American Morality...what hooey!

Shacknews - Document

OK - so this is very much a rant in response to this whole media-made controversy over the finding of so-called pornography in the "Grand Theft Auto" video game.

I think this whole ordeal exposes one of the fundamental differences between American cultural "values" (what a meaningless phrase that is anyway) and those of pretty much the rest of the world...it boils down to this:

In American "culture", Sex is dirty and bad - Violence is OK.
Throughout the rest of the developed world I would argue that the opposite is the norm - Violence is bad - Sex is OK. (yes, that's an over simplification, but you get me drift.)

This video game is perhaps the most violent game on the market (it sure ranks near the top if it's not) - you can shoot folks, cut their heads off, etc. Yet, with all that violence - it received only a "mature" rating. Now that sex (animated) has been found in the game - you get all this "save the children" bullcrap from every camera starved interest group - and yesterday the "ratings board" slaps the game with an "adult" rating.

I'm not saying that the violence should have earned it an adult rating. What I am merely pointing out is that grotesque violence...ok. A short, crappy, animated sex scene...baaad. It's Laughable.

Only in America is violence OK and sex forbidden. What is it with our "society" that has fostered this scewed reality...oh right...the video game industry did it.

So everyone - save the children - and remember, kids, it's OK to watch someone get their head chopped off. Hell, it's even OK for you to be the one to do it in the game - but don't even bring up the subject of sex.

Save the children...save the friggin children...if only someone would start looking out for the poor children. (enough already - how about a common sense, rational justification for doing something)

And by the way - have any of these frantic, town-criers even seen this so-called pornography. I highly doubt it - because it is far less graphic than the standard R-rated movie. But that is just an inconsequential detail that would lessen the bite of the story.

OK - so that rant is over.

And for those of you who really care about this issue and disagree with me that this is a media-made story...well here are just a couple additional articles:

Game Developer's Take on the Issue

Other games that have "nudity patches" which remove censored portions and/or "expose" adult content...such as the Sims. (Don't try to use the line that this is something new...it's been around forever - so why the firestorm now?!)