It's Christmas time (I don't care what religion you are, its the name that most attribute to this time of year) so it seems entertainers and celebrities and some others are being good, hoping Santa and the rest of us will forget anything they've done that was bad this year. That is with the exception of rapper Foxy Brown whom seems to treat her judge in the same manner as she is alledged to have treated workers in a nail salon.
Of course everyone is celebrating various parties, and it wouldn't be a real rap record-release album party without something happening to bring the police. In this case the rapper in question, deceased notorious-b.i.g., wasn't even there for the festivities.
On the more nice side of the the list is Mr. Ethan Hawke who has added his name to the list of celebrities asking govenors to grant clemency to a convicted killer. This clemency request though is backed by the state Office of the Public Defender.
Overall there was nothing of any real importance, or that I wanted to discuss, this week - beyond my thoughts on Reparations to Black African Americans. Then a judge goes and bans a new state law.
Video games, or interactive videogaming entertainment, may not be black (though a huge number of games that involve drugs and violence do have black african americans as pro-/antagonists) oriented, it is entertainment, and as a pround 37 yr old gamer it is of interest to me. So this news item caught my attention. A judge temporarily blocked a California state law, signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, banning the sale of violent video games to minors. This law has its roots in the Grand Theft Auto "Hot Coffee" uproar from earlier this year.
The law prevents sale of games such as Resident Evil 4, Ninja Gaiden Black, Battlefield 2, God of War and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay to minors. It does allow the sale of games such as Burnout, Need for Speed, WWE Smackdown, Silent Hunter and others. [This of course assumes that any ratings from the Entertainment Software Association or ESRB are ignored] The reason I am mentioning these games is because while not directly involving humanoids the games on the approved list do provide "...killing, maiming, and dismembering...". In addition the games, notably to me WWE Smackdown and its ilk, "...as a whole, to lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors." Any wrestling game out now definitely in my opinion "enables the player to virtually inflict serious injury upon images of human beings or characters with substantially human characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved..." By definition of the law many games should be banned. And if the law were more than political soundbites [which I hate and see this as] it would be more clear in what it intends.
Of course, much like Sen. Hilary Clinton, Gov. Schwarzenegger is just making a political stand. What politicians and former entertainers-turned-politicians, in my humble opinion, should do is allow parents to determine what is appropriate for their children. If a parent gets of their duff and pays attention to what their child(ren) is doing they will know what the games are about and if it is appropriate.
Even further why I dislike this law is that it uses the same argument posed by those who used rap to excuse acts of violence. The "the music made me do it" crowd. By that I mean the two police officers and a dispatcher killed by a Grand Theft Auto-playing teenager case. A killer is still liable, and a killer, whether they listen to Betheoveen, Tupac, a dog (Son-of-Sam reference for the younger readers) or a track of music while playing GTA.
Entertainers (black, white, purple, or corporations for all it matters) have the freedom in this nation to present what they call entertainment [or interactive videogaming entertainment as the case may be]. The masses are free to agree or not. You don't have to like it, but you can't ban it nor should you try to get political soundbites and brownie points from it.
A bit more political than usual, but the freedoms we have should never be allowed to slip away just because its a slow week, a holiday is near, or its not exactly on topic. Nor should we allow any politician or entertainer the chance to play the soundbite game with us, politically motivated or otherwise.
This is what I think, what do you think? And let Santa know that my blog is a great gift to the naughty and nice, if you see him before I do.
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