(no subject)
There was a program on about the Edinburgh festival, and part of it focused on racism in humour - what's okay and what isn't.
Four comedians discussed the issue. One of them made the point that there's a difference between a joke which makes the racist the butt of it - "I'm not racist - my best friend's a nigga!" - and one which is actually racist, prejudiced, and/or offensive in nature.
The boy says "if they don't like it, they just shouldn't watch it."
He appears to have missed the point entirely. Part of what they were saying was that, when they have an act full of jokes that are meant to be ironic, and sound racist but actually make the racist look stupid, it's very disturbing to find that people are actually taking it seriously. Then there's the fact that the problem isn't in hearing something offensive - the problem is in knowing that people agree with it, that there are people out there that think that way. That's not something you can really ignore, unless, like him you live in a very same-race town, and you are of that race.
Then he starts babbling on about how GTA doesn't promote violence, and how he's never picked up a gun and gone and killed anyone. Well, actually, GTA does promote violence. The GTA games, and others, promote certain value systems. They show a way of thinking; that violence is acceptable, that racism and sexism are acceptable, that guns and violence are cool. Now, that's not going to make an otherwise-sane person (however that's defined) go and pick up a gun. But, it does move the boundaries on what is and is not okay in our society, and sometimes, those boundaries are just fine where they are.
So, he says again, GTA never made him kill anyone. So I start again. Look at film ratings. Years ago, they were much higher than they are now. An eighteen then seems much, much tamer than an eighteen now, and things that were previously unacceptable.,ie, A Clockwork Orange, are now okay. The boundaries on what is and is not okay have moved. And sometimes, that is a good thing. Sometimes, we need words, and to be able to discuss serious issues. But then, there's a difference between that, and glorifying violence, being repeatedly exposed to a mindset that makes the treatment of women as sex objects, for instance, funny, and okay, and acceptable.
I'm not saying that GTA will make someone go and pick up a gun and kill people. I'm saying that the human mind is a lot more malleable than a lot of people admit to. We define ourselves and our society - which is entirely imaginary - by those around us. Rules, social, moral or legal, exist because we imagine they do. They have no independent existance outside of our collective minds. We continually, especially in our teenage and childhood years, reevaluate those rules, definining them by other people. And yes, including an influence like GTA in that group of "other people" will skew our collective idea of society in that direction.
Incidentally, the boy is not a teenager. He's twenty-eight. After the last bit, he pretended to agree with me, but not because he understood - because he thought peace was worth more than understanding. I told him that I didn't wish to speak him, now or ever, if he continued to be that close-minded and selfish.
I'm not saying I want to ban GTA, or start some kind of thought police. I don't like the way think our society would end up, if GTA had more of an influence, but I will be dead before it makes any kind of huge change, and I have no tie to the future. That's partly why.
What I have a problem with is the statement "if they don't like it, they shouldn't watch it". Sometimes, that is an option. Sometimes, more like not speaking up when they come for the communists (because I was not a communist). It's like the difference between being a tattle-tale and, I don't know, speaking up when being abused, or bullied. One is just whiny, the other is important. Saying other people should just "not watch it" in the latter case, and ignore the fact that a group of people think in a way that is offensive, ignorant, prejudiced and possibly damaging to yourself is rather blind. It's like saying that people should "learn to take a joke", or "it was just a joke!". I cannot think of any circumstances where that phrase would be acceptable.
Four comedians discussed the issue. One of them made the point that there's a difference between a joke which makes the racist the butt of it - "I'm not racist - my best friend's a nigga!" - and one which is actually racist, prejudiced, and/or offensive in nature.
The boy says "if they don't like it, they just shouldn't watch it."
He appears to have missed the point entirely. Part of what they were saying was that, when they have an act full of jokes that are meant to be ironic, and sound racist but actually make the racist look stupid, it's very disturbing to find that people are actually taking it seriously. Then there's the fact that the problem isn't in hearing something offensive - the problem is in knowing that people agree with it, that there are people out there that think that way. That's not something you can really ignore, unless, like him you live in a very same-race town, and you are of that race.
Then he starts babbling on about how GTA doesn't promote violence, and how he's never picked up a gun and gone and killed anyone. Well, actually, GTA does promote violence. The GTA games, and others, promote certain value systems. They show a way of thinking; that violence is acceptable, that racism and sexism are acceptable, that guns and violence are cool. Now, that's not going to make an otherwise-sane person (however that's defined) go and pick up a gun. But, it does move the boundaries on what is and is not okay in our society, and sometimes, those boundaries are just fine where they are.
So, he says again, GTA never made him kill anyone. So I start again. Look at film ratings. Years ago, they were much higher than they are now. An eighteen then seems much, much tamer than an eighteen now, and things that were previously unacceptable.,ie, A Clockwork Orange, are now okay. The boundaries on what is and is not okay have moved. And sometimes, that is a good thing. Sometimes, we need words, and to be able to discuss serious issues. But then, there's a difference between that, and glorifying violence, being repeatedly exposed to a mindset that makes the treatment of women as sex objects, for instance, funny, and okay, and acceptable.
I'm not saying that GTA will make someone go and pick up a gun and kill people. I'm saying that the human mind is a lot more malleable than a lot of people admit to. We define ourselves and our society - which is entirely imaginary - by those around us. Rules, social, moral or legal, exist because we imagine they do. They have no independent existance outside of our collective minds. We continually, especially in our teenage and childhood years, reevaluate those rules, definining them by other people. And yes, including an influence like GTA in that group of "other people" will skew our collective idea of society in that direction.
Incidentally, the boy is not a teenager. He's twenty-eight. After the last bit, he pretended to agree with me, but not because he understood - because he thought peace was worth more than understanding. I told him that I didn't wish to speak him, now or ever, if he continued to be that close-minded and selfish.
I'm not saying I want to ban GTA, or start some kind of thought police. I don't like the way think our society would end up, if GTA had more of an influence, but I will be dead before it makes any kind of huge change, and I have no tie to the future. That's partly why.
What I have a problem with is the statement "if they don't like it, they shouldn't watch it". Sometimes, that is an option. Sometimes, more like not speaking up when they come for the communists (because I was not a communist). It's like the difference between being a tattle-tale and, I don't know, speaking up when being abused, or bullied. One is just whiny, the other is important. Saying other people should just "not watch it" in the latter case, and ignore the fact that a group of people think in a way that is offensive, ignorant, prejudiced and possibly damaging to yourself is rather blind. It's like saying that people should "learn to take a joke", or "it was just a joke!". I cannot think of any circumstances where that phrase would be acceptable.