Stephen King has this to say about US HB 1423 (a bill pending in the Massachusetts state legislature that would restrict or outright ban the sale of violent videogames to anyone under the age of 18.)
What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop culture — not just videogames but TV, movies, even Harry Potter — as a whipping boy. It’s easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room. Elephant One is the ever-deepening divide between the haves and have-nots in this country, a situation guys like Fiddy and Snoop have been indirectly rapping about for years. Elephant Two is America’s almost pathological love of guns. It was too easy for critics to claim — falsely, it turned out — that Cho Seung-Hui (the Virginia Tech killer) was a fan of Counter-Strike; I just wish to God that legislators were as eager to point out that this nutball had no problem obtaining a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Cho used it in a rampage that resulted in the murder of 32 people. If he’d been stuck with nothing but a plastic videogame gun, he wouldn’t even have been able to kill himself.
Case closed.
Read his full article courtesy of EW.com
Very well-put by Stephen King.
But there are correlations between the behaviors of children/teens who consume certain media/games and those who don’t. Wrestling, for example, gives a great impact to the lingo and behaviors of its viewers. Regardless of whether the society is complacent with acts of violence, these youths often emulate whatever they or the general group find admirable.
I guess all things considered it’s one of those chicken and egg arguments.
Peace