Hillary vs. Grand Theft Auto and Free Speech (July 27th, 2005)

 By Aaron


Now that Hillary Clinton can stop exploiting the deaths of 9/11 for her city’s idiotic Olympic bid, she can put that time and energy into real issues – like video games.  The devastation in Iraq worsens each day, the Karl Rove scandal is being swept away now that John Roberts has our attention, and the Democratic Party looks as weak and sick as it ever has, yet Clinton is launching diatribes against a video game.  Her opportunism feeds into the flagrant hypocrisy of this amoral nation while squashing free speech and ignoring vital, pressing issues.

Clinton’s objection, as has been widely publicized, is that a gamer can unlock a code (or whatever) that shows the main character in Grand Theft Auto:  San Andreas having sex, much to the delight of nerds and pixilated woman fetishists everywhere.  Hillary's shrill whining is reminiscent of her buddy Tipper Gore, whose self-righteous ignorance threatened free speech in music a decade ago.  Now, the game, which already had a Mature rating meaning it is appropriate for 17 and older, is being hit with an Adults Only rating, causing it to be banned from many retailers.  This is de facto censorship and it is wrong on every level.

It has long been understood in this country that extreme, graphic violence is fine, but sex isn’t.  It’s fine by me if people want to flock to "The Passion of the Christ" and label that violence as “acceptable,” but when they then decide to campaign against other types of speech, they appear laughably ignorant and backward.  The truth is, sex in video games is FAR from being the most harmful element.  Many video games are racist, hateful, and indoctrinating.  The latter part being the most dangerous.

In 2003, the Pentagon spent $4 billion on recruitment targeting impoverished kids.  One way that they did that was through video games.  According to Wired.com, the military spent $12 million making “America’s Army,” a propaganda ploy that has such sophisticated technology that it can be used as a training device.  This game that effectively teaches kids how to slaughter little brown people far away has a Teen rating.

Now that recruitment is becoming a bigger problem, expect to see more propaganda thrown at young children through video games and other forms of manipulated entertainment.  And expect hypocrites like Hillary to not care. 

© 2004 Aaron Sussman. All rights reserved.

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