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Muirdach · 09-14-2007, 10:46 AM

I believe it's because that way is safe. There's violence everywhere, even directly targeted at children - most superhero comics and TV shows are often excessively violent or in some way glorify violence as having good outcomes, such as fighting crime. Like you said, society is desensitized towards violence. People, for the most part, are very clear about the distinction between game and reality, as far as violence goes (there are exceptions of course). I would say that it's a given that a teenager would play a violent game with friends and know that it's unacceptable to act out something similar in real life - society has drawn the line very clearly. Would "but I can do it on CounterStrike!" be a useful defense in a murder trial? Could the makers of that game get dragged to court over it? Of course not, and society as a whole would laugh at that kind of thing. People are expected to know the difference.

Sex, on the other hand, is much less clear. Like you said, society doesn't want to talk about it. In many cases, society just doesn't want to know - "don't ask, don't tell". It is only a recent phenomenon that people have been able to be more open about it, generally. Maybe it is something that will take time. In the meantime, is it possible that a game that allows or encourages nudity or sexual contact get into trouble if one or more of its players took it "beyond the game"? I'd say that's more likely.

So, could games help society by changing? It's possible. But they don't want to. They don't want to take the risk and anger a still somewhat-conservative society, or even land themselves in court. It's safe to glorify violence because the average joe knows that you're not trying to challenge society's views. Even a very detailed and controversial game like Grand Theft Auto - the vast majority of people don't believe that the game designers are trying to encourage crime. When the topic shifts to something a lot more blurry, I don't think many developers would want to put their reputation on the line and risk being accused of supporting something that they really don't.

09-14-2007, 10:46 AM	#2
Muirdach Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Home MUD: Karinth Posts: 64	Re: Sex & Violence I believe it's because that way is safe. There's violence everywhere, even directly targeted at children - most superhero comics and TV shows are often excessively violent or in some way glorify violence as having good outcomes, such as fighting crime. Like you said, society is desensitized towards violence. People, for the most part, are very clear about the distinction between game and reality, as far as violence goes (there are exceptions of course). I would say that it's a given that a teenager would play a violent game with friends and know that it's unacceptable to act out something similar in real life - society has drawn the line very clearly. Would "but I can do it on CounterStrike!" be a useful defense in a murder trial? Could the makers of that game get dragged to court over it? Of course not, and society as a whole would laugh at that kind of thing. People are expected to know the difference. Sex, on the other hand, is much less clear. Like you said, society doesn't want to talk about it. In many cases, society just doesn't want to know - "don't ask, don't tell". It is only a recent phenomenon that people have been able to be more open about it, generally. Maybe it is something that will take time. In the meantime, is it possible that a game that allows or encourages nudity or sexual contact get into trouble if one or more of its players took it "beyond the game"? I'd say that's more likely. So, could games help society by changing? It's possible. But they don't want to. They don't want to take the risk and anger a still somewhat-conservative society, or even land themselves in court. It's safe to glorify violence because the average joe knows that you're not trying to challenge society's views. Even a very detailed and controversial game like Grand Theft Auto - the vast majority of people don't believe that the game designers are trying to encourage crime. When the topic shifts to something a lot more blurry, I don't think many developers would want to put their reputation on the line and risk being accused of supporting something that they really don't.