My family is in the process of moving. I say “process”
because we live in the new house but not everything has left the old. Unpacking I discovered shirts I had made
while a graduate students for my personal crusade. Yes, I had more than one crusade but this
shirt really
exemplified so much of who I am today.
It was almost a decade ago and I was poor grad student
working in retail hell aka Game$top.
The worst part of every shift was when parents came to
purchase games for their kids and even after my explicit reasons why they
should not they still bought the game. Grand Theft Auto was the biggest seller
and I would regularly remind parents that in this game,
“Your child can have sex with a prostitute and then kill them
to get some money back.”
Most parents would avoid making eye contact and handed me
their credit card with ID.
I built a website, went to some industry events in my inflammatory
t-shirt, and made a stink with as many parents as possible.
What is Happening Now
Fast forward to now and one of the most shocking realities
for me is that my WAR website still exists.
And in better, more substantial news there are people who
are great with new media doing innovative stuff to keep the gaming industry
honest.
The problem with
parents is still a problem but this industry is getting more accountable, not
great but accountable. In a recent post
I referred to Anita Sarkeesian from Feminist Frequency who has made tremendous headway in
giving an audience to problematic gaming tropes. I forgot to mention James Portnow from ExtraCredits who is also doing some really great critical perspectives on issues in
games.
In my current reality I am following conversations about
video games on many different fronts with different audiences that should
overlap.
- Game publishers/industry
- Textbook publishers
- Parents
- K-12 Educators
- Cultural critiques/ bloggers (seriously if you have not checked out Anita or James shame on you)
There are very different dialogues happening in different
circles. But no matter the conversation
many of them in the past, present and future will continue to be about games.
You know Chris as a parent myself I wouldn't let her play grand theft auto and shes only two so she is more interested in me playing tea time with her, but in all honesty I hate those games so I don't even play them! But I think its important to add that the Game Developers themselves are not to blame her, but rather the marketers of the games, and ultimately the parents turning a blind eye to what there kids are watching/playing, and if I venture to guess why the Parents do this its out of sheer laziness. But as a filmmaker myself I wouldn't want to be limited in my content my self perceived vision or rather my Art! It's not my Responsibility as a creator to limit myself to protect someones kids from seeing it, Thats the parents responsibility. That being said it is my responsibility to say hey check it out in this I kill a hooker to get my money back, and thats where it ends! Parents can make there discernments from there. now when it comes to my daughter If i saw someone letting her play something like that, and or her playing it of her own accord! I would put a stop to it in a heart beat, because I feel kids need to be sheltered, and kept away from that stuff until an appropriate age. But I agree I also worked for game Crazy many moons ago, and I honestly couldn't believe the stuff people would let there kids play, or even the way some kids talk while playing on Call of Duty Multiplayer Maps! Its nuts, and I hope for the sake of my daughter she never picks up that kind of language! Its atrocious!
ReplyDeleteGreat Article Though!
Anthony Hazelwood