tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762681276595673682.post5390170665670327141..comments2024-03-19T23:22:19.759+07:00Comments on Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal: News and Views on Thai Cinema: Grand Theft Auto inspires killing and a backlashWise Kwaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00462741207572023832noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762681276595673682.post-49915193016625888322008-08-06T04:20:00.000+07:002008-08-06T04:20:00.000+07:00This sort of thing always makes me shake my head. ...This sort of thing always makes me shake my head. The kid is nothing more than a sociopath.... plain and simple.... no game did it to him.<BR/><BR/>The same sort of stupidity happens right here in the US too where young people have been known to assault and kill people on the street for nothing more than a pair of overpriced sneakers or a fashionable jacket.<BR/><BR/>Much of the blame rests squarely with the parents who fail to raise their children to adulthood with even the amount of time or effort one might expend on the care and maintainence of a pet dog.<BR/><BR/>I fully agree with Matthew. Human beings forget that we are all just animals after all, and some of us are less well socialized than others. Media is a like mirror.... it reflects nothing more than it first sees. It's not the fault of Media if people don't like the view reflected back at them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762681276595673682.post-63473501227056708752008-08-05T16:38:00.000+07:002008-08-05T16:38:00.000+07:00I'm definitely with Mat on this one.GTA in particu...I'm definitely with Mat on this one.<BR/><BR/>GTA in particular gets blamed for a lot of things. And it's all overblown.<BR/><BR/>Remember the furor over the 'Hot Coffee' mod? It was a game patch that could be applied to unlock "sexually explicit" cartoon depictions of --gasp-- consensual sex. It resulted in a class action lawsuit against Rockstar games, in which the lawyers got their cool million and any claimant could get $5 who had been damaged by the act of willingly downloading an unofficial game modification and installing it on this adult game they had purchased.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, a court has finally come to its senses after it turned out <I>nobody was actually damaged by this</I>, and of the millions of copies of the game sold, only 2,676 people joined the class action settlement to claim their $5. And some portion of those certainly saw it as just free $5. The lawyer for the plaintiffs said he was "<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/technology/25settle.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin" REL="nofollow">disappointed</A>".<BR/><BR/>Maybe that's off topic, but it's all part of the same load of nonsense: Blame the media for all of society's mistakes.<BR/><BR/>The rapper Nas' interview on The Colbert Report last week was interesting. He defended violence in rap lyrics, saying that rap isn't the cause of the violence. Rather, the violence exists because of easy access to guns, and rap is an unavoidable expression of the violent culture; it's a way of coping with the violent reality of the neighborhoods they have grown up in. I tend to agree.<BR/><BR/>Grand Theft Auto is an adult game meant to entertain adults and marketed to adults, and even though this kid was a legal adult (19, right?), he was in grade 12, for pete's sake. Clearly he's not a functioning adult.<BR/><BR/>If he's 19 in grade 12, doesn't that mean he's been held back at least a year? Hasn't anyone bothered to ask what the real underlying cause is?<BR/><BR/>Honestly.. why are we taking the murderer's word for it that the game "made him do it"? How is that any different form "the devil made me do it"? He's disturbed. He's not credible. The game is just a scapegoat.<BR/><BR/>The makers of this video game aren't liable, and certainly not more than his parents, who may well be absentee parents who have little clue about what's going on in their son's life. He readily admits they're always fighting. Doesn't sound like he has had a very good upbringing. Did they make any effort to instill a moral compass in him before turning him loose to play GTA all day long? Do they even know what he does in his free time?<BR/><BR/>Sure, <I>this</I> kid shouldn't have been allowed to play the game, because he is disturbed. Kids in general shouldn't be allowed to play the game. It's violent. But this crime is a reflection of the kid and his mental state. Not on the game.<BR/><BR/>I'm not a gamer. I just think it's too easy to blame the game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762681276595673682.post-26895412497348354702008-08-05T08:30:00.000+07:002008-08-05T08:30:00.000+07:00Personally, I don't think Ladda, from the Orwellia...Personally, I don't think Ladda, from the Orwellian "Surveillance Centre", has any credibility left. <BR/><BR/>The 'media violence causes real violence' argument has <I>never</I> been effectively proved, despite all the knee-jerk commentary. Violence has been a aprt of human nature for thousands of years. Violence in the media <I>reflects</I> real-life violence, but doesn't <I>influence</I> it.<BR/><BR/>Just because a murderer cites GTA as an excuse doesn't mean that the game is in any way responsible. The man is 19, so he's old enough to recognise the difference between fantasy and reality, and old enough to take responsibility for his own actions.<BR/><BR/>It's not necessary to withdraw the game - because it's just a game. Maybe the real problem is this man's background - he says his parents are always fighting, and don't have much money.<BR/><BR/>But the fact is that games don't make people kill people. Playing a game can't alter someone's moral compass, unless that person is either very young or mentally unbalanced. If this man had not played GTA, he may not have killed a taxi driver (as in the game), but he would eventually have killed someone.<BR/><BR/>I have played Manhunt, arguably the most violent computer game, and have seen many, many notoriously violent films (Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, etc.) and I haven't murdered anyone.Matthew Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04144885857395203898noreply@blogger.com