Ah I was expecting something stupid from the headline but I get his point. Whenever there is a shooting involving young white men its either video games or heavy metal that gets pointed at.
Expert Says Blaming Videogames for Violence is Racist
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Well I wouldn't say that was the main reason why they were scapegoating video games. I'd say it's just because it's some new (and to their mind, childish) media form trying to break into controversial concepts, so they see it as only destructive. Another thing they like to scapegoat is minorities and immigration, hence the current balance.kyoodle said:
they = sensationalist media.
*puts hand up*
Sir, Sir, for something to be racist doesn't it have to be against a race of people? Sir?
Sir, Sir, for something to be racist doesn't it have to be against a race of people? Sir?
I agree perfectly. I want to give this guy a virtual fist-bump.(mind out of the gutter please)
Every generation has scapegoats. the previous generation blamed rock and roll, and the generation before that blamed commies, and the previous generation before that blamed immigrants.
Every generation has scapegoats. the previous generation blamed rock and roll, and the generation before that blamed commies, and the previous generation before that blamed immigrants.
I wouldn't call it racism, but it certainly is a double standard.
I also love this part:
I also love this part:
DING DING DINGAndy Chalk said:
Guys please read the article first. I admit I read the title and wtf'd but the article explains and raises a good point.
Anyway yeah, it does strike me as odd, people seem unwilling to accept that someone can just snap like that if they're from a nice place so they look for something to blame. With film and TV bow fairly well accepted it's our turn (oh but they're different because games are interactive...yeah...).
I give us another ten years of this crap before the gaming generation begins to take real hold then we're free and away to blame everything on that damned VR tech and it's brainwashing of our poor little murderous Sammy.
Anyway yeah, it does strike me as odd, people seem unwilling to accept that someone can just snap like that if they're from a nice place so they look for something to blame. With film and TV bow fairly well accepted it's our turn (oh but they're different because games are interactive...yeah...).
I give us another ten years of this crap before the gaming generation begins to take real hold then we're free and away to blame everything on that damned VR tech and it's brainwashing of our poor little murderous Sammy.
Andy Chalk said:Expert Says Blaming Videogames for Violence is Racist
A clinical psychologist says that blaming videogames for outbreaks of mass violence is not only a waste of time but also actually smacks of racism.
It's a sadly familiar pattern. Somebody snaps and kills a bunch of people, and fingers immediately start pointing at videogames. The most recent example is the horrific mass murder in Oslo, Norway, that left 76 people dead at the hands of a lunatic who claimed that he used Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311958255&sr=8-1] to train for the attack. But Christopher Ferguson, a psychologist at Texas A&M and well-known expert on videogame violence, says that such accusations are not only a waste of time, but even a little bit racist.
"I know it's a little controversial to say but there's a certain type of racism in place with these killings," he told Forbes [http://blogs.forbes.com/johngaudiosi/2011/07/28/expert-calls-blaming-video-games-on-tragic-massacres-like-oslo-and-columbine-racist/]. "When shootings happen in an inner city in minority-populated schools, videogames are never brought up. But when these things happen in white majority schools and in the suburbs, people start to freak out and videogames are inevitably blamed. I think that there's a certain element of racism or ignorance here."
The problem, he said, is that the public doesn't want to accept that these killing sprees are effectively random and unstoppable. "People really want to know what kind of boogeyman can we hang this on and videogames are still the top choice when it comes to any type of tragedy," he added.
But he also pointed out that the anti-videogame rhetoric is far more muted today than it was a decade ago. The extensive research that's been done in the years since the 1999 Columbine murders have largely debunked the idea that violent media contributes to violent behavior, a point emphasized by the recent Supreme Court decision affirming the First Amendment rights of videogames.
"One thing we've learned from research is that approximately 95 percent of young boys have played a violent videogame. That becomes a tricky thing when these mass homicides occur and the shooter is a young male. The odds are he's played violent videogames," Ferguson said.
"Linking the playing of violent videogames to a mass homicide when the perpetrator is a young male is like blaming the killing on the fact that he was wearing sneakers," he continued, noting the "statistical anomaly" of Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho, who did not play videogames. "The base rate of that behavior is so common that it has no predictive value whatsoever."
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but lets be honest.....what the fuck isnt racist in this totally woopa woopa woo world we live in?
I think that he's missed a point here.
The psychologist says that in a minority populated school, videogames are not blamed. Maybe because people are always looking for easy answers and the assumption is that the violence stemmed from racial issues, as opposed to regular issues such as bullying.
To me THAT is the most predominantly racist idea - and when in a white majority school, the racism argument cannot be played, the blame goes to videogames. If there are no videogames involved, where would the blame automatically shift to next? Teachers? Cellphones?
The psychologist says that in a minority populated school, videogames are not blamed. Maybe because people are always looking for easy answers and the assumption is that the violence stemmed from racial issues, as opposed to regular issues such as bullying.
To me THAT is the most predominantly racist idea - and when in a white majority school, the racism argument cannot be played, the blame goes to videogames. If there are no videogames involved, where would the blame automatically shift to next? Teachers? Cellphones?
You should try reading the whole article before making yourself look like a douchebag next time.Corporal Yakob said:
You too. Do people even read to the article or are they too busy trying to make a funny first post? It's not funny if you've only read the title guys...EverythingIncredible said:
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
They do blame shootings by minorities or what have you on games as well. The really racist people in fact don't, because they believe minorities are too poor to own them.
That's my take anyway.
They do blame shootings by minorities or what have you on games as well. The really racist people in fact don't, because they believe minorities are too poor to own them.
That's my take anyway.
After four pages of 'Could you please read the article before commenting' is it too difficult to READ THE ARTICLE?Jyggalag said:
Try harder.
It's been said before... but if people who are black or muslim commit an atrocity of violence, people don't blame video games. If he's white, people automatically look for something other than 'he's a crazy fucker' to blame.
That is, in fact, racism. I even bolded the races for you. So you can read them. A racial double standard, is in fact, racism.
Yes, it's prejudice too. But seriously, lurk moar.
Read. The. Article. It has LOTS to do with racism. The term is comprehension.Jyggalag said:
Seriously though the article explains what the man is talking about and since it's prejudice as a result of race then yes, it is racism.
He's not saying that people blame videogames for violence, he's saying they blame them for violence when it's in a white area but if it's black kids shooting one another then it's ignored (suggestion being cos black people shoot eachother all the time).
So yes, racism. Also an interesting insight into the reaction to gaming but that's not the dominant point in the article.
Yeah, sure, it's PREJUDICE. It's PREJUDICE based on RACE. And a PREJUDICE based on RACE would be...RACISM! Oh, and let's not forget a nice sauce of classism for that hefty chunk of racism to wallow around in.Jyggalag said:
Y'know, it's kind of stopped being funny and started being irritating. Why are there so many people on this board so bound and determined to pretend it's not racism?
Huh... It is pretty stupid, isn't it....EverythingIncredible said:
And yet.....
Don't get me wrong, considering video games to be a race is pretty stupid (or at least seems that way, cause maybe its not)... and yet, an Expert saying that the people who blame video games for violence might be even stupider....
Ugh, this is like standing on a crumbling stone tower, and you gotta choose between jumping into a tank full of sharks or a cage full of lions...
Did you read the article? He said that blaming video games in white majority schools, regions or areas while not batting an eye when it happens in areas that have more diversification in race smacks a bit of racism, which it does. It's subtly implying that white people are incapable of going into a random killing frenzy but other races are.Corporal Yakob said:
This man, is smarter than me. Also kind of brave when he's ready to accept killings as being random and unstoppable. I'll accept that when the killers don't have access to assault rifles, reflective sights and ammunition that is banned by the geneva convention. So basically when the killers aren't better equipped than soldiers.