I dread telling non-gamers what I do for a living. Actually, I dread telling gamers what I do for a living, but that's a gay ol' rant for another day. I will admit that gamers meet me with boundless enthusiasm when I discuss my work. Non-gamers meet me with something else.
"OOOH MY GOOOOD VIDEO GAMES ARE SOOOO VIOLENT. I SAW A SCARY DOCUMENTAREEEEE."
("But you just let your three-year-old watch The Dark Knight--")
"DOCUMENTAREEEE."
Or,
"KIDS ARE SOOOOO FAT TODAY 'COS OF VIDEO GAAAAAMES."
("But my generation played video games without obesity being a notable problem. Maybe we should look at the increasing number of artificial ingredients going into food--")
"FAAAAT."
And so on.
Then comes word that Penn and Teller will be doing a piece on video game violence for Showtime's Bullshit! Some game writers are meeting the news with relief, like maidens who've been rescued from the dragon's dinner table by two white knights. I'm less enthused.
I'll be honest: I'm not a fan of Penn and Teller or Bullshit!. Matthew Green, the reviews editor at Kombo, sums up my feelings:
"The duo have a knack for interviewing people from both sides of a hot button issue (past episodes have explored things such as global warming, Wal-Mart, exorcisms, and expensive trendy bottled water) with the catch that "wrong" side is usually represented by kooks whose incendiary methods override their messages. The show also uses excessive profanity in place of claims and statements that could be considered libelous."
I even found their attack on PETA disjointed, directionless and one-sided, and let me tell you something: I despise PETA with every fibre of my carnivore heart.
I have no worries whatsoever that Penn and Teller will even suggest that video games affect non-crazy people in negative ways. I'm just worried that it's going to be a lot of swear words and hot air. The show will never reach the people it needs to reach, and even if it does, there won't be any attempt to educate them. Penn and Teller will basically call people jackasses because they had the audacity to believe something they read in a newspaper.
Truth be told, I've met a lot of people who are ignorant about video games, but I've met very few non-gamers who are outright jackasses. Jack Thompson was a jackass. Most politicians who blow about video games are jackasses. People just retain a sad tendency to beleive what their elected officials tell them, even after we wised up and realised that "Duck and Cover" would fuse us to our desks as a glob of charred flesh in a nuclear attack instead of protecting us.
That's why I'm happy--dare I say, proud--to work on John Davison's What They Play. Parents who are genuinely concerned about what their kids play are good parents. They just run the risk of faltering and keeping video games away from their tender children entirely, which is a bad idea because video games rock. So I try and help whittle away the fear-mongering and tell parents exactly what goes into video games, and why they should pay attention to the little letter on the corner of the box for Christ's sweet sake.
No insults. No profanity. I think it works.
Related Links:
Raised on the Stuff
Counterpoint: Too Many Games?