tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post6576526709380048601..comments2024-02-19T19:53:01.688-08:00Comments on Cathode Tan: A Culture War Over FearJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04260309971152360156noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-88575230664343575272007-06-25T17:13:00.000-07:002007-06-25T17:13:00.000-07:00Priorities, as I say, it is all about the prioriti...Priorities, as I say, it is all about the priorities. Whatever you (in the Republican abstract of here I speak, of course) think about what happens between two men in their own bedroom ... it can't trump the atrocities we might be responsible for under our own flag...<BR/><BR/>And yet my mom knows relatively normal people who simply don't understand what all the fuss is about.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04260309971152360156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-80833647138078646962007-06-25T14:10:00.000-07:002007-06-25T14:10:00.000-07:00It is, of course, telling that the people who are ...It is, of course, telling that the people who are often most upset about violence in video games are the same people working in the government to legitimize torture (as the Washington Post's fine expose of Cheney covers today, although certainly both are true across the aisle to a lesser extent). <BR/><BR/>I find the whole subject matter a little repulsive, personally. But the visceral nature of the medium, in this case, does add a kind of nasty little frisson to the debate. How can people be pro-torture when it comes to actual policy, but against its depiction on a screen where we can (in some cases) squirm at the bloody consequences of the act? Or what does it say if we enjoy the games, but (I would hope) refuse to believe that the US stands for institutionalizing such action?<BR/><BR/>I don't like torture gameplay, any more than I particularly enjoy <I>24</I>. But I'm kind of glad that someone's making those games and movies, because I appreciate being able to say "this sickens me, both in the abstract and as a 'game,' and I won't play it." Similarly, I'm not a fan of SCMRPG, but I understand the argument that it is a thought-provoking work, one that I can think about as I choose not to play it. <BR/><BR/>It's the people who both enjoy this entertainment <I>and</I> disdain the Geneva conventions that truly disturb me.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08947215225025651626noreply@blogger.com