These fucking idiots at CNN are desperately scrambling for “theories” to
explain why the DC sniper is doing what he’s doing...they decided to let
some desperate ex-detective get 15 seconds on tv and point the finger at a
easy target. He said that videogames had inspired “teenage boys” to “think
they are the sniper” and are going around shooting people because of that.
I AM SO FUCKING TIRED OF THESE ASSHOLES BLAMING ENTERTAINMENT FOR ANY AND
ALL VIOLENT ACTIVITIES WHICH OCCUR IN THIS COUNTRY! Time and TIME again
studies have disproved the “theories” that youth violence holds a direct
relationship towards entertainment. If those “theories” were close to
something of the truth then the youth crime rate would be increasing rather
than decreasing.
I just hope what that arrogant asshole said won’t cause another media
uproar.
If I can find the transcript of that conversation on the CNN site I’ll post
it here.
I'm going to turn off the tv now and do some more homework.
Appease yourself!
In Geography (ugh you know what I'm talking about too, the boring guy)
we had to watch Channel 1. The sniper is skilled enough to not miss one
target, how can they say that he/she is a teenager? The person has to have
been trained in VERY well. Besides they think it's two guys.
And another thing. I don't believe ANY inoccent person deserves to be
shot. I was reading someone's journal on hatelife and he said these people
deserved what they got and called them whiney. That just pissed me off.
You can't blame teen violence on videogames. Blame it on the upbringing,
or better yet the way kids treat each other. I can see where the violence
comes from and it's not based on a movie. I researched a little on this
for a debate and lab tests show that kids are more violent with toys after
watching a violent cartoon/movie than they are with each other.
____________________ "Pity no one was there
No angels in the air
And the morning paper ran
One more suicide"
Anonymous
Posts: 116 Registered: 14/4/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 18/10/2002 at 11:41 PM
As much as I don't want to I must admit, after playing a few hours of GTA3
I do have the mindset for steaking cars, shooting people wrecklessly, and
running from the police. I'm not alone on this one either. The game does
have some influence but I still hold myself back from actually doing any of
it.
AloneSoul
Fanatic
Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 19/10/2002 at 12:00 AM
Ok now let’s cover something important. That is a NORMAL reaction sometimes
to being indulged in some type of media for long periods of time. Studies
do prove that in EXTREMELY SHORT AND TEMPORARY cases that a very young
child, mental handicapped person, adult or rarely in a teenager that after
say spending hours upon hours playing a violent game, they may still hold
urges from the fantasy world over to the real world. HOWEVER! This is a
normal thing, it’s EXTREMELY temporary and since you can tell the
difference between fantasy from reality, you do not act upon those
urges.
Also you are not speaking for me or any of my friends because we have never
experienced that sort of drive after playing a game. Also, if it were true
that GTA III would inspire players to murder and such then there would be
over seven million instant cases of murder, that’s per unit sold and
counting...That would be genocide on a WWII scale. Hasn’t happened has it?
- Adding to the whole violence and gaming argument, study after study shows
that playing violent games will decrease the amount of stress and or anger
in a normal person.
Those idiots in the media better find a NEW scapegoat because the gaming
industry is fighting back politically at the White House, and the gamers
are starting to show how they feel with their votes, voices and money.
Case closed.
P.s. I’m sorry for using CAPS so MANY times THROUGHOUT this MESSAGE, it
JUST adds TO the IMPACT of WHAT I’m SAYING. - See?
P.p.p.s. When I can’t sleep my tone tends to change as well. Time to
weightlift and then play GTA III.
Vice City’s coming out soon. Heh, I gotta reserve my copy.
For a person to be able to hit their targets so well, they did need quite a
bit of training. People do not receive that kind of experience by playing
a video game. They claim the youth of Aemrica is so corrupt and so
violent. This is not true. We may experience anger and frustration along
with major stress, but we do not go around shooting people to ease our
pain. If they are so concerned about our welfare, then let them get off
their nationalistic bums and do something about it. Our government is all
about the money, they do not truly care, and when they start out caring
they become sucked into the b.s. that they are fed. They lose interest in
their care and become money grubbing pigs! Maybe they should listen to
some Anti-Flag! Perhaps then they will see the light!
____________________ "People always say what we are looking for is a meaning for life…I don't
think that's what we're looking for. I think what we're looking for is the
experience of being alive." -Joseph Campbell
DarkMistress
Member
Posts: 170 Registered: 6/6/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 19/10/2002 at 08:33 AM
The main thing that can be pointed out in this ongoing debate is that kids
reinact what they see. You know what I mean, kids quoting movies and
pretending to shoot each other with their fingers. But... even without
movies (today) they'd be doing the same thing. When I was really young my
brother and I would pretend to shoot each other with plastic guns, playing
cops and robbers. We learned that from my dad. And we also shot
rubberbands at each other and pretended that our little plastic green army
figures were shooting at eachother. They held guns, didn't they? So why
not focus more on those sorts of toys rather than video games and movies?
And even though we played with guns and pretended to shoot each other, we
never picked up a real gun and aimed it anybody. My brother was a hunter
for a while but he isn't anymore, and he went through gun training and they
teach you the basics and what not. And if you t think about it, Texas,
they all have guns. California, they can't have guns. Which has as higher
crime rate? California. Because if you have a weapon and everyone knows
you have a weapon then they'll leave you the fuck alone.
I'm not much of a videogamer but please, violence is NATURAL. They're
targeting the bullies in school now, right? Well of course I know, I still
go to school. The kid gets punished and yada yada, but they never ask him
(or her) WHY he was beating up on that kid. In fact, usually the only
violence that occurs is to the people who have it coming to them. No
tolerance system. Yeah, no tolerance for bullshit. And they're zeroing in
on girls right now. One boy who hits me and other girls has been reported
several times but nothing has been done. A girl says one thing and it's
"if you continue, you'll be looking at another school."
Also, I'd like to point out that criminals can be traced by their zodiac.
You can tell who is going to be a murderer and who isn't by the sign they
were born under and the corresponding signs. Sometimes it's just IN them
to kill. And you can't deny violence because it's an instinct. We kill
each other, we kill animals. What about violence towards animals, huh?
Why don't we zero in on hunters instead of teenagers who are angry and
violent and moody by a chemical in their BRAINS. BECAUSE of the horomones,
teenagers are moody and angry. Anger can cause violence and usually does.
But when I'm angry I don't go shooting people because I saw some
vindictive person do it in a movie.
____________________ "Pity no one was there
No angels in the air
And the morning paper ran
One more suicide"
Solace_in_Delirium
Occasional Poster
Posts: 11 Registered: 18/10/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 19/10/2002 at 04:37 PM
Let's face it! Humans are VIOLENT!!! Every society on the planet, past and
present, has benefited from wars and conflict in one way or another! I
think the problem comes from being sheltered from death early in life and
having a sense of invicibility almost. Look at video games... you play a
character and if you die, it's okay, you still have two lives left. You
lose what little sense of mortality you have. Now don't hink i'm bashing
games! I think playin' violent game has kept me from doing serious damage.
Instead of bringing guns to school and shooting everything that moves I
would study the building structure, find the supports and stresspoints in
the buiding then create high explosive, shaped charge explosives to focus
the explosive force to maximize the destructive potential. I would of also
made a few anti-personel devices (camoflaged claymore types). Rig the bombs
w/ RF receivers and wait til people were moving through the halls to bring
the building down, but I took out my anger and stress on the violent games
i had. Good thing I'm not in school anymore anyways! WOW! Talk about
ranting! What was my point again???
____________________ The nightmares don't begin untill after I wake up!
AloneSoul
Fanatic
Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 20/10/2002 at 02:04 PM
To get back towards the original point, what does everyone here think about
the whole media persecution against entertainment? To me it’s just another
cash cow that they, politicians, authors and organizational leaders are
milking for power, attention etc.
f">
HREF="http://www.pathetic.org/library.php?i_memberid=2042">
size=1> but at least you know, just how much pain there is in living
MorteAscendo
Member
Posts: 190 Registered: 6/5/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 20/10/2002 at 03:31 PM
Givin that some studys prove that playing video games have the same effect
on the brain as some drugs, BUT, they do not do the same damage. That is
the only study that i can agree on. But have no fear, remember,
entertainment will only get better, the more they blame games, movies and
what not, it will more and more look like an excuse. They have been
blaming violence on music and movies since the 70s, and look at ROCK music
now....its only getting harder and faster. Fuck these bastards crying
wolf, and you all know what happened to the little boy who cried wolf....
____________________ "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I".
Shootmenow69
Coward
Posts: 10 Registered: 23/8/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 20/10/2002 at 08:09 PM
I hate to bring up GTA3 after someone else, but it is pretty influencial. I
stayed up all night with it the first day i got it, and me and my father
went to the dentist the next morning. I was sleepy, but images of the game
rolled around in my head, and as we drive down the street, the almost
uncontrolable urge to grab the wheel, hit the acelerater, and squeeze by
the "slow moving" car came over me. I was outraged that people where
following traffic laws, disturbed by the 35 mph crawl, and saw police as
potential hilarious blood splatters. Despite all this, video games arent
the real issue. If you took out all the things that influenced people
towards violence, then the world would be devoid of media, free speech,
war, television, games, sports, action figures, comic books, etc.
essentially an impossible/unethical thing to do. war is something we have
to deal with. News, in all its sell out glory is freedom of speech. You can
cut out games,tv,comics, but then youll have an assload of really angry
people on your hand. Bottom line, children need to be taught better
judgement, they need to grow the fuck and deal with the world. Where i
live, these little 12 year old morons would knife your ass for fun, not
realizing the stupidity or consequences, and it happens all the time. If
the kids where taught to deal with the stuff better, instead of being
either A. Protected from it until they grow up, and then emersed in the
shit of the world. or
B. Being exposed to it from an early age without being told "this is bad
little billy, dont do it, EVER"
then perhaps, kids wouldnt hit bullets with hammers until they go off in
there friends faces, or watch Jackass and push there friend into oncomming
traffic. Whatever.
Xaoswolf
Fanatic
Posts: 463 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 07:55 AM
Do video games influence us, or do we influence video games?
I've been looking at breasts long before I heard of BMX XXX, but because I
like breasts, I may just buy the game.
____________________ Sometimes I dream about dinosaurs shopping for cargo shorts at the Gap.
Does that make me a bad person?
AloneSoul
Fanatic
Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 10:42 AM
Videogames are easy targets. Politicians make their campaigns claiming they
“care enough about our children” and “forced the gaming industry to put
ratings on their games" which is a flat out lie. The ratings system was out
before THAT hysteria began.
The sad thing is that many people buy the political bullshit. The good
thing is that in 10-20 years, people like US will be in office, people who
grew up on games and order will hopefully be restored.
If you can blame a videogame for school shootings then you can blame
Macbeth for the JFK shooting. It's just that ludicrous.
Shootme, that's also normal. When I first saw Saving Private Ryan I had the
battle of Omaha repeating in my head for hours. Seeing something riveting,
shocking or memorable will stick in your short term memory, a videogame, a
book, a movie, an aurora borealis etc. Simply put, something memorable will
stick in your head and a game such as GTAIII will do just that, especially
when the shock value comes into play.
f">
HREF="http://www.pathetic.org/library.php?i_memberid=2042">
/>
size=1> but at least you know, just how much pain there is in living
Solace_in_Delirium
Occasional Poster
Posts: 11 Registered: 18/10/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 04:02 PM
People like us might be in charge but, once a law is passed it's hard to
repeal and, undo the damage!
____________________ The nightmares don't begin untill after I wake up!
MorteAscendo
Member
Posts: 190 Registered: 6/5/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 04:28 PM
Im going to have to disagree with that...look at Drugs, Marijuana has been
iilegal forat the least 50 years...and look now...most states are trying to
leagalize it...it takes time...but laws can be changed...look at the new
"Mini-Nukes" they start using those, they will have to change the "First
Strike" rules....think about it.
____________________ "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I".
Ironboots
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 893 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 04:39 PM
I dunno... G.W. Shrub is having lots of fun ignoring/remaking current
environmental laws. I don't think a law prohibiting the depiction of
violent rednecks will be any harder to repeal than an environmental law.
Ah, Xaoswolf... BMX XXX (previously known as Dave Mirra's BMX)... What a
little pin-prick in the ass of prudes everywhere... *three cheers*
As for the main topic of this forum, what's to be said has been said.
Media trying to get money, which leads to nigh-yellow-journalism.
Politicians trying to get votes (money), which leads to enacting laws to
fight the 'threat'
Joe Gamer trying to get cool game, which leads to him laughing his pants
off at the ridiculous ratings system on the box.
Store manager trying to keep nudity out of his store, which leads to him
throwing Joe Gamer and his pants out the door.
(Sorry, I was on a roll...)
____________________ Piggy's got the Conch!
dead-cell
Fanatic
Posts: 344 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 08:28 PM
This media frenzy on the entertainment industry, sounds like the
grandmother paradox.
____________________ co-worker: "Your gay!?"
myself: "Didn't you see my rainbow pin?"
co-worker: "I just thought you liked skettles."
-(yes, it actually happened to me)
MorteAscendo
Member
Posts: 190 Registered: 6/5/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 21/10/2002 at 08:52 PM
GREAT SCOTT!! Not a paradox!
____________________ "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I".
Abbadon
Fanatic
Posts: 499 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 22/10/2002 at 07:33 AM
Yeah, those bastards at CNN, i wish I cud get a railgun and go over there
and frag their asses!
Attacking media isn't exactly so much as a cash cow as it is a
scapegoat.
It's SOO Much easier to blame "entertainment" than it is to point a finger
at yourself, as a parent, or someone who's raised a child.
SOme kids are out of control and would have been with or without video
games and movies and cartoons.
Some kids are just more impressionable, but with someone there to define
"right and wrong" and "Reality and fiction" and "action and consequence"
they will see it as just entertainment and not act on it.
Some kids just know better.
CNN, just as other news agencies, tell the public what they want to hear.
They don't want to hear "well, it's just a random psycho with no respect
for human life. Raised like that, born like that, angry enough to do this,
or influenced to do it, we don't know why."
Why do that when they can get more coverage by mentioning the alluring and
vicarious world of the entertainment industry...wel ALL love hollywood...we
love to raise things to god like level just so we can knock it the fuck to
the ground and piss on it's ashes. WE made violent movies and video games
huge and lucrative, and then we point to them with all our ills.
Something I haven't seen brought up with, they believe it may be a small
terrorist cell behind this....there is information on "post 9/11"
activities by several terrorist organisations that describe "fucking with
american heads" with small, random violence to keep us off balance so
another attack would be more effective. One of these tactics were sniper
shootings in random places. It could all be bullshit, and it's probably
just a nut on a rampage, but with something like this you just can't be
sure.
I am more on the "nut with a gun" side...especially after that tarot card
left at one of the crime scenes. It was the Death card with "dear
policeman, I am God" written on it.
Woooo! If that isn't someone with either serious psychological problems or
a black sense of humor I don't know what is....
____________________ Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
DarkMistress
Member
Posts: 170 Registered: 6/6/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 22/10/2002 at 04:00 PM
I hope I can get this right...
About the Tarot card. When soldiers at war would kill each other, or
villagers (oh please do not quote me) they would leave the Death card.
Don't remember why, have to check up on that and get back to you.