Let's Pretend for a moment that the year is 1987. Atari and Comodore 64 are hot on the market right now. In a few years, Nintendo and Game Boy will be in the hands of 50 percent of adolescent children.
One of the kids is thoroughly enjoying killing bats in Castlevania or shooting up some ducks in Duck hunt (occasionally shooting the dog for laughing if you miss) and watching colorful 8bit blood splatters.
Then the kid has a bad day at school, probably built up from years of being made fun of for not being able to dribble a basketball, or coordinate a bat hitting a
baseball. Maybe his social skills are lacking because he was a little different and no one talked to him. People are constantly snickering or laughing at him for his inadequacies and never see any of the stuff he's good at, because the stuff he excels in doesn't revolve around the school's athletic program.
So, he goes home, gets his dad's gun out of the closet and takes it to school with him the next day, planning on shooting Johnny Jockitch for laughing at him for missing the foot connection in kickball, or planning to aim at Suzy Fucking Perfect because she turned him down laughing after he spent 3 months getting the courage to ask her out. While he's at it, he might take out the teacher that always asks him the answer to questions he obviously doesn't know and puts him on the spot to make him look stupid in front of his classmates. Did we blame 8-bit video games then? Back then, I think they blamed it on the drugs, or whatever else was unpopular with adults.
It's not about video games or violent movies Dr. Phil. It's about revenge. It's about taking all you can and lashing out with something that builds up inside a kid for years because people fuck with them for too long. This is a definition of a troubled teen. That kinda kid is a minority.
The same can go with college kids too. Personal Vendetta's, trying to belong in a group that won't accept them. Add that to the years of high school preceding it.
I play violent games. I prefer them. I like to shoot at computer generated graphical representations of human beings, and blow their digital, artificial intelligent brains all over the bitmapped brick texture of the wall they're standing in front of. And I know the difference between that and a real human. The lines are not scewed for me. I have it together. People with mental handicaps can distinguish between the two. I do not drive over crowds of people in my car to see them flail around in the air like retarded monkeys for enjoyment, but will do it in video games. And kill hookers to get my money back. That's the best part.
I'm sure a kid that has gone through years of being made fun of will do drastic things to see Johny Jockitch beg for his life, and apologize for laughing at him so much. And, it's not video games, violent movies or music. In most cases it's the schools. Feeling inferior to other people is no picnic at the lake. Socially, mentally, physically.
Jocks, help him shoot the basket better. He wants to fit in.
Girls, at least be nice to the kid. You'll change his life one day and help him develop the social skills and self-confidence to move on from you. Be patient.
Teachers, give the kid a break. Don't put him on the spot. If he doesn't know the answer when you call on him, don't drill him to force it out. Some people think slower than others, not because their dumb. They just can't think on the spot.
Dr. Phil, stop blaming. It's not the fault of the troubled. It's people as a society. Not helping each other, and ignoring the troubled.
Dane Cook gets it. He talks to the crazy guy at work, so when he decides to come in with a gun one day because his co-workers make fun of him for looking like the gamer from the World of Warcraft episode of Southpark, He'll be like 'Hey, Dane. Thanks for the candy.', and continue with his rampage, leaving Dane unscathed. And I don't make fun of that guy to his face. But, he'd take out the first floor, and I'd be safe on the third, cause he'd never walk up 3 flights of stares to shoot us. And I talked to him a few times about computers, so I think I'm safe.
If games were the problem, wouldn't there be more violence against the parents, and home shootings? If kids were playing video games in school, Dr. Phil, the connection may be stronger, but you have no basis to blame games or movies for violent acts that take place at schools, or workplaces.
Anyway, the point of this is, Dr. Phil is a cracked Doctor, video games, movies and music do not influence people to kill. But if the kid has got an Ipod, he can listen to some Cannibal Corpse while rampaging.
-Chris
