I hope there aren't any kids in the way of these cars...

There I was getting wound up about one semi-games-related thing, and my girlfriend shouts through from the other room with another.  Seems, in this week’s edition of women’s real-life mag Take A Break, the editor’s mounting a campaign (along with the more motherly of the magazine’s readership) to ban the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt series.

Predictably, much of it is nonsense, and clearly written by someone who’s never even had the slightest interest in playing the games in question, not even for the sake of journalistic integrity.  Here are a few choice quotes:

“The magazine’s philosophy? Bringing mum’s together, taking back our streets from yobs, campaigning to end violence against women” – all of which, the article claims, are supported by Rockstar’s GTA and Manhunt titles.

“Rockstar stood for women as victims, prostitutes and sexual objects,” the article subsequently claims. “Take A Break stood for women as campaigners, mothers and a force for good.”

And eventually, with some conviction, “We’re happy to go on record on behalf of our readers to say we think that such games should be censored.”

But it gets worse.  Oh, how it gets worse.

“We asked via our website for you to vote for Take A Break if you felt that Rockstar Games shouldn’t be on the list of those who have the power to shape young minds.”

Oh, of course, it’s about young minds.  Because the great big whopping red 18 on the front cover means this is a product aimed at our poor iccle children, not sane, sensible adults with a legal and moral right to make their own choices about the entertainment they consume.

“These games are sickening in their violence and corruption of young minds,” the article reiterates, before claiming that they “encourage kids to think that violence against women is cool. That being a criminal is something to aspire to.  They glorify drug use and drug dealing.” Again, it’s all about our poor little children, being corrupted by an evil force that is not legally available to them.  Which means… could it mean… that Take A Break’s army of mums have actually contributed to the breaking of UK law by purchasing this sick, twisted product for their children to enjoy?  BBFC 18-rated products cannot be legally sold to or for a minor.

It gets worse still.  I ranted about ITV’s gaming addiction documentary a bit ago, and much of what angered me there can be applied here.  Check this shit out:

“[The games'] defenders claim that players can easily tell the difference between sordid fantasy and cold reality. But a steady stream of crimes have been linked to violent video games since they first went on sale.  Only last August yet another murder was linked to Grand Theft Auto – this time after an 18-year-old stabbed a taxi driver in Thailand.  He wanted money to play the game” (??) “and said it made killing ’seem easy’.”

And, amazingly, this:

“Authorities in Thailand immediately banned [Grand Theft Auto]. Sadly the UK doesn’t take the mental health of its children as seriously.”

Wow.

So.  I thought I’d blog about it.  And then copy-and-paste the letter I’ve emailed to the magazine tonight, and plan to send in paper-form tomorrow.  If you feel strongly, you could pick up a copy of this week’s Take A Break (it’s shit, but less than a quid), read the article, and do the same.  You can get in touch via email at tab.features@bauer.co.uk, or by post at Letters, Take A Break, Freepost LON12043, H Bauer Publishing, London, NW1 1YU.  Here’s what I’ve written:

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RE: “Mums’ Army vs Rockstar Games”

Dear Editor,

I felt compelled to write to you after spotting the above report in my partner’s copy of your magazine.

I myself am a journalist, specialising in the fields of computer and video games. As such, I was astonished at the complete lack of fair, reasoned and accurate journalism displayed by Take A Break in the article in question.

I am not familiar with your initial campaign or the “victory” to which you mysteriously refer. But I am familiar with the Grand Theft Auto series, and the surrounding controversy. Yet even concerning such a hotly-debated game franchise, I have never seen such a flagrant disregard for unbiased, accurate reporting. Littered with out-of-context remarks and outright fabrications, it is a piece to which I absolutely had to respond.

The whole thing smacks of either a disturbing hidden agenda or a complete lack of research. Most notably, the constant referral to the ways in which Rockstar Games’ titles are somehow corrupting the minds of our poor children is alarming. Perhaps your campaign should not be rallying your motherly readers in a preposterously misleading and scaremongering charade of nonsense, but in fact rallying against them, as presumably each and every one of these horrified parents has illegally purchased the game for their children, or allowed them to purchase it illegally for themselves. The BBFC certified every single Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt game as ‘18′, which in UK law cannot be supplied to a minor, or to an adult who intends to in turn supply it to a minor. Are you suggesting in this article that developing creative, forward-thinking products of entertainment aimed at responsible adults is more of a crime than breaking UK law? Are you sure?

You subsequently cite the tragic case of an 18-year-old’s stabbing of a taxi driver in Thailand. The act was indeed initially attributed to Grand Theft Auto, but I have yet to read the reports of a single psychological professional who confirmed a direct, isolated, causal relationship between the game and the terrible act of knife crime. Every report is the same: the young man was obviously deeply mentally disturbed, and while it is perhaps possible that Grand Theft Auto was the trigger, it was in no way solely to blame for his actions. The government’s subsequent banning of the game was an example of reactionary panic, a shameless plea for people to believe they were making moves to combat such crimes. Equally, the links between the games and “a steady stream of crimes” have been largely discredited by professionals, and only supported by a mass of uninformed popular opinion by those who have conducted little or no basic research into the matter. I guess you had a reason for choosing not to report on this side of the case, though I haven’t been able to decypher it from your article.

It goes on. Accusations of sexism could well be founded, were the violence and other sensitive matters exclusive to female victims, or even weighted that way. Had you spent any time with the games (I assume you haven’t spent any time with the games, or else you’re simply lying rather than being unfortunately misinformed), you would see that the vast majority of violent acts were committed both by and to males (prostitutes do feature peripherally, and had you restricted your argument to this, I’d have been more inclined to understand).

As for worries about promoting drug dealing and a general life of crime, it should be noted that the latest game in the series, Grand Theft Auto 4, went some way in its elegantly and artistically presented narrative to ensuring the lasting message was that crime does not in fact pay. Its protagonist finished the game regretting many of his actions over the course of it, and having arrived in the USA chasing the American dream, began to long for his simpler life back home. You claim Grand Theft Auto glamorises these atrocities, and at a glance it perhaps does. But I find such claims entirely unsupportable by the game, should it be played for any reasonable amount of time.

I’d be extremely interested to know more about your campaign and ensuing victory, as it would help me put the report in a little more context. I’d also ask you to question exactly why you are demanding the censorship of human expression and entertainment. I would entirely agree: children should not be playing the Grand Theft Auto games at all. It is totally unsuitable. But your pleas appear to be part of some sort of misdirected campaign for the protection of children, yet you a collection of games exclusively available to an adult audience as your ammunition. Currently, none of it adds up. I assume, as a professional journalist, you have your reasons, so I would love to hear them.

Please do get in contact via this email address, or via my postal address below, as I would be happy to discuss this matter further.

Kind Regards,

Lewis Denby
Editor
Resolution Magazine

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Take A Break says its readers voices will not go unheard.  Make sure yours don’t either.