It seems that people are always quick to point the finger at certain segments of society, scapegoating them for what they perceive to be the cause of certain problems. Most civilized people should be past this rather naïve and childish form of accusing, but it seems that in 2009, they are not.
According to Reuters, Venezuela is the latest country to attempt the adoption of laws to ban “violent video games.”
“Dozens of people are murdered every week in the capital Caracas, one of Latin America’s most dangerous cities, sometimes for as little as a pair of shoes or a mobile phone … Police release crime statistics irregularly and officials frequently say they do not know how many homicides have taken place,” Reuters recently reported.
Of course, video games must be the culprit. What else could it conceivably be? Surely not shoddy police work.
I have had it with lawmakers attempting to ban video games they consider violent or, dare I say, “controversial,” when there is next to zero evidence supporting the claims. I grew up playing video games and I still play them frequently, and so do most of my friends. But are we rapists, murderers, thieves, felons and general troublemakers because we play them? I fail to see a link.
Quite often it seems to me as if the politicians themselves don’t even play the games they are speaking out against. Take, for instance, probably the best example of modern controversial gaming — the “Grand Theft Auto” series.
Despite the fact this series has effectively created a detailed, digitally open world where you, the player, can do just about anything you want, including steal cars, work for Mafia bosses and cause general mayhem, lawmakers such as Joe Lieberman still foolishly believe people who play the games will try to live out such behavior in real life.
According to Lieberman in a 2004 Reuters article, “You ought to see one called ‘Grand Theft Auto’. The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again.”
Oh Joe, don’t you see, you are clearly out of the demographic? Nobody expects a 67-year-old man to understand the appeal of such a game and, of course, he’ll be the first one fighting against something he can’t possibly comprehend.
To most people, video games serve as an escape to worlds where the impossible is possible and you can — gasp — kill people without suffering the consequences you would suffer in real life.
Former lawyer and activist Jack Thompson was at the forefront of this issue until his recent disbarment in 2008. When he was fighting the good ol’ fight against video games, rap music and Howard Stern, his arguments were chock full of fallacies and inaccuracies.
Surely, Thompson played the games he was lambasting, right? Wrong. Regarding a Christian apocalyptic game called “Left Behind,” Thompson said that it “broke his heart,” despite the fact he had never played it. He said at the time, “I don’t have to meet Abraham Lincoln to know that he was the 16th president of the United States.” Nope, you sure don’t.
Connecticut Sen. Gayle Slossberg, in 2008, went as far as to claim that in “Grand Theft Auto IV” the player earns points for “raping women.” I’ve played through that game from beginning to end and I can tell you there is no such rape scene involved. But who cares about getting facts right?
There are always a few stories of school shooters that were “influenced” by video games, and young kids who claimed to “learn how to drive” from “Grand Theft Auto.” It is just too convenient to scapegoat video games and not look at the real problems — bad parenting, poor schooling and a general lack of quality of life.
Are video games really the cause, when millions of other people play them with no problems? Venezuela should go ahead and ban violent video games. I’d love to see the look on lawmakers’ faces when the violence in that country doesn’t cease, or even slow down, after the ban when they were so sure it would.
Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student and a columnist for the Daily 49er.