(media violence, video games)
 
 

from NewsMax

              Violent Reactions

                     Jacob Sullum
                     May 20, 1999
 

                  Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who has reportedly developed carpal tunnel
                  syndrome as a result of constantly wagging his finger, is
                  disappointed with the entertainment industry. Again. This time, he's
                  demanding "a genuine response to the growing chorus of concerns"
                  about "its part in the toxic mix that is turning too many of our kids
                  into killers."

                  The Connecticut Democrat stakes out this bold position in a New
                  York Times op-ed piece co-authored by Sen. John McCain, the
                  Arizona Republican who has turned his attention from underage
                  smoking to underage videogame playing and movie-watching. The
                  collaboration demonstrates that Democrats and Republicans are
                  united in their commitment to simple-minded demagoguery.

                  Since last month's massacre in Littleton, Colo., members of both
                  parties have found an easy scapegoat in popular culture. Who, after
                  all, is going to defend violent entertainment?

                  Allow me. As everyone knows by now, Eric Harris, one of the
                  Littleton murderers, was a big fan of Doom, a computer game in
                  which you use an assortment of weapons to kill a variety of
                  monsters.

                  Reporters and commentators were quick to assume that Harris'
                  journeys through the passageways of Doom somehow primed him
                  for his rampage through the halls of Columbine High School. They
                  emphasized that Doom is violent, gory and fast-paced. They
                  claimed it resembles simulations used in military training.

                  But they left out the characteristic that is most salient for people
                  who actually play the game: Doom is fun. It's challenging, cathartic
                  and absorbing -- the sort of experience that can keep you up until
                  the wee hours of the morning.

                  Sourpusses like Lieberman and McCain seem to be horrified by the
                  idea that people could enjoy a game that involves blowing away
                  imaginary zombies, imps and demons with pretend shotguns, rocket
                  launchers and plasma rifles. They say they want to make sure that
                  "the likes of Doom don't fall into the wrong hands," as if it was a
                  nuclear weapon or a batch of anthrax.

                  Yet simulated combat has always been part of children's play, and
                  violence is an integral aspect of many venerable genres, including
                  not only horror and war stories but the Western, the spy thriller and
                  the murder mystery. Doom is one of the most popular computer
                  games ever, played by millions of teen-agers and adults across the
                  country. They are not, for the most part, homicidal maniacs.

                  And that, in a nutshell, is the problem with blaming violence in
                  popular culture for violence in real life. Everyone is exposed to the
                  influences decried by Lieberman et al., yet virtually no one commits
                  mass murder. Is it possible that, generally speaking, our moral
                  values do not come from videogames and action movies?

                  Well, of course, say the critics. Nevertheless, all that fake violence
                  may lead certain "vulnerable" individuals to act on their anti-social
                  impulses. That is why the entertainment moguls need to clean up
                  their act.

                  It's not exactly clear how they're supposed to do that, however. In
                  the second paragraph of their op-ed piece, Lieberman and McCain
                  complain about "the entertainment media's romanticized and
                  sanitized vision of violence." So the problem is that popular culture
                  does not portray violence realistically.

                  Four paragraphs later, Lieberman and McCain condemn "graphic
                  violence" in movies and "gore-filled games." So the problem is that
                  popular culture portrays violence too realistically.

                  In truth, the "media effects" research on which most critics of
                  violent entertainment rely tends to treat all depictions alike,
                  regardless of realism or moral context. But suppose we could
                  identify the particular kinds of violent material that are most likely
                  to push the Eric Harrises of the world over the edge. Do producers
                  of books, movies, TV shows and videogames have a responsibility
                  to avoid anything that might set off the most unbalanced and
                  alienated members of society?

                  "We're not going to change the culture for these deviant kids,"
                  psychologist Robert Butterworth recently told The New York
                  Times, "but we have to be careful that we don't make it too easy
                  for them to be ignited." He was criticizing "assassination" games in
                  which high-school and college students stalk each other with foam
                  darts and water pistols.

                  That might seem like harmless fun to some, but "Dr. Butterworth
                  said such games could help desensitize students to violence." He
                  was "astonished to hear of the practice." Let's just hope no one tells
                  him about Cowboys and Indians.

                  COPYRIGHT 1999 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

                  Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at 'Reason', a monthly magazine that
                  covers politics, public policy, and culture from a libertarian
                  perspective.