JustAnotherLevel has 2 chronicles

1. Violent Society
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Jul 29 2010

   "The more civilized we become, the more horrendous our entertainments."
   
   Reading recent blogs, watching videos and hearing in on discussions.... I have finally been able to come to my own conclusion. The topic: Violence in Video Games. As video game enthusiasts, (which I assume we all are) we get suddenly very defensive on the topic. It is hard to believe that our favorite pass time and childhood memories could be considered "violent", "mind melting" or "dangerous". I personally believe, those who make these accusations are not stepping back and "putting themselves in another persons shoes" so to speak. ( As you are reading this, you probably are already starting to feel defensive.)
   
   Lets go back, WAY WAY back. 1967. The Fox and the Hound novel is released by the author Daniel P. Mannix. You probably recognize the name by the love-able Disney movie. (Stay on track with me, I know these things sound unrelated). Here is the gist of the things that happen in the book: Chief (Dog 1) dies by being hit by a train, Fox has liter of pups and hunter gases them to death, hunter finds fox's mate and skins her, Fox gets new mate and pups but pups are clubbed to death by hunter, fox's mate dies after hearing hunter mimic the sound of a wounded pup, Hunter becomes alcoholic and is told to go into nursing home, Fox gets rabies and attacks some school children, etc etc.
   
   I believe you are starting to now understand where I am going with this. This book, was a best seller and anyone (literally anyone) could pick it up. There isn't some big response to the violence in this book. I personally believe people are not looking into other media when they begin their "Video games are violent" rampage. That story, it ended with the fox dieing of exhaustion and from the rabies. The dog, his best buddy is shot by the hunter in the end who has lost his marbles. Media can be just as violent in all of it's different forms. Television is also just as bad. But, there are more than enough examples of that for you to look at.
   
   I believe it is about time people started taking responsibility for their actions instead of placing the blame on games, books, tv, etc. I am in the firm belief that media cannot make someone violent. The choices and set of mind the person is in can make them violent.
   
   This is just a frustrating topic for me. I don't understand why people can't just take responsibility for their actions and the actions of their children. You don't become a violent person over night. If you do something stupid you saw on tv or in a book or in a game...Well, you are basically showing how dumb and uneducated you are. As human beings we decide what is right and what is wrong. It is something we learn when we are young and something we base our opinions and decisions on.

   
   

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JustAnotherLevel has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. Dynafire
   Posted On Jul 30 2010

   Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous how games always get blamed when they're even remotely tied to someone who commits a crime. A rational person does not mimic a virtual experience. They are (in theory) capable of separating fact from fiction, and it will not influence them to do bad things. These people that commit crimes are not rational individuals, and were practically doomed from the start. It could be how they were raised, a traumatic event in their lives, etc, but it is not video games causing them to do the things they do. They made a consious decision to do so.
   
   And yes, the media is way worse when it comes to violent material. It's fairly common to see some pretty graphic war coverage on CNN, or in the newspaper, but you never see those sources taking heat. Still, these things should have little to no bearing on a normal person, and we do need to start making people take responsibility for their own actions.