Sex & Violence
Reuters reported on Friday that the city of Los Angeles is suing Take-Two Interactive over the “hidden pornography” in Grand Theft Auto. First, the so-called “porn” exists on the disc, but is only accessible by installing a patch. So we’re upset because teenagers can download something that lets them see porn? This is the internet we’re talking about. You can download many things that let you see porn on the internet, such as… well, porn.
But this case is just a symptom of a larger problem. Americans see sex as something far more insidious and corrupting than violence. For the Mature rating: “Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.” For the Adults Only rating: “Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.” The game was originally rated M, but now has been rerated to AO. I’m glad that I have the ESRB to explain to me that it’s quite okay for a 17 year old to beat a virtual hooker to death with a baseball bat, but it’s entirely unacceptable for that same 17 year old to see depictions of sex.
Boy, I’m glad our government doesn’t have other more important issues to worry about.
January 30th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Shallow end of gene pool procreates = world populated with idiots. Shallow end of gene pool goes on homicidal rampage = population control. It’s the circle of life.
Hrm. I dunno, I lean to think people are more likely to fuck than kill and fucking can potentially have a lifetime of dire consequences, for those directly involved and, more importantly, even those who weren’t.
I thought GTA already had sex in it, without the patch?
January 31st, 2006 at 10:49 am
I just tend to think that violence does more to the impressionable young mind than sex does. But again, this is a game for adults. The fact that parents buy it for their children is an entire other issue, I suppose.
And yeah, it does have some, but this was more explicit. It’s still just a game though.