Thursday, January 04, 2007

Video Game Violence: Joe Lieberman is a goddamn comedian

I'm going to have to interrupt my gushing about Casino Royale to draw attention to an absurd example of propagandistic political cinema. I'm drawing attention to it because of my social libertarian tendencies, but more importantly, I want to bring it up because it's so under-argued and overdramatic that it's laughable.

It's a trailer for a new movie, I guess along the lines of new political-issue documentaries, like Inconvenient Truth, Who Killed the Electric Car?, and The U.S. Versus John Lennon. This one is positioned to attack video games as the pivotal gateway for violence to enter our culture. The video in question can be found here.

For the sake of rational argument (I put that concept in italics so you can wave goodbye to it for the duration of the clip), I'm going to look at this trailer on a point-by-point basis. They have four, maybe five soundbites, and not ONE of them stands up to the least scrutiny.

Let's take a few. I'm paraphrasing... the quotes are just to make it clear that I'm pulling a point from the video. My commentary is going to be minimal, because you're all individually capable of thinking about these points and recognizing them as farcical.

1 - "In the past, violence has been seen as a vice, rather than a virtue."
Every society in the history of civilization has valued its warriors over its lay-people. Samurais, Knights, army generals, kids play-fighting since the beginning of time... if anything, we live in perhaps the LEAST violent global culture in history.

2 - "We didn't want to get into the regulation game; we invited the gaming industry to regulate itself."
Again, nonsensical. The video game industry is regulating itself; it would take some fast talking to claim that software companies, adopting the ESRB ratings voluntarily, aren't heeding the cautions of their critics.

3 - "We blame video games for teaching people how to fly planes into the World Trade Center."
Blaming non-violent video games rather than the CIA? An irrelevant and profoundly misdirective tangent. Mentioning 9/11 is nothing but shameless sensationalism.

4 - "We'll see Columbine etc. etc"
Again, sensationalism. Why can't we blame the alarmist media for glorifying violence by making every American crisis into a political buzzword?

5 - "We literally enter into a world that's so realistic, we forget that it's a make-believe world."
This isn't true for anyone I know, including 3 to 6-year old children. It's an absurdism that equates playing video games with a kind of psychopathic hallucination.

Alarmist is a comedic understatement. If this trailer suggested any kind of cogent argument, I might take an interest in watching the film. Instead, it shows that people who want to regulate our lifestyles can only justify their actions with bizarre misrepresentation of reality.

25 comments:

Kelly said...

Geepers! That is *the* most lame idea for a movie EVAR! It's like that time Tipper Gore went to town on song lyrics. Look, we've got to give people more credit for cogent, conscious thought, otherwise they won't ever take responsibility for anything. "The video games made me do it!" "The rap lyrics made me do it." NO. You did it because you're a sentient being and can think for yourself.

Video games don't kill people; people with sketchy mustaches kill people.

Anonymous said...

If i cant trust videogames to babysit my kids, who CAN i trust?

What about all those statistics that say crime has been DROPPING for the past however many years? Maybe its because all those antisocial gamers are inside playing videogames than outside egging mailboxes.

People are just looking to place the blame, and the videogame industry is an easy target.

And Lieberman is a bandwagon jumping loser. Just ask Penny Arcade. He and Jack Thompson should get coffee someday, although it would be interrupted often as Thompson's spidey senses go off every time he hears an ambulance siren.

Rachel

토토사이트 said...

How did you think of this? I think you can help me. Come here to help.토토사이트

GOGOLIVE said...

I've been searching for hours on this topic and finally found your post. , I have read your post and I am very impressed. We prefer your opinion and will visit this site frequently to refer to your opinion. When would you like to visit my site? 바둑이사이트

먹튀신고 said...

What a post I've been looking for! I'm very happy to finally read this post. 토토커뮤니티 Thank you very much. Can I refer to your post on my website? Your post touched me a lot and helped me a lot. If you have any questions, please visit my site and read what kind of posts I am posting. I am sure it will be interesting.

메이저놀이터 said...

I love what you 메이저놀이터 tend to be up too. This kind of clever work and exposure! Keep up the excellent works guys I've incorporated you guys to our blogroll.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you could be
a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and will
eventually come back from now on. I want to encourage you to continue your great
writing, have a nice weekend!

Website:온라인바카라

메이저안전놀이터 said...

benefitofthedoubt.miksimum.com/2007/01/joe-leiberman-is-goddamn-comedian.html

메이저안전놀이터 said...

That's a great article! The neatly organized content is good to see. Can I quote a blog and write it on my blog? My blog has a variety of communities including these articles. Would you like to visit me later? 메이저안전놀이터

안전놀이터추천 said...

Thank you so much for such a well-written article. It’s full of insightful information. Your point of view is the best among many without fail.For certain, It is one of the best blogs in my opinion. 안전놀이터추천

alone said...

I'm writing on this topic these days, Kèohay, but I have stopped writing because there is no reference material. Then I accidentally found your article. I can refer to a variety of materials, so I think the work I was preparing will work! Thank you for your efforts.

안전놀이터추천 said...

Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way. 안전놀이터추천

racesitepro said...

This design is incredible! You definitely know how to keep a reader amused. I was almost moved to start my own blog 경마

oncasinositenet said...

Fantastic job. I really enjoyed
what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool! 바카라사이트

totopickpro said...

I am actually grateful to the holder of this site who has shared
this enormous article at here. 온라인경마

메이저놀이터추천 said...

Succeed! It could be one of the most useful blogs we have ever come across on the subject. Excellent info! I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort very well. Thanks for the huge help. 메이저놀이터추천

사설토토사이트 said...

I finally found what I was looking for! I'm so happy. 사설토토사이트 Your article is what I've been looking for for a long time. I'm happy to find you like this. Could you visit my website if you have time? I'm sure you'll find a post of interest that you'll find interesting.

kèo nhà cái said...

Your writing is perfect and complete. However, I think it will be more wonderful if your post includes additional topics that I am thinking of. I have a lot of posts on my site similar to your topic. Would you like to visit once? kèo nhà cái

안전놀이터추천 said...

I am very impressed with your writing안전놀이터추천 I couldn't think of this, but it's amazing! I wrote several posts similar to this one, but please come and see!


Marck Andrew said...

It is a great website.. The Design looks very good.. Keep working like that!. 토토

메이저사이트목록 said...

i bet my AWP GUNGIR on 메이저사이트목록... ($3,000 per round)

메이저공원 said...

The Five Best 메이저공원 Bets with Syndicated Gaming Writer John Grochowski

cragro.com/사설토토 said...

I recommend the Toto page, where Toto users can bet freely with one folder and bet with multiple folders. If you use Sports Toto to bet on a safe bet, you can easily bet on a plane without having to worry about food and running or slowing down the money exchange. The best betting sites in Korea are listed in the leaderboard. 토토사이트 사설토토 안전놀이터

cragro.com/바카라 said...

I recommend a Toto site where Toto users can freely make single-folder bets and multi-folder bets. If you use Sports Toto betting at a safety playground, you can bet conveniently on a flight ticket without worrying about eating and running or delaying currency exchange. Good betting sites in Korea are listed in the major playground rankings. 토토사이트 바카라사이트 안전놀이터

ravensky867 said...

Opie and Anthony: Anthony hates bad 포커에이스 사이트 players. Anthony goes off!