Elizabeth at My Milk Spilt, whose piece on Facebook and violence against women I published here the other day, has now written about an experience she had in the Melbourne school where she is a teacher. The discussion with her students revealed just how de-sensitized young people have become about violence – and their lack of empathy. One girl is “shocked” that Bowling for Columbine attracted so much attention. Why? Because only 15 people died. The murder of a mother and her two young daughters wasn’t that brutal, because “they were only shot in the head” said another girl.
This is what a daily diet of depictions of violence, torture and brutality is doing to kids. Where will it take us?
How to kill prostitutes
On her site, Elizabeth has also posted a Grand Theft Auto clip. It features a male gamer describing his preferred method for killing prostituted women and instructing fellow gamers on the best strategies and methods for doing so. GTA is played by young boys around the globe. Given that it incites violence against women, why is this game and this clip allowed?
We Don’t Buy It
Calvin Klein has come up with a nasty add to promote its new underwear line for men. The language is aggressive and threatening. “Do you want to see my dick?”, “Do you want some f—ing more?” I like Happy Bodies take on it. Don’t buy Calvin Klein.
Nastier by the minute
A friend and colleague emailed me yesterday. She said: “All this is getting harder, faster, nastier by the minute. Maybe it’s me. But it does feel like this culture is growing exponentially.” No, it’s not just you T. Violence against women is colonising every available space.
14 Responses
Surely this game should attract an R18+ rating, and not be purchasable by children.
Here are our official guidelines:
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrumentCompilation1.nsf/0/F0EC030A108C93DDCA2574120004F6B8/$file/FCGGuidelines2005.pdf
I remember when I was a boy there was controversy over a computer game called Zelda. When you killed an evil alien, red blood came out. People wanted green blood instead to dehumanise it.
How far we have come. Or fallen.
That Calvin Klein ad really is horrible. I think the most chilling line for me is delivered beseechingly: ‘Come on, don’t be shy’. Who has that said to them? Children. Or young women who are trying to defend themselves from unwanted advances by becoming quiet and inert. It is not the type of thing a man would ever need to say to a consenting adult woman. Why is this stuff in a script for an advertisement? Who thought that was a good idea?
Drive into the Neridah St car park entrance to Chatswood Chase and you’ll get a nice eye-full of the pedestrian porn that is the Calvin Klein billboard.
Buck, if we had a bloody R18+ for games, then it wouldn’t be an issue. Thank you for nothing Mr Atkinson.
Spilt Milk said “‘Come on, don’t be shy’. Who has that said to them? Children. Or young women who are trying to defend themselves from unwanted advances by becoming quiet and inert. It is not the type of thing a man would ever need to say to a consenting adult woman. Why is this stuff in a script for an advertisement? Who thought that was a good idea?”
Er, what? I’m still trying to understand the link between the advert and violence against women. Pretty crap advert, and it’s done it’s job. I’m sure Calvin Klein is thanking Melinda for the free plug.
Funny, just read Colin Jacob’s blog piece under the title of “Are Australians a bunch of internet wusses?”, and he’s 100% correct. I could come up with several hundred anti-Semetic blogs and videos (Syd Walker’s blog comes to mind) and claim that anti-Semetism is colonising every available space. But neither statement is true. Stop searching for this stuff. Really.
you know what? I have to disagree that this video game would be “ok” if we had an 18+ rating.
I don’t think it’s ok even for over 18’s to get entertainment from the various ways you can murder a prostitute. I also don’t think it would be ok for anyone to get their kicks out of killing jews, or hanging blacks.
The bigger questions of course are, why is murdering prostitutes so entertaining? And why are people so defensive when their desire to murder prostitutes in this game is challenged? They cry “censorship” instead of answering these questions.
As much as some people hate censorship, it does serve a purpose in providing a more equitable and safe environment for everyone. The question over censorship is not really whether we should have it at all, but *where do we draw the line?*
I believe we should draw the line before people start getting their kicks out of murdering prostitutes in a game, or raping a mother and her two daughters in a subway station, which was the purpose of another game since banned in Australia.
And anybody who thinks that kids won’t get their hands on the 18+ video games if they become allowed in Australia is very naive. The evidence for the detrimental affects on young minds is clear, which brings us back to the point of Melinda’s blog, which is that people have become desensitised to violence and this is not a good development.
Hey Matthew W…
Regarding your statement; ‘Stop searching for this stuff. Really.’
Unfortunately people don’t need to go searching for this stuff. Maybe you have been too busy playing video games to notice what’s really going on?!
Many people notice, because they are deeply concerned for the lives of women and children. Some people care that males are getting influenced by this stuff too.
The media, advertisements, blogs, video games, music videos, internet etc are becoming more depraved, violent, sinister, fear-provoking, horrendous, dirty, and perverted. I think you get my point.
Don’t have a go at people who want to see change in society.
Matthew W, if feminist commentary on society bothers you, then stop searching for this stuff. Really.
Kelly, the game you have referred to “Rapelay” has not been submitted for classification, therefore it has not been banned. No one in their right mind would even consider to release it here as it would be RC right away. It was only sold in Japan by a dinky little company, don’t think it’s even available anymore.
It’s amazing to note that people seem to think that kids can get their hands on R18+ games easily, but avoid the topic of R18+ films. While I don’t play games anymore (think Mario Cart or FF III were the last two I played, about a decade ago), I don’t really mind if “Grand Theft Auto” is released here uncut. Sounds pretty woeful, but with the amount of films released with similar content in the country, it’s really hard to justify not having an R18+ for games. It amuses me that no one made a peep about the uncut Australian release of “Cannibal Holocaust” a year or two back. It’s probably the most vile of the 1970’s exploitation films, where 7 animals were killed and dismembered specifically for the film. And let’s not forget the rape and castration and other stuff in that film. Yet Christian groups are more worried a bunch of pixels being killed. One can only wonder how other western countries are able to cope with the release of this game, yet in Australia we aren’t allowed. I may not like the game nor want to play it, but it’s not my place nor should it be others to dictate what they can play just because they’re offended by the content (though the majority of those complaining have never played the game, nor seem to know how the specific sequence fits into the overall gameplay).
Ric, isn’t it funny I don’t see the internet or the world in general becoming more sinister, horrendous, dirty and perverted. I think you are doing the only fear provoking here. Spilt Milk, I really think you need to develop some perspective on the world around you. Blaming society’s problems on technology or games or Lady Gaga isn’t helpful nor actually begins to solve the core problems. Being paternalistic towards society is counterproductive. You want people to think for themselves, not for them to rely on others to do the thinking for them.
Matthew W, Rapelay was an online game, which is now illegal to download or play in australia due to complaints. It was available online, I believe it was last year or the year before, but I’m not sure now.
Regarding your second para…..it comes down to “where do we draw the line.” Would you use the same arguments if the KKK set up shop here and began selling their publications? What about a KKK game where black men are ritualistically killed? Do we say “oh it’s just pixels” and deny the meaning of getting our kicks by killing black men in a game?
Regarding the R+ films. There is a difference here Matthew W. The games have us as a participant in the violence, where the player creates the violence he/she then observes. It desensitises people to violence, which isn’t a good thing.
The film you mentioned sounds vile. Concerned groups – and not all of them are christian groups Matthew – cannot possibly be aware of every vile film or game that is released.
Would you call the banning of “Rapelay” paternalism? Should it still be available to play online?
For some time I have held the view that the various crime genre programmes are competing with each other with respect to depravity of crimes committed and extremes of mutilation/disfigurement depicted. Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds and Bones immediately spring to mind. The effects of this are potentially v dehumanizing and lower the thresholds of what we are prepared to contemplate and perhaps to tolerate, even if only in fiction. The current winner in the race for the bottom is arguably Dexter; he is a psychopathic murderer but we are allowed to barrack for him because he murders only other psychopathic murderers.
Brendan (husband of Robyn and father of three)
I’m a little late seeing this post, but I’d like to try answering some of the questions raised regarding GTA IV. I have played many games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and I have greatly enjoyed them. They have deep involving story lines, and are good commentaries on society today.
The games are very much sandbox games. You are placed in a urban environment and can pretty much just wander the streets. To advance the story, you have to go to specific locations and perform specific tasks, but in between you aren’t constrained. The tasks typically involve criminal activities, but they are contextualised by the story. You are, after all, taking on the role of an underworld figure.
At no point does the game require you to kill a prostitute to get your money back. You are not even required to visit prostitutes. As you can wander the streets, you see people going about their daily ‘lives’ in game. There are people driving cars, pedestrians walking about, and police on patrol. As the plots of the games explores the seedier side of society, you do see people soliciting prostitutes, and you can solicit them yourself.
While you are roaming the city, you can carry weapons and can kill or murder any random person you meet in the city. This is no different to our real society, except in game you can explore the consequences of your actions without the obvious problems of doing so in real life. Thus you have the tools to kill a prostitute after service, and that’s where this discussion arises from. The game neither encourages or discourages you to do this while you are free roaming. If the police see you murdering anyone, not just prostitutes, they will give chase.
Sometime in game you may have to drive somewhere in a set time limit. If there happens to be a lot of traffic on the road, it can be faster to go up on the side walk and run over several pedestrians. This carries the risk that the police might notice, and make the task more difficult. I can tell fantasy from reality. A computer generated pedestrian has no real family and no real harm is caused if their ‘life’ is ended. I would never drive on the side walk to get around traffic in real life. In game, the balance of risk and consequence is different. I can always reload the game if I don’t like the outcome.
Perhaps the more pertinent question to ask is why these particular boys enjoyed using the tools the games make available to seek out and kill prostitutes. I, personally, don’t see the appeal and have never done this in game. Sometimes it is fun to try and create huge explosions, or to drive a tank down the centre of the city and blow up any car that gets in the way. (This is certainly a fantasy many people have while stuck in traffic, but I don’t see a rise in that kind of behaviour after playing the game. Incidentally, it is far easier to get into massive traffic accidents in game then it is to locate, let alone kill, a prostitute.)
It’s also worth noting that these games carry an 18+ rating in almost every other country in the world. Australia’s lack of an R18 rating means that they are rated acceptable for 15 year olds here. Additionally, from the transcript you provided, you have a 15 year old’s younger brother having access to the game. I certainly wouldn’t allow children of that age access to the game, just like I wouldn’t let them watch The Shawshank Redemption. That’s not to say that The Shawshank Redemption isn’t a fantastically moving film that certainly has a place in society.
This scenario screams to me education. Lack of an R18 rating perpetuates the myth that all video games are just for children. This myth means that parents do not properly supervise their children’s game play.
There are some fantastically involving games out there that really are aimed at a mature audience. The most recent example I can think of is Heavy Rain. It is a psychological thriller about a father’s love for his son. It is one of the most original and heart wrenching games I have ever played, but I certainly don’t think it is appropriate for a child.
” Australia’s lack of an R18 rating means that they are rated acceptable for 15 year olds here.”
I don’t believe they are suitable for 15 year olds either. Or anyone. Glorifying violence against women, aren’t there better, more fun things to do with your time?
And somebody correct me if I’m wrong – but I believe the 18+ version of this game is more graphic, than the 15+ one we have here.
Depends what you mean by ‘graphic’. The story and graphics are unchanged. The only cuts were to the width of blood pools when someone is killed, and the lack of (cheesy) animations when visiting prostitutes (no nudity in either version). I hardly think that affects the overall impact of the total experience. These cuts were also restored for the PC release of the game, which came several months after the console versions.
As I said, at no time does the games’ narrative glorify violence against women. The game environment is functionally equivalent to handing a child Barbie and Ken dolls. The child may play with them in a healthy relationship, or they may have Ken beat up Barbie and leave her tied up and naked. You can’t argue that the dolls themselves caused violence against women, because it is obviously not true. Having the ability to do something and acting on it are different things. The children performing such actions in game was messed up before hand. Their actions in game are a symptom not the problem. Albeit, in a situation that is clearly not appropriate for that age range.
Dispelling the myth that video games are just for kids, will mean that parents take seriously the category ratings.