SpawnPoint

The Real Deal on Grand Theft Auto »

Authored by lizzy on 2008-05-02 02:28:05 PM

There have been a lot of things said in the media in the past few days regarding Grand Theft Auto 4. And let’s get one thing straight- it is a disgusting game with absolutely no moral compass. But is it really the reason that teenagers are killing police officers? I don’t really think so.

In this game, acting as the main character, one can hire a hooker, have sex with her, and then kill her in any number of ways before speeding down the sidewalk in a stolen car mowing down dozens of innocent bystanders. I believe there are enough creeps like in the world without kids and adults everywhere playing them in their computer or television. But that is not my point.

I just spent four minutes of my life (minutes that I will never get back, by the way) listening to Jack Thompson whine about how himself, along with a vague mention to “law enforcement” are suing every big box store that distributes the game, along with the studio that created the game. Give me a break.

Since when were people not able to think for themselves? Thompson thinks that every skinny nerd who ever shot up a school has the video game industry to blame for their actions. You don’t see him coming to the defense of some serial killers from the hood who just happened to play Grand Theft Auto. Why is that? Because they were born bad but the white kids from suburbia were not? It all seems a bit bizarre to me.

If Grand Theft Auto is training our children to murder, then maybe parents should take some responsibility and not let them play it. Perhaps they should get involved at school, join the school newspaper or the basketball team, and then there will be less chance of mischief.

Sometimes these things just happen. Kids take a wrong turn somewhere, meet a new group of friends, and go down the wrong path. Can we really blame video games for that?

I don’t know what kind of life Jack Thompson has had, and I’m no psychiatrist, but I’m going to give it a try. He seems to be searching for control in areas that are really none of his business. For goodness sake, he’s not even a respected lawyer anymore, after all of his ridiculous antics and accusations. And he seems to have chosen the most obvious controversy to make “his cause”: There are people killing on TV, therefore I should kill in my own life. If a child had any shred of a normal upbringing they would know this is incorrect.