okay if this runs long Im sorry...
Im not too bothered by it when it's in a proper context, or rather appropriate for the story being told.
why I say it as this comes to me like this...
Humanity is naturally fucked up, always has been...until very recently sex, violence, suffering in ways NONE of us alive today can understand was the norm.. a small child witnessed members of his family/village/clan/tribe drop dead daily from various illnesses, famine, and battle...having to thmselves dress the wounds of warriors or help prepare burials, very often went into the battles themselves depending on their age.... move up the time frame to early/mid industrial revolution and many of the conditions still were prominent, but now you had mobs of children working in large factories, where more often then not the kid at the station next to him would get caught up in the machine and ripped to shreds...
Lately, and by that I mean only the last 40, 50 years or so life in general has tamed down to levels unheard of...you hear so many complaints of war, and violence, but in reality the last few decades have been some of the most peaceful our species has ever seen...and with that came a odd side effect of people turning a blind eye to nature, living in a happy little haze.
Which in many ways sounds quite nice...but it also developed to the point where people now have harder and harder times being able to just deal with life, it's up's and down's emotional and mental strength plummeting. Now Im not saying everyone is like this but it seems to be something becoming more and more common " more so in first world nations where we have been pretty pampered "
games, movies, books that do exhibit the darker side of humanity I think do have a place to remind us of how life really can be... This in no means says we need to look at it and love it, nor does it mean we need to emulate it, not saying that you should take it and start to fear..." because in reality it's always been there, just you've chosen/protected from seeing it)...but it is there to remind us of what we can be.
That said, As a parent I prefer my sons to be exposed to as many facets in life and situations as I can, to allow them to learn to cope, and deal with the strains of life mentally and emotionally, for them to understand " even in a dramatized way" what can be out there. I also make it a point to actually talk with them about it and such to help them better understand why many of the choices leading to a violent life, or what not is not a wise path, and make sure they see the major fall outs " which sometimes do- sometimes dont get properly shown in a game/movie/book"
My 8 year old plays anything I play, things like ME were fine, as they gave him the chances to make choices right or wrong and see " some" fall out, I even let him play saints row 2 " which actually pissed him off, because as he puts it- why should they be rewarded for being scum" he understood and respected the getting rid of the corrupt ultor, and cleaning out other gangs, but putting innocents into the path upset him, having to kill cops upset him...and he began playing the game in a way I thought pretty proudly was a bright move for his age..
" he drove sanely, doing traffic stops if it was impossible to swerve around a line.. he did his very best to avoid bringing innocents into the line of fire, tried to keep his police notoriety down as much as he could, if they were in chase, he would shoot out the tires as to not need to actually kill anyone other than the target..
and when the game was over and done with, he was able to walk away from it having had fun... but knowing it was just a game, KNOWING that a life such as that of the saints " playah" was in reality much much more dangerous, and far less realistic.
basically, I think what Im getting at is his maturity, and ability to rationalize what he see's and hears is a major factor in his exposure to things like that.... My 3 year old does not get to do things like that yet, he's still playing lego games or simple racing games, or plays capture the flag on my old Jedi Academy game... but he also has a temper, and attitude that will have me limiting his exposure to content like that until he's older, or shapes up his personality as it is now...
imagine a game like gta 4 but that you in reality are an accountant for a big corporation and your days are spend buy working standing in traffic and sleeping. that would make for great entertainment. Games are fun because you get from them things you dont experience in real life like two sexy female ninjas with big bouncy boobs fighting each other in a glacier cave (DOA) or just jacking a car and joyriding across town while the cops chase you. 
