Mar 18, 2008
Video games as porn
by windshell
A new video game bill that will make it illegal to sell or rent out "ultra-violent" games to gamers under 18 is being reviewed today.
Furthermore, those “ultra-violent†games should be equal to porn, according to that new bill.
But, where the line between what is violent and non-violent content should be drawn?
And why equalize violence and porn?
Today, while these words have been written, Massachusetts will hold a hearing to consider House Bill 1423.
House Bill 1423 is a video game measure that has been introduced last year, but not yet acted upon.
This Massachusetts bill closely resembles the Louisiana video game law, created by Jack Thompson, which has been turned down as an unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court judge in 2006.
House Bill 1423 is actually a “games-as-porn†bill, which will seek restriction to minors from buying violent video games, classifying them as sexually explicit materials. Therefore, this House Bill would define violent games as harmful to minors in the same legal sense as pornography.
Extract from the bill:
“Matter is harmful to minors if it is obscene or, if taken as a whole, it… depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, so as to appeal predominantly to the morbid interest in violence of minors; is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed… and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.â€
After similar bills have been turned down in Louisiana and Utah, both authored by Jack Thompson, he confirmed that he’s involved in Massachusetts bill as well.
As a devoted fighter against violence in video games, it seems like he’ll do anything to ‘push’ his law to as many more countries as possible.
But, is this bill doomed already? I think it is, based on the last sentence from the extract:
“…and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.â€
Many (if not majority) games created for minors are as violent as those created for mature audience.
According to this bill, even stomping on the mushrooms in Super Mario or eating Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde in Pacman should be considered as violence in games and should be compared to watching the Jenna Jameson in action.
Some games are created to develop the various children skills: cognitive, perceptive, or motor skills. Some of them have artistic value as well. Through the simple story about good and evil, they should teach kids about basic moral values. Evil should be defeated, not with flowers, yet with some violence. Kids have to stomp on few mushrooms on their path of development.
It’s not so bad.
My opinion is that problem is in whole entertainment culture nowadays. That culture is based on violence.
Not only video games.
When you wake up in the morning, your cereals for breakfast will be accompanied with TV screen pictures of the gruesome murders and accidents worldwide. Uncensored in the prime time.
When you take your girlfriend/boyfriend in the movie. What shall you watch? Rambo?
Even average comedies today have enough blood and violence to turn the stomach sometimes.
It’s whole society. Fed with gore and violence, it is pointing finger to video games... to porn... to ‘corrupted’ minors.
While heads rolling, they seek for morality.
Funny.
Ok. I don’t know ‘bout you, but I’m going to kill some monsters.
I’ll think about morality. I promise.
Links
|
