Forum - View topicGovernment v.s. Anime and Manga
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Gage
Posts: 480 Location: United States |
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I wrote this small article for practice earlier today and I was originally going to submit it elsewhere but thought just to post it in the forums and see what your take on the situation was. Here it is:
Note: Formatting is off. Does not point out any anime in particular. Sorry. Agree or Disagree? - An article on violence in games and shows So it appears I have jumped into one of the biggest topics facing the gaming industry and the media today in the United States. That topic is violence in the media world and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase “help shield teens from violent video games!” The reason would take us back to the month and year of April 1999 in Denver, Colorado. Yes, this is jarring some people’s memories I would think but if not I’ll continue to explain. To prevent me from getting too off-topic because after all this is an anime site, I’ll just say the following because this has been a target of my studying in the past and I know a great deal as well as me going off the deep end, I like to talk a lot, sorry. In any case, on the morning of April 20, 1999 two Colorado teenagers identified as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who were both seniors at their high school, Columbine, carried out the worst school shooting in American history. The death tole was 13 and wounded over 20 other students before committing suicide. Since that tragic day, there have been a number of copy-cat shootings from 1999-2004 and has became a small epidemic in September of this year with about 4 occurring in the span of about 5 weeks maybe (not the greatest estimate but it’s what I would say.) In spite of these events the government and law officials have been dead set on targeting basic entertainment. I’ll be getting to the anime portion in a moment but the games which are being titled as a contributing factor to the rise in violence and school violence are with military scenes (Medal of Honor, Brothers in Arms, etc…) as well as the crime scene involving the Grand Theft Auto series, and the True Crime series. You get the deal… Since the 1990’s there have been an increasing number of anime titles portraying violence (which I have no problem with) and has set off debates in the 2000’s. Evidence of this show in the picture I have displayed above this article featuring a character from a manga title shooting off a gun. The basic reason for this debate is that these politicians keep thinking that shooting enemies or fighting them are showing teens a message that it is an OK thing to do. But, it really isn’t and I would think that most of them could tell the difference between real life and a 3-D game. Gaming is something that has been around for awhile, as well as anime, and is two of the best sources for entertainment not just for teens but for some older adults. (20 year olds. Hell, there are even 30 and 40 year olds still active in the anime community.) My overall opinion on this is thus: why should video games be blamed? If you look back in history you will see that most people’s motives have already been made known by themselves rather it be through writing or video recordings. Guess the press just needs something to harp about. Motives are also seen through means of bullying and racial remarks towards other students. Today, anime is still very popular and the companies hardly would lose a legal battle over their anime being a source for unnecessary violence. Alright so this article wasn’t really all that opinionated but I hope you can tell that I do not stand by the sides of people who think anime and games are the source for most violence and crimes committed. I mean sure, take the fact that someone’s older brother who is about 14 years old and is watching a fighting genre of the anime and your smaller brother is in the room, and is this good situation? Most people would say no and I feel the same way about that; wow, at least one thing I agree on. BUT, that is why anime and games have age levels printed on the covers. (13 and up) something to that affect. Only one question remains… Do you: Agree or Disagree? ****************************************** It was really hard to explain my thoughts and I hope you can understand where I was coming from. If you think about it, odds are you were thinking the same thing I was. Thanks for reading and let the replies begin! |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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Not being into gaming nor am I a parent so I have a bit of a disadvantage on some feelings. But, that being said, as a thinking human being, people, unless there are severe mental problems, are able to tell the difference between right and wrong. Most people who watch/play "violent" anime/video games do not run out and start slaughtering their parents, neighbors and classmates.
The blame the games is a popular bandwagon designed and developed by the media who don't want to anger or irritate the people who give them money...the parents. No one wants to have the parents shoulder some of the blame. I don't remember correctly how the Colombine Murderers got their weapons but (again if I remember correctly) there were things sitting openly in their rooms that should have been giant clues for any parent with the least bit of sense. I work in a department store and I see all of the time where the parent(s) try and reason with their child or bribe their child into good behavior. IMO, it doesn't work, period. You are NOT your child's friend, you are their parent! If the kid doesn't obey you, punish them and make it stick. I see far too often where the parents cave in and give into the demands of the child and let the child continue doing whatever they want to regardless of the disruption to other customers and extra work for sales associates.
I liked this part. People have been committing atrocities LONG before videos were a gleam in a techie's eye. They are currently a convenient scapegoat. I like your article, keep up the good work. |
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blind_assassin
 Posts: 755 |
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As valid as this argument is on a level of rationality, relevence to our society, and all that...it's pretty pointless to put it on the internet to people that don't have much sway in this sort of thing. All it does is either turn into a pointless loop of "games don't kill people, people kill people" or that people like Hillary Clinton are idiots and then nothing gets accomplished.
That aside, I think people like Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton should go f*** themselves. edit: I'd rather have asterisks than have it censored into baby talk. |
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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It's true, the fact that game and film violence do not create people who exhibit such behaviors is obvious to any rational person. However, politics isn't really about morals or rationality, it's about a popularity contest. This is why people focus on the fact that Clinton had an affair while in office... not on the 'oh so minor' fact that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES LIED UNDER OATH. People want a scapegoat to take the blame off themselves, but everyone knows it's largely the parent's fault; even many of the parents themselves. The problem is, they just don't have the balls (or ovaries) to admit it.
QFT. Jack Thompson is one of the most ignorant people alive as far as I can tell, I've read a few of his articles and seen an interview with him, and he actually seems to believe the crap he spews from his mouth. If you ever want a good laugh/scare, try reading something he writes, I get chills running down my spine that people actually believe that sort of stuff. |
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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I know that kind of thinking is only true if the child was mentally disturbed to begin with, but there are a lot of parents who think "gee, these people have Dr. in front of their name. They must know more than me!" It's kind of like how, years back, there was a huge following for a guy called Dr. Spock (not the Vulcan on Star Trek) who wrote books on how to raise children. Parents thought he knew everything and they bought his books and tried to work with their children the way he said to do it. It was a pretty big part of popular culture at the time. Dr. Spock's son killed himself. Parents should stop listening to supposed experts and just use their own common sense. Most of these so-called experts seem to think that human children are just as easy to psychologically program as Pavlov's dogs. 
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blind_assassin
Posts: 755 |
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Saturating someones mind has proven to increase the likelyhood of violent behaviour and there have also been tests that show that people who are exposed to violence on a regular basis have less of a reaction to it than people who aren't. In other words, you get desensitized to violence.
However, if your parents are doing their job right and you're mentally fit then you should have the ability to act rationally when put in a situation that violence could eventuate. Playing video games isn't comparable to training say, an attack dog. Even if someone is more likely to resort to violence they - should've been - taught from childhood to not resort to it immediately. I think the politicians are too used to seeing us as mindless cattle that they forget that we aren't animals. |
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adonais
Posts: 302 |
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Sometimes I wonder. Even if you banned all violence in entertainment in the US, those kids will still be living in a country that owns the biggest guns on the planet and likes to engage in wars in far away countries. Liberal gun possession laws probably do their part too. The politicians are only playing that same old game of "do as I say, don't do as I do" as they always have. You should research whether crimes (supposedly) related to video games and anime are more common (per capita) or not in Japan than in the US. That might tell you something.
Last edited by adonais on Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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Bingo. It would seem that these scientists (not all) that preform these studies seem to think that they can predict behavior of kids by baseing it on what they have seen in other kids. This method is scientifically correct but no in the world is the same and it is impossible to tell if someone will act this way just cause someone else did. They say that it's the games and media that influence peoples actions, but like everyone has stated this is just a scapegoat for people to get a lesser sentence (doesn't always happen but it does happen) or get a free ticket to the room with padded white walls.
I have wondered if maybe these scientist might be right in what they are talking about, but what they propose is just not very smart. Takeing away violent video games and violent shows/movies will only serve to hurt the economy and give these kids who seem to have alot of anger towards others more time on there hands which isn't good at all. When children are small the greatest influnce on them isn't video games or shows its there parents and what they teach them in that time of there life is what will bind them as a person. I won't deny the fact that some people end up demented even with good parents and good morals, they are usally effected by tramatic events or abuse by an outside party. These things are difficult to know and control. It's hard to be a good parent and it's even harder to teach your kids right from wrong in the older ages (even younger ages) due to outside individuals also talking with them but that isn't an excuse for the parents to give up trying. I have a friend where his parents gave up on him (not saying it was purely their fault) but I sometimes wonder if his parents had continued to stay on him about his life outside the house he wouldn't end up the bum he is now. Again it wasn't the parents fault completely since it was his choice to make but then again they weren't the best example of ideal parents either. People often underestimate the human mind and overestamate the influences on it. We are the smartest creature on the planet because we are intelectual and able to control ourselves under normal circumstances. |
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adonais
Posts: 302 |
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Those lousy scientists, it's all their fault!
Weren't you just describing the opposite?
Now, when you say "we".... |
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omar235
Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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[quote="adonais"]
I didn't say all their fault as I described later in my post that its the parents that pose the biggest influnences.
No not really, I said that in the early stages influence on the mind is great but even children with horrible parents come out alright. 
Alright you got me there 
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Here's two things people make mistakes on when assuming video games create violent people:
1.) There is no strong correlation between video games and violence throughout the world. The two biggest video game creating countries have one of the largest differences in violence among their populations: Japan has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world, while America has among the highest. There are certainly differences between the two countries, but violent video games are certainly not it. 2.) With regards to Pavlov. You can indeed condition people to have certain response to stimuli; for example, you can make a person salivate upon hearing a bell just like a dog. However, to assume that playing video games "conditions" people to commit violence is simply not correct or analogous on any level; not to mention the fact that complex behaviors like choosing to commit violence are a much more complicated cerebral function than a subconscious biological reaction such as salivation. |
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Kagami8
 Posts: 19 Location: Oklahoma |
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I agree that anime and games or not to be blamed for such a thing. However, blaming media has been a big thing for a long time. Before games, anime, and double beds on tv came along, they blamed comic books. There is a Jack Thompson for every era, I swear.
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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If this line of reasoning were true, I think most of us would be in jail rather than posting here. |
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Kagami8
Posts: 19 Location: Oklahoma |
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It's a very sad world when kids have to kind of naturally be caring and intelligent to do any better than the masses.... ((P.S. As an American, I learn most of my world history via the INTERNET. That's just sad...)) ((End Randomness)) |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I wasn't really trying to disagree with anyone, just stating my opinion on it.
Good point, I hadn't actually made that potential connection before; that's something to really think about. |
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