You know, I try very hard to not be one of those, "I told you so" people. When I'm gaming against folks, I will partake often in the, "IN YO FACE SON!" celebratory dance routines. [the running man is often involved] With that said, revenge is touted as a dish best served cold, I believe it is best served like Gagh... fresh and kicking.If you haven't put it together yet, this post is about the eternal foe of mature video game titles, Jack Thompson. Mr. Thompson had a 38 page complaint filed against him back in 2007 by the Florida State Bar Association. While a ruling was expected in April, the judge hearing the case [Dava Tunis] asked for an extension to go through some 400+ pleadings, e-mails, letters and missives that Thompson had sent her. Judge Tunis has finally gone through all of the materials and has released a report suggesting that Mr. Thompson be found guilty on 27 of the 38 charges.
Thompson has a good chunk of time left before the Supreme Court makes a final ruling on the charges as a hearing covering possible sanctions is to be held on June 4, but it doesn't look good. With many of the charges against Thompson include perjury and fraud, as an attorney I don't know how he could possibly hope to keep his ability to practice law period and not just in the state of Florida.
Do not misunderstand me, I believe that it is every persons right to stand up and be heard on whatever issue is near and dear to them. Whether or not I listen to their opinion or even agree, is my choice and right as well. In a country where freedom is cited as being the right of every man, woman, and child, Jack Thompson has the right to believe whatever he likes. I agree with Mr. Thompson that not all video games are for children. In fact, most video games on the major consoles are not designed for children. I don't think that anyone under the age of 16 should play GTAIV as they game may expose them to language and themes that they may not be ready to see/hear. Where I differ with Mr. Thompson is on who holds the sole responsibility of keeping children away from titles like these. I do not feel that keeping games like GTA from ever being made is the solution, but rather it is the responsibility of parents to be involved in the entertainment purchases of their children. Parental guidance on what is and is not appropriate for acceptable levels of sex, drugs, and violence should be decided between parents and children, not the governing state.
My mom kept me away from truly violent games until I was 15 years old. Every game that came into our home had to be researched by her first before it was purchased. While we had an allowance, money was never put in my hand until I was 15. My mom held on to my money in a back up high where I couldn't reach it [yes, I am actually short] and would take it down for me any time I wanted to count it. [Even back then I was worried about my money being right] So when the time came that I had enough money, my mom would take me to the local Toys Is Us place and spend an hour or so with me in the game aisle going over every game I wanted with me. Explaining why or why not I could possibly buy the game with my money. By the time I was 15, my mom was sure that I had good common sense, knew I had a good head on my shoulders, and the common sense to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. It's at this point I was allowed to make decisions about gaming on my own, and that I was becoming an adult responsible for my own choices and actions. [I was also allowed to hold my own damn money thank you.] This is one core piece that I think Mr. Thompson is missing.
Right now, it is very easy to blame entertainment media for the things that go wrong in the world. It would be so easy for me to cite Paris Hilton as the reason behind the current rash of entitled pre-teen gang of kids coming up these days. A case could be made that [though I'm sure not intended] Ms. Hilton's published behavior publicly published for the world to see has influenced an entire generation in a negative and selfish manor. That her inferred hatred of underwear, and at best flexible morals have lead the youth culture of the country down a path of stupidity and ignorance the world has not yet seen the full effects of to this moment. It would be easy to say, but in fact would not be correct.
Entertainment media can only influence those who have no other strong influences in their lives.
As I said earlier, I agree with Mr. Thompson that games like GTA do not belong in the hands of 6-15 year olds, but there is an audience for games with more adult themes and language. That audience is called adults. People who are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, real and play, killing someone, and destroying pixels on the tv simulating a person. With Mr. Thompson constantly condemning all video games that contain even a semblance of violence as the fall of decent society or ruination of mankind is a bit much to swallow. What is not hard to swallow, but in fact is something to savor is that the same legal system that Mr. Thompson has been flooding with complaints passing his own judgement on the video game industry for the past few years will be passing judgement on him.
Fresh Gagh anyone?
Thanks to Vicshus Smith for the heads up.
Labels: GTAIV, Jack-Thompson, Ninja-Rant, Ninjasistah, Videogames
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