An interesting contrast -

[kyburg]

So that game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas finally got rated 'adults only.' What a shocker.

There are some things even I feel are so offensive, I won't allow them in the house. This game is one of them. Oh quit looking at me like that. That decision was made a LONG time ago. Extremely violent games are strictly rationed in my house. No, we don't have DOOM. Quit staring.

What hacks me off is that it was the sex that pushed the rating over the edge. WTF?

But so American it hurts. Violence is good; sex is bad. *facepalms*

Here. Let me show you something.



The difference is visible not just in the size of a soldier's county of origin, but also in its location. Counties disconnected from urban areas tend to have higher death rates, regardless of population size. Small rural counties have a death rate nearly twice that of counties that have the same population but happen to be part of metropolitan areas.

The blogger also mentions "Part of me wants to wash my hands of it all. If they want this president and his endless war and his tax-cuts for millionaires, I think, then they get to live with the consequences. But I know that America deserves better."

Yeah, they remember the "fly over" states. They're a good source of cannon fodder.

I hate this so much it hurts. It's not a Republican or Democrat thing - make no bones about it. We're far too in love with violence - it's okay, it's encouraged and gee, where did they GET those guns anyway?

Another piece from my email this morning:

Dr. David Walsh, author of Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits before Values and What Parents Can Do, identifies six key values that dominate mass media. It is hard to argue with his list:

1. Happiness is found in having things.
2. Get all you can for yourself.
3. Get it all as quickly as you can.
4. Win at all costs.
5. Violence is entertaining.
6. Always seek pleasure and avoid boredom.

*harumph* *spit*

So sick of this.

It wouldn't bother me so much if there were some balance to all this. But, no. Walsh goes on to say "...Certainly I do not blame the corporate media entirely for our lemming-ness, but it certainly does not encourage us to question the gods of materialism.

In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S, according to the Media Reform Information Center. By 1992, fewer than 25 companies owned and operated 90% of the mass media - controlling almost all of America's newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services, and photo agencies. Today, the number of major media players has fallen to six. "

And you know what they want? MORE. So what do you sell? The lowest common denominator.

I just got back from Comic-Con. What did I see? Nearly-naked girls in very little spandex. Zombies. Nearly-naked girls in very little spandex zombies. And lots and lots of candy-coated kaboom. ALL OVER.

But quietly, pervasively, there were so many one-title publishing houses, doing works like Blankets, which has its own soundtrack, thankyouverymuch - and other small press works that one couldn't take them all in. They're the reason I'm going to be broke forever. That's what I want to buy.

There are two guarantee sells, it seems. Sex and violence. And in America, the assumption is that you can put them together and HEY IT'S GOOD.

Not here.

Sick, I tell you. To the core.

So - bitch all you want. But next time, start bitching earlier.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was off-limits from the start. For better reasons.

Pissed right now. I'll go read my Kare Kano books and see you later.

Comments

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Oh you know those ratings people - they're ALWAYS over-reacting....

I don't get it. Children live with you when you have them, right?

Me, I think it would be hard to get a game in here without me playing it - and anything with a possible content issue? I'd play it first.

My question in turn, though - why would this game be appealing? What's the attraction?

[natsumi.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who is the sweetest person in the world, and she loves it. There is some appeal to doing all the bad things that you're not supposed to; it's a release from being a responsible human being all the time with no consequences. I don't like it personally, but not because it's violent. I'm not big on action games, especially if they don't have a defined story. The story in the GTA games is very nonlinear, so you can do whatever you want to do. I like story and strategy, so the games I get obsessive with are RPG's and Pikmin. But I respect other people's rights to play. My husband has GTA3, and he enjoyed it alot. It didn't make him any more violent, in fact, Eli's one of the least violent people I know. I'm more violent than him, he doesn't even yell when people cut him off in the car.
Different people are entertained by different things. Someone could try to explain to me why Friends and Seinfeld stayed on Tv for season after season while Firefly got cancelled after a handful of episodes. I don't want to deny anyone the chance to watch Friends, but I wish my favorites were on too. So when Eli wants to play gangster, good for him, although I make him turn the sound down, because he likes to steal cop cars, and the sirens drive me crazy after 10 minutes.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

There are a slew of studies done on behavior that are worth looking into - and some of them deal with "unacceptable" behaviors in a safe environment. There are also some better studies done where you get a glimpse of just how unacceptable your own behavior can get, when properly motivated. It gets scary, quick.

Doing things you know you shouldn't do - and getting release, pleasure or enjoyment out of them - is dangerous. It makes it appealing. For no other reason -

Hey, you find cautions against this in every belief system, every set of granny stories you'd care to name - the easiest one for me to remember is the old Cherokee parable:

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

I strongly believe that people need to be taught this - and reminded of it, in our culture. There's just too much emphasis put on pushing people out of your way to get to where you're going - yanno?