Game Politics ([info]gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2006-09-15 07:03:00
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Entry tags:dawson college, georgia tech, ian bogost, john pungente, kimveer gill, montreal, school shootings, video game violence, water cooler games

Ian Bogost: Don't Blame Video Games For Montreal School Shooting

"The world, as usual, is more complex than we'd like it to be," said Georgia Tech Ian Bogost, addressing concerns that an amateur video game based on the Columbine massacre inspired a 25-year-old man to go on a shooting rampage in Montreal on Wednesday.

Bogost, interviewed by CTV, added, "Certainly, (the shooter) was using media of all kinds to culture his antisocial fantasies. Should we hold (this game) responsible? Clearly, these are overly simplistic explanations."

Bogost has much more on the Dawson shooting on his Water Cooler Games website.

John Pungente of the Toronto's Association for Media Literacy told CTV that every generation has taken issue with media violence. Pungente cited comic books, movies and television as examples.

"You can't blame the media," he said. "People have been doing these violent things since before there was even media... Parents certainly have to be more aware of what their children are seeing."

Pungente, whose organization seeks to have media literacy programs included in Canadian school curriculums, added that those who would blame the Dawson rampage and other events on video games would have difficulty explaining why only a tiny fraction of gamers become violent.


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[info]xwaix
2006-09-15 12:55 pm UTC (link)
Pungente, whose organization seeks to have media literacy programs included in Canadian school curriculums, added that those who would blame the Dawson rampage and other events on video games would have difficulty explaining why only a tiny fraction of gamers become violent.

That's been one of my biggest questions for a while now.

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History
[info]blitzfitness
2006-09-15 01:12 pm UTC (link)
I wonder if way back when Abraham's (or any other biblical figure) talked in council meetings arguing about the worst influence on their children: Sheep sheering.

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I don't have to read anymore of this story
[info]enmitywithin
2006-09-15 04:14 pm UTC (link)
"Certainly, (the shooter) was using media of all kinds to culture his antisocial fantasies. Should we hold (this game) responsible? Clearly, these are overly simplistic explanations."

A-friggen-men.


oh, and the rest is the same, good stuff. I'll have to find out more about the association for media literacy.

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I'm glad CTV interviewed Bogost
[info]jabrwock
2006-09-15 05:52 pm UTC (link)
I was worried their coverage would approach Toronto Sun-ish type tabloidism on this topic, considering how CTV loves splashy headlines.

Then they turn around and actually do some proper investigative journalism.

On the CBC, they've pretty much dropped the game angle, and are doing the same sort of stuff, but with "goth culture". Getting psychologists on to explain that while it's a concern, it's also an outlet for frustration, and so is more therapeutic than keeping such feelings bottled up.

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[info]beacon80
2006-09-15 05:53 pm UTC (link)
What gets to me about the Gil case is that there were obvious signs. From what I've heard, the guy was obsessed with guns and death, and made no effort to hide it (quite the opposite, really). Someone should have noticed this. I'm not sure what the proper response would be, but this probably could have been avoided.
What gets to me about scape-goating in general is that it hides the real problem. There are real causes at work here. Things can be done about them, but not if everyone's busy pointing fingers at Doom and GTA.

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Someone should have noticed
[info]jabrwock
2006-09-15 06:14 pm UTC (link)
Someone should have noticed this.

CBC Newsworld talked about this yesterday. They interviewed several experts on the "goth culture", and most of them talked about how the culture is all about shock value. So it's difficult to discern someone who's talking about death because they want to "fit in" to the motif, all morbid and moody, and someone who is seriously f'd up.

(there was one guy who was basically the Jack Thompson of goth culture, but he was an obvious scaremonger, even the reporter was giving him the "so we should lock up goths?" look)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Someone should have noticed
[info]beacon80
2006-09-15 07:48 pm UTC (link)
Fair enough. I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone who's obsessed with death should be locked up. I still feel that someone should have taken a closer look. If one of my friends started obsessing about death, I'd try to find out why (especially if they already displayed an obsession with guns). If they described themselves as an Angel of Death, I'd wonder if they really meant it.
I've been told that there's usually warning signs, but the signs are often subtle, and no one's looking closely enough. Gil's case at the very least should have suggested to the people around him that they might want to keep an eye out for warning signs.

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[info]xdarkbasex
2006-09-15 07:33 pm UTC (link)
What bothers me the most is that this kind of thing has to be said. I mean, shouldn't this be common sense? It's as if the media is a classroom of immature, easily decieved, judgemental children and these people (Ian Bogost and John Pungente) are the parents/teachers correcting them and teaching them life lessons as well as common sense.

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[info]hayabusa75
2006-09-16 12:01 am UTC (link)
They're also like children in the sense that they don't actually listen to what the adult is saying, and when they do they forget it the next day.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]hornsofvalmar
2006-09-16 04:21 pm UTC (link)
"You can't blame the media," he said. "People have been doing these violent things since before there was even media... Parents certainly have to be more aware of what their children are seeing."

OH NO THAT'S TOO HARD CANT WE JUST BLAME IT ALL ON THOSE EVIL VIDEO GAMES AND SATANIC ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC RATHER THAN ACCEPT THE FACT THAT SOME OF OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE BABIES ARE JUST FUCKED UP AND SOME OF US SUCK AT RAISING OUR KIDS OWWWWW YOU MAKE MY HEAD HURRRRRRRRRT!!!!!

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