Suit seeks to ban sales of popular video game.
Yes, it's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City! Haitian Civil Rights groups have filed suit against the game to ban its sale. The line "Kill All Haitians" has been deemed offensive, and offensive behavior has been outlawed since the Go Fuck Yourself, America Act of 1964.
I'm certainly not trying to offend them further (after all, if they'll sue a video game company for a whopping $15,000, they'd probably sue an individual for at least $20), but if you're REALLY afraid of people who are so obsessed with a video game that they would act on a line like "Kill All Haitians" in real life, wouldn't it be a bad idea to sue the makers of the game? Remember, the Internet facilitates fast communication. How long would a chatroom conversation like that take?
Online Vice City Support Group:"Hey, we can't play Vice City anymore! Oh, God...there's a gaping void where my soul once was! The anguish! The rage!! NOW what're we gonna do? Hey, whose fault is this anyway? And what would Tommy Vercetti do?"
Ah, but seriously, folks. Video games don't kill people, and nobody who wouldn't kill people anyway is suddenly going to decide to go on a killing spree because of a video game. Hey, Haitian Civil Rights Groups: doesn't Haiti itself have any problems that should be solved before we start worrying about the particular phrasing of Vercetti's missions?
PS: John Ashcroft--I'm just kidding; go ahead and ban the game. Ban Kwanzaa, too, and jazz and protests and pens with red ink, if you want. I was in your corner the whole time.
Posted by Chris at January 1, 2004 09:37 PM | TrackBackThe whole thing is made even more silly by the fact that they've already managed to get them to remove the offending line from all future releases of the game.
I remember watching some tv show where some guy gets the crap beaten out of him after going into some restaurant or bar... he was an actor, and had been on one of those "Unsolved Mysteries" shows in one of their re-enactments, and some people in the restaurant thought he'd ACTUALLY done those things. Apparently, similar situations actually happen fairly often in real life.
So... when are they going to sue the makers of Roots for their depictions of racial oppression and use of derogatory terms? Or how about Blazing Saddles for making fun of, well, everything?
Re: your PS: Suck up.
Posted by: Nabil at January 2, 2004 04:01 AMRe: Roots, etc.: Well, that's exactly the problem. Essentially what we have now is "Anything I don't like, I'll get the government to eliminate." Remember Skokie? No WAY that would happen today. And it cost the ACLU 2,000 members to fight for the nazis. But it was the right call. 26 years ago...seems like a lifetime.
Re: your Re: my PS: Suck up: Hey, you do what you gotta do. If you're on the short stack, holding a pair of threes, and he's got two aces, you'd better bluff, and hope to outdraw him on fourth street.
Posted by: Chris at January 2, 2004 10:00 AMSo you're saying that if you're on a short stack of pancakes and the chips are down and the ups are still up without a wind beneath your wing that you'd better know when to hold 'em? Or are you implying that you often get lost on the subway on your way to the big poker game when you noticed two in the bush?
p.s.
Blazing Saddles is one of my personal all time favorite films!
I don't know man. I played GTA VC to the end of the game, I own every building able to be purchased, I've got 3 million in the bank, there are no more gangs to defeat and no more missions to be done. Back when I used to play it, things weren't right man. Shit happened that you didn't want to happen. Jared and Ann can tell you. For instance, I was sitting at a stoplight on the crossing of main and s. winooski in Burlington. And there was a fire truck next to me. Honestly it was all I could do to NOT jump out of my car and rip the guy from his seat and drive through town sirens blazing. I've never had the urge to drive a fire truck more, because they were so rare in Vice City. But I guess i've never had any urges to hurt people because I played it. I've never wanted to run over people, or shoot them, or Kill anybody, but you are right, I feel inclined now to kill hatians for not letting me play my bible. Fags...
Posted by: Adam at January 2, 2004 12:57 PMAdam's onto something. It's not that a game like this will lead people to cross MAJOR moral boundaries and commit heinous acts that they'd never previously contemplated. It's far more likely that they'll commit MINOR acts of questionable moral value, like stealing a fire truck. Doesn't hurt anyone, really (if you rip the guy out gently, and don't hit anyone). Firefighters should sue Rockstar Games! And taxi drivers, because the game points out how easy it is to steal their business with entirely legal (though shady) scare tactics. And the police, for implying that they have tiny penises...but a lawsuit based on that would rely on that being NEWS to most people, which is doubtful to the point of being impossible to prove. Fags indeed...
Posted by: Chris at January 2, 2004 02:31 PM