Sunday, May 31, 2009

Pennsays Rapelay

http://crackle.com/c/Penn_Says#id=2473058&ml=o%3D12%26fpl%3D360812%26fx%3D

Short version. Crazy Japanese game where you are supposed to rape. A lot of people are up in arms saying this game will cause more rape. Others say 'fantasy is fantasy' and to outlaw fantasy is to create a catagory of 'thoughtcrimes'.

He does state that he believes he could watch any number of violent movies, or violent games with murder and that he do the same with rapegames and rapemovies, and he would NEVER rape nor murder.

My first thought was 'as an adult, yes, but what about a child watching/playing rapelay day in and day out?'

But then I realized the problem with the above scenario is blaming the videogame rather than the parent. The reason we divide humans into adult and child has nothing to do with size, it is all brain development. That's why children are not held in full account for their actions, not allowed to sign binding contracts, and not allowed to do anything they want.

Of course, that opens up the can of worms of 'If a parent is 'neglecting' a child and allowing that child to play unending hours of violent rape games (with no interjection of context...'this is just a game Billy and this conduct would not be okay in real life') is it acceptable for the state to remove the child? Who gets to decide what other games/movies besides rape based ones are serious enough to be considered child endangerment?

Ultimately, I agree with Penn, but I think it might be a little less cut and dried than he states it

3 comments:

w1ndst0rm said...

Why all the discussion about the game's impact on society? Or how it applies to free speech? And "normalization" of one kind or the other?

Did I miss the part where it was stated that the game is a worthless and irredeemable piece of shit? Or is that fact just to obvious and stating it isn't necessary?

Qhorin said...

Traumatic events can influence the development of sympathy connections in the prefrontal cortex of children. It seems reasonable to me that a realistic game with the features described could be traumatic at certain ages.

andrew said...

Tim, yes, it is an irredeemable piece of shit, but that doesn't equate to being illegal, at least not for adults.

Waters, yes, exposing children to something can be damaging. However, where do you draw that line. I know a lot in this group have been very against legistlation that would require violent/heavily sexual video games to be marked as M, and only purchasable by adults claiming such would restrict free speech.

I tend to take the opposite view, and would be totally fine with Rape-Lay being treated like a playboy magazine, stores can't sell to kids. But then I'd be fine if this was the case with extremely violent video games. If the parents buy it, then it is on their heads.

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