America Doesn't Torture... We Just Play Grand Theft Auto
I know the swine flu is top of the news these days, but I am still behind a week or two, trying to take in the torture memos being released, the controversy over what happened, and if anyone should be prosecuted. Our conscience has to live with the abhorrent acts made on behalf of our country that are no longer national secrets.
Apparently, many Americans are just fine with it. In fact, according to a CNN article shown in HuffPo on Friday, those most in favor of torture are churchgoers.
Whether or not this is true, as Americans, we cannot turn our heads away from the impact of our actions, and the broken moral codes of conduct that have long been banned around the world. I have a difficult time deciding where to sit on this fence. While I agree these heinous practices should not be tolerated or forgotten, I see a big pink elephant in the room here.
I believe if we are going to truly come to terms with abiding by moral codes against extreme acts of violence, we first have to start in our own living rooms to explore the increased levels of violence we witness on a daily basis that serves as news or entertainment. We say we "don't f**#$ torture," yet Grand Theft Auto is our favorite video game.
Here's a quiz. See what comes to mind when you read:
Torture.
Unadulterated violence beyond a moral code.
Loss of respect for life.
Answer: Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, the Sopranos, Dateline, or World of Warcraft?
Let's face it: Americans are repeatedly exposed to serious scenes of violence when we go out to the movies, watch nightly TV shows, or unwind with video games, all of which drastically decrease overall sensitivity to violence.
Let's start with TV: I hear there are currently 22 cop shows on the air: NCIS, Cops, Castle, the Mentalist, Bones, Criminal Minds, the Unusuals, etc. These shows are the meat and potatoes of the television industry. That's a pretty sad statement. Most of them have the same story lines about bad guys and cops running around killing each other with little remorse or consequences, yet the scenes become more graphic and the drama more intense with each passing year.
The National Television Violence Study performed a comprehensive survey of violence on the air and determined that 47% of the violent acts shown resulted in no observable harm to the victim; only 16% of violent shows contained a message about the long term negative repercussions of violence; and in a whopping 73% of all violent scenes, the perpetrator went unpunished (Zoglin, "Chips" 60).
Films are more of the same, sort of like TV shows on steroids. Most of the drama and horror films today are filled with extreme scenes of blood and gore that I would consider torture, and millions of kids sneak in and pay good money to watch. My husband and older son love Matt Damon's Bourne series and high intensity Mel Gibson flicks. Personally, I think it's a cheap shot to manipulate my emotions with loud music, fast cuts that assault my eyes and scenes of death with little or no consequence.
And what about these modern X-Box and online video games? While I happen to enjoy the "G" rated Wii, over 11 million people are spending their time engrossed in the World of Warcraft or Grand Theft Auto where the point is to go around and kill people in a calculated way. Tell me again why this is supposed to be fun and relaxing?
According to the research oriented Warrior Science Group, watching violence is a technique used in the military to train soldiers to become killers, and video games do the same thing: "Every time a child plays an interactive video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex skills as a soldier or police officer in training."
Watch this MadTV comedy spoof about a board game version of the Grand Theft Auto game as "family fun" and notice your reaction:
Is it funny? Or is it a terrible reflection of how desensitized we have become to the images around us? If we can laugh at this clip, and then protest about our use of torture, are we being hypocritical?
Today the data linking violence in the media to violence in society are superior to those linking cancer and tobacco. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, speaker, and one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human aggression, and the roots of violence and violent crime. He writes;
Our children watch vivid pictures of human suffering and death, learning to associate it with their favorite soft drink and candy bar or their girlfriend's perfume. After the Jonesboro shootings, one of the high-school teachers told me how her students reacted when she told them about the shootings at the middle school. "They laughed," she told me with dismay. A similar reaction happens all the time in movie theaters when there is bloody violence. The young people laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop. We have raised a generation of barbarians who have learned to associate violence with pleasure, like the Romans cheering and snacking as the Christians were slaughtered in the Coliseum.
What is your 'torture tolerance?' How much can you stand to watch, to participate in? The line between fact and fiction is fine. If we want to stand as a leading nation in moral conduct, we must first explore why we are inundating ourselves with so many images of violence. Where are the filmmakers who can elicit the thrill of fear without having to watch someone's brain explode? What if films touting 'random acts of kindness' became "A" list summer blockbusters like Pay it Forward? If Al Gore can do it on global warming, anyone can.
It's time to put torture in its place as unacceptable, period, both in our nation's military practices, and in our nation's entertainment standards. Cheney says torture works, but Gandhi showed non-violence works too. Let's try to remember and apply the wisdom of his own words:
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
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I find this boarding amusing and alarming to see a growing trend in which people look towards a third party to justify their own actions. So many people today are up in arms about the moral values of society and yet instead of taking responsibility they seek to push the blame onto a medium. Lets face it humans as a whole are naturally violent, on an instinctual level we have the capability and in many instances a need for conflict, while these levels of conflict vary, from physical violence to solving a puzzle. This is nothing new and placing the blame for your own short comings will not solve the problem.
There is one part by and large that separates media be it video games, comics, TV and movies from that of the war and torture that takes place in the real world. That being that one is real and one is not, that is the key word here, REALITY. If a person cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality that is the fault of the person, not the content in which they are exposed to.
In short people need to take responsibility for themselves; recognize that it is the person, not the media, not the video game, not the weapons that are causing the problems. Grow up, teach your kids why killing and or hurting another human being is wrong and quit wasting time and money on trying to force your own idea of the world onto every one else.
Hi Kari,
Can you please elaborate on what precisely you believe Grand Theft Auto has to do with torture?
I am also curious as to whether you actually have any idea what World of Warcraft is, or if you just heard it mentioned on Dr. Phil.
Your clarification is appreciated; thanks!
The nuerons that fire together wire together. Another way to say it is; we absolutely DO become desensitized to torture, killing etc. by playing games like Grand Theft Auto.
It is fact that circuitry in our brains get wired together or hard wired or conditioned to respond in the way they are "trained."
If a buddist monk who meditates on love, gratitude and forgiveness for 10 hours a day were to sit down to fire up Grand Theft Auto, he would be revolted. He is wired for compassion.
If this violent media is so caustic, then why hasn't complete and total anarchy broken out across the world yet? If violent videogames are one of the "causes" of all school shootings, then why aren't all schools in America on complete and total lockdown due to the all out war that should be taking place between social clicks? If simply holding a gun is supposed to teach kids how to handle a real gun, and violent media is supposed to desensitize children so much, how come elementary students aren't hard edged killing machines?
Almost all studies, save the ones that are biased against violent media in the first place, only show a very thin correlation between viewing and taking part in violent media and sports, and real world violence. David Grossman's claims of using shooting games to train military troops is greatly exaggerated and taken completely out of context with the actual use of interactive media in troop training. The heads of military training for the U.S. Army have stated so directly.
I wish people would stop trying to explain away the failings of others by placing blame on unrelated things like movies, music and video games, and simply state the fact: Some people are just flawed and ANY negative stimulus would encourage those sad few to do or condone hideous acts. I for one enjoy video games, many of them violent. But I have steadfastly opposed the war in Iraq from day 1, and would never condone torture of any kind.
Then there are those of us who enjoy video games, even ones like Grand Theft Auto, and yet, amazingly, don't condone real life torture.
I don't get the correlation anyway. The Grand Theft Auto series is a primarily tongue-in-cheek fare (with the possible exception of the recent incarnation which got a bit more realistic but still oddly tried to maintain that sardonic feel) where you take on the role of a criminal carrying out organized crime. That has nothing to do with torture of prisoners of war. It's not even remotely related. The game series is similar to entertainment such as The Godfather or Scarface (except that it parodies aspects of such films, and incidentally both of these films have seen game adaptations), and its clearly not marketed toward, advertised toward, or intended for kids.
And lasrtly, the Wii is far from G-rated, no matter what their marketing shtick tells you. There are no less than twenty Mature rated games for the console. It's painful to see people lay blame on or try to discuss a subject, hobby, culture or industry they clearly don't know much about.
Also reflex skills? I've been gaming since I was 7 years old, and I've played my share of violent games, but if you put a real gun in my hand I'd have no idea how to use it, let alone aim it.
While I applaud the author for being able to address all types of media in her post rather then just lambasting a single source that doesn't make her reasoning any worthier of the national attention.
Yes, violent media can desensitize some people. If you don't recognize that you are at least somewhat affected by what you see, read, watch, and play then try turning the sound off during the commercials on TV and you'll realize how big of a difference it can make in what you're thinking.
However in all the studies I've seen that study this effect, it is temporary.
Making the statement that we need to get everyone to think the same way about a subject is not necessarily progressive. While it isn't listed in the constitution one of the most fundamental rights, to the point that it shouldn't even have to be mentioned, is the right to free thought. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, whether the author or a poster agrees or not. The point where those beliefs become a problem is when they start infringing on another person's rights, say like torturing them without legal ramifications, murdering them, or I don't know preventing them from watching, reading, or engaging in roleplay about certain concepts and ideas.
The bridge between fantasy and reality is long and arduous, yet you present crossing it as simple as checking items off a shopping list.I am humbly awaiting your next article detailing what reading The Shining at the age of 11 may have done to my fragile little mind.
Ive personally been a gamer since the age of four, almost reaching a quarter century of experience.
if there has been any impact on my formative years and my life thereafter it has been this: Think logically. You focus so much on the aspect of killing (the end), without truly considering what goes on around that (the means). Truely I have played numerous missions in GTA where the objective is killing someone, but the act of achieving that objective is what engages the gamer. Do I take a car, truck or bike? Will I be on a heavily trafficked road? What route is the shortest? Its raining, maybe I shouldn't go too fast. How do I complete my objective without putting myself at too much risk?
That is what I would argue you can bring from playing videogames. A level of mindfulness where you can successfully 'attack' an issue with logic and not succuumb to irrational fear or anger about a given situation.
And I'm certain that is exactly NOT what the institutors of this torture program in their arsenal.
Violence in media has been around a lot longer than you and me pal.
Can anyone imagine her doing this rant around the late 16th century?
"Oh hear thy cry, us poor British doth be exposed to wretched filth in our entertainment. For even the plays that doth grace the Globe be so filled with violence and murder that it doth desensitize us. Woe for the fate of Britain."
Actually, the waltz was originally very controvers
1) There have been tenuous correlations found between violence and violent media, but never any causation - and the correlations, as mentioned - have been tenuous at best. Pretty much the only thing one might safely conclude is that a mentally unbalanced person might get the wrong idea from playing violent video games.
In other words, there are many far better indicators of potential violent behavior than an interest in video games. Millions of people (young and old) play games, and (as mentioned previously) youth violence has declined in the last decade.
2) "G-rated Wii"? If the Xbox and PS3 scare you, you need to get your head out of the sand about your innocent little Wii. Look up the games "Madworld" and "Call of Duty: World at War". Check out "Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition" or "House of the Dead: Overkill."
Think your Nintendo DS is nice and safe? Try "GTA: Chinatown Wars."
_________
Of course, you'll find demons if you expect to find them. The problem is, there are no demons hiding in video games. The solution is the same as it has always been: responsible parenting. Games rated "M" are rated "M" for a reason.
If video games like World of Warcraft teach us to like torture, well, to make a point at least 5 other people have made before me, how come we don't see people casting fireball-type spells in order to achieve those ends? Because the people playing the game understand the difference between their fantasy and their reality. Adults (the age group for whom products like GTA are approved) are better at this than children, naturally, but we're not still banning Superman comics because kids try to fly, are we (to make another tired point, you know who's best at helping children understand the differences between fantasy and reality? Parents, who need to, across the board, take a more active hand in raising their children)?
Anyone who's been following this debate for any length of time has seen/heard Grossman's arguments taken apart, and certainly won't be influenced by anything he says ever again. Not to say that I agree with these people (I don't - I know plenty of mentally healthy people that enjoy their entertainment with some violent content, and so do they, and so do the people they know, and so on), but the folks at the National Institute on Media & the Family are, at the least, smarter and better reasoned than David Grossman (Dr. David Walsh - one of their top guys - was even willing to take his message to the enemy and be interviewed by a major gaming-related publication). Here's their website: http://www
This is the lamest article I've ever read on Huffington Post. WOW! (pun intended)
Obviously the author doesn't play World of Warcraft, because if she did she surely would not have included it as "a violent videogame that desensitized people to torture".
I'm an avid World of Warcraft player - my main character is a blue Troll "priest" that kills things with magic spells. The content in WOW is as far from reality as you can get, and that's why the players like it. Trolls, Orcs, Elves, magic spells, dragons, monsters, giant spiders, etc. Come on... even morons like George W. Bush must know that World of Warcraft about as much to do with real-life violence as Super Mario Brothers does.
*eye roll*
I'll bet the Bush administration's torturers don't even play video games.
Talk about a phony argument.
I am sick of this anti-free-speech "We-Do-It-
How do you resolve this logic: According to the study you mentioned, Deeply religious are more apt to think torture is appropriate, but deeply religious people usually don't consume the media you are blaming for this attitude.
Also, I don't think Bush and company play Grand Theft Auto.
They like to play Grand Theft America.
How does she resolve the logic? Like this:
"Whether or not this is true . . . ."
But there is no "whether or not this is true!" Whether it's true (the "or not" is implied) changes the playing field--either way the data needs to be explained, not ignored. The only thing that doesn't change "whether or not this is true" is that there's no reputable evidence for the rest of her theory.
It's like taking the study that showed that teen pregnancy was higher in places that taught abstinence-only sex ed, and saying "well, whether or not that's true, isn't Jamie-Lynn Spears the real problem?"
Every four years or so, for the past two decades, a violent crime is committed and we learn that the person who did the vile act had a copy of some popular, "violent" game in his library. Unfortunately, like every attempt before it, this yet another article brimming over with knee-jerk reactions and attempts to gloss over the truth.
It's perfectly understandable to sit dumbfounded in the face of acts of violence or with the results of a poll which seem antithetical to everything you believe in. It's natural to cast about looking for the behaviors, customs, and other differences between yourself, and those who hold divergent views or who commit violent acts. However if we're to debate facts then Ms. Henley and her ilk are wrong, and have been so for quite some time. A meta-analysis of studies on video games and violent behavior found that the "vast and overwhelming majority" found no causal link what so ever. http://www
Lack of evidence is why Ms. Henley and others appeal to our "common sense". Don't take my word on the research though. Even a glance at wikipedia can set you on the course to improving your knowledge on the subject. More so than Ms. Henley's poorly crafted and intentionally misleading article on the subject. http://en.
Wow. TV and video games are the reason people support torture? Why not blame Dungeons and Dragons and comic books while you're at it?
I know that I see kids all the time jumping on turtles after playing the Mario games, and becoming star athletes after playing Madden, so it must be true.
Seriously, if the evidence shows that regular churchgoers are more likely to support torture, how do you get to "it must be World of Warcraft?" Have you even played World of Warcraft, or watched someone else play it? Your evidence seems to be general fear-mongering and a Mad TV skit.
At least the people who do sham studies exposing the link between video games and violence (seriously, read some of the cases on laws restricting video games and you'll find that the studies cited by the anti-videogame people are laughable--my favorite is a "meta-study" which took a bunch of studies that found no causal link, and then determined that there was a link because there sure were a lot of studies) pretend there's science behind their ignorance.
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