Date: 2008-04-06 04:22 pm (UTC)From:Book and Movie industries have lobbyists. The video game industry by comparison is essentially a defenseless animal the politicians can use as a scapegoat for all the problems in the world and draw attention away from real issues they're suppose to be fighting. That's why it's easy for them to ignore people like Mr. King. (And why they can't say a thing to him about having clowns ripping kids limbs off in his books.)
I remember hearing that Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and EA were going to form their own game association to help remedy this but I don't remember what the timeline was going to be for that - August sounds familiar, but I honestly don't know anymore. I also pointed out back then that while this new association would have lobbyists to protect the industry from starving politicians, it would also cause a major spike in lobbying for things like increased fines for having mod chips, roms, or even attempting to write an emulator.
Just think about how the RIAA or MPAA works and apply it to the video game market and you'd get a good idea of how the new lobbying machine would work in practice. :) I mean seriously, it's to be founded by Root Kit Sony, Exclusive Deal Nintendo, Monopoly Microsoft, and ... EA. I can't think of an appropriate nickname for EA... the name itself feels to be enough.