September 26, 2007
As reported by GamePolitics, Take Two interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick was among entertainment execs on the Congressional hotseat yesterday.However, the members of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection generally seemed more concerned with rap music than video games. From the New York Times:
Rap artists and entertainment executives found themselves fending off Congressional criticism that they exploit violence and sexism for profit.
In a hearing convened by Rep. Bobby L. Rush... lawmakers asked music industry executives about their companies’ role in the production of explicit rap, at one point inviting them to read aloud from 50 Cent’s lyrics. The lawmakers also asked whether marketers were doing enough to shield young listeners from graphic content.
Subcommittee chair Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), a former Black Panther, said:
This hearing is not anti-hip-hop... [but violence and degradation have] reduced too many of our youngsters to automatons, those who don’t recognize life, those who don’t value life.
There was much talk about the First Amendment among the subcommittee members, who obviously realized they were treading a fine line in trying to balance concerns about media with the spectre of censorship. From the Times:
The hearing... reflected the continuing debate that has swept the rap world since CBS fired Don Imus, the radio host, for making derogatory comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Mr. Imus’s ouster prompted discussions about performers’ use of misogynous or violent language in songs and music videos.
...the [hearing] spotlight fell on a panel of white executives defending music principally recorded by black men, and in some instances considered offensive to women. The focus was not only on record labels. Also questioned were executives from Viacom, the parent of MTV and BET; Radio One; and the video-game maker Take-Two Interactive Software.
Said Rap artist David Banner:
I can admit that there are some problems in hip-hop, but it is only a reflection of what is taking place in our society. Hip-hop is sick because America is sick.
Rapper Master P had a different view, apologizing to "all the women out there":
We are inflaming this problem by not being responsible. I was honestly wrong.
GP: We'll have more coverage, including audio of Take Two boss Strauss Zelnick's remarks at yesterday's hearing.
Comments
Be sure to check out the audio for Panel II's comments. David Banner was one of the major speakers of the entire discussion.
I'm hoping to see the written testimony that was introduced but not spoken as well, if it is made public.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Nightwng2000
NW2K software
I mean, I know they are very busy, but with the two breaks for votes, it kinda feels like the whole thing was just for show.
I know this isn't a conference but rather a short hearing, but still, while there were no solutions, there was also very little overall discussion. I mean, we have more discussion here at GP than they did.
It just feels like the senators were there just to say they were and that was it. To me anyway.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
maybe its just me but that seems like a good way of describing the reasons as to why games are gradually becoming more and more violent as well. violence is a creation of a violent society, some of these games and music such as rap are just methods of illustrating it. if you want to get rid of the uncivilized society depicted in these forms of media, you have to attack the source of what is being provided to them.
society isnt being created by video games and rap music, videogames and rap music is being created by society. so if people like thompson want to actually do something that isnt a waste of time and money, they would go after society, not the by-products of it.
Anyone watch the video that places the camera perspective behind a Senate or House session? Something 25-30 % of the computers or PDAs had Tetris or solitaire running. My heart weeps...
Nightnwg2000
NW2K Software
I also noticed that when the panel of experts convened, most of the senators didn't come back. Like they were just there to be seen berating the artists and industry types, and that was good enough, they didn't really care whether any actual harm was being done.
From Statistics Canada: "Crime rates in both countries (Canada and U.S.) have followed similar trends during the past two decades. After peaking in 1991, rates for both violent and property crime generally declined throughout the 1990s"
Are we to believe society is getting worse just because somebody thinks it is so? The numbers speak for themselves, use them!
I have a general distaste for any politician that starts a sentence with "I think". I am glad you can think and have opinions, but your span of control is such that you need data to back you up and get the job done.
Overall, not a very productive session, but at least they are taking a stab at it. Ok, maybe that wasn't the best saying to use... ;-)
I am "White and Nerdy"!
And PROUD of it!
As pointed out by "Johnny" here, the statistics for crime rates in the USA and Canada have been rather low and steadily dropping after peaking in 1991. That was more than 1.5 DECADES ago!
Because of this, Rap feels, to me anyway, like it's stuck in a time warp. I talks about life in the ghetto, being oppressed by the police, and then being all pimp by having bling, being crunk, and hanging with hoochies that just want them for money.
Furthermore, if Rap is about discussing real life and trying to motivate people, why is it that I see white guys in wife beaters, wearing backwards baseball caps, seashell necklaces, and clean shaven faces listening to 50 cent. My wife and I both want to roll down our windows and yell out:
"Dude, you're WHITE!"
Granted, we don't actually yell that out, but we are tempted to. And we also feel this way not because we are bigoted, but because what we see on a regular basis is an ironic reversal of what many rap artists say about their music.
David Banner was said, quote:
"I can admit that there are some problems in hip-hop, but it is only a reflection of what is taking place in our society. Hip-hop is sick because America is sick."
If it was a true reflection of society, then why do I see preppy looking white guys driving cars that no one could afford on a minimum wage salary, blasting DMX from their speakers? Is that not a kind of oxymoron as to what Rap was all about? They might as well have Pat Boone covering songs now.
Not all Rap artists buy into this. Will Smith, for one, but I believe he's more of a film actor now than a rap artist. What's more, go back to the rap of the 1980's and early 90's with Hip-Hop artists such as Run DMC, and modern rap pioneers such as Snoop Dogg.
The differences between what was produced THEN as opposed to NOW is practically day and night.
Anyway, enough of my tangent here.
The point I'm trying to make is that rap music says that they are doing social commentary? I find that hard to believe when the subjects in rap aren't about how poor a job President Bush is doing, about the war in Iraq, the unemployment rate, or the rise of technology in our daily lives.
NERDCORE is more relevant rap than RAP! Rapping about video games has more social context than rap!
Even more relevant was Weird Al's parody of modern rap with "White and Nerdy"! Most of the people in today's society are NERDS!
Some more nerdier than others.
You have:
The Goth Nerds
The Music Nerds
The Band Nerds
The Tech Nerds
The Gaming Nerds
The Sports Nerds (and if you play Madden, you are also a Gaming Nerd)
The Movie Nerds
The TV Nerds
The Role Playing Nerds
The Car Nerds
The Foreign Culture Nerds
Granted, by my normal Nerd definition, to be a Nerd requires a level of ACADEMIC geekery where you could school anyone, literally, on any academic subject. The above however are not so much academic topics, therfore they are not technically nerds...
...but geeks!
And it's okay to be Nerdy, Geeky, etc.
Geekery does not see color: only cool things that interest people. And people are realizing it as they expand into new and interesting territory.
By the definitions I have set forth, I also consider RAP as a form of geekery.
However, this form of geekery doesn't seem to mesh with other forms of geekery as it focuses HEAVILY on color and stereotypes in my opinion. It emphasizes and exploits differences in race and color, makes enemies out of law enforcement officers and local government, and highlights materialistic posessions and the defamation of women.
I do not see those things on a regular basis, and even when in neighborhoods that could be the "Bad side of town", I don't see drive by shootings, hookers, or criminal activity. I see people going on with their daily lives, struggling to keep a balanced budget, raise their kids, get groceries, commute to work and back again, talk to friends, play football or basketball in their yards, or just sit around and soak up the sun.
And all that is colorblind.
So when rap artists say, in so many words, "We're just calling it like we see it," then I say that I'd like to know just what the hell they are seeing and where. Cause I sure ain't!
Alright, enough tirading and preaching, and all that stuff. I'm going to admit that I could be wrong about many things. I don't listen to rap, I don't live in what would be considered a "bad neighborhood", and I don't frequently hang out with people who do listen to rap, or who have experienced the crimes spoken about in rap. I have known people who HAVE lived in bad neighborhoods, and those kids and their familes (hey, I'm still fresh out of college so I'm referring to people I knew back in high school) are more concerned about cool things coming out and getting by than drive-bys and hos.
So from my point of view and from what I've seen, rap is not "telling it like it is", but rather making it up and selling it to the people in their explicit lyric filled, awful sounding, fantasy world genre that I feel has been corrupted. I long for the old days of Hip-Hop, Soul, and Blues.
And that's what I think is missing from rap.
Don't lump games in with rap either. Games and rap are two separate entities. The closest fusion of the two was in GTA: San Andreas. However, that game was set in the early 90's when the crime rates were high and what was in rap was actually relevant. It was a time before the internet, advanced games, and the social changes of the Clinton administration. The game itself also tells the story in a fictional setting BASED on a historical America of 1.5 decades ago. The only thing closer to the rap genre is the Def Jam series of games, and the latest one was absolutely horrible.
There are also games from Japan, games from Europe, games from South Korea, and many games made in the USA that do not emphasize the negative things found in rap.
It boils down to this:
It's time to stop looking at things in terms of colors, but in terms of cultures and what they stand for.
~Otaku-Man
Those guys are out of control!!!!!
http://www.huunhuurtu.com/
I think violent video games exist not only because society is violent but also because there is a market for violent entertainment (and there always will be). Look at ancient Rome, it had the colosseum which featured people and animals being brutally killed. Now it's one of the 7 wonders of the world (even though part of it was destroyed). Look at bullfighting in Spain. Look at cock and dog fighting. Now let's look at games, they allow you to brutally kill people without having to face ANY real life consequences for it, if you have bloodlust of any kind and can't or don't want to join the army video games are pretty much your only option that won't land you in jail (after we all we don't show people getting killed on TV unless it's a natural disasters that doesn't show their bodies).
So do commercials...I don't see them being questioned. So does Hollywood....where are they?
Weren't they supposed to finalize a budget or something? Or vote on replacing toilet fixtures in the public bathrooms at the Senate building? Or hiring a new janitor?! SOMETHING, ANYTHING, THAT IS OF ANY REAL OR MINOR IMPORTANCE?! Apparently not.
Exploit sex and violence? Ahahahaha!!!!!!
That pretty much describes the entire entertainment industry.
Honestly this is why I completely despise the entire generation. They ignorant of the culture and out of touch with the times. And music execs should not censor artists. These rappers have right to exploit whatever they want for profit so long as it's legal.
I'm so fed up with this crap. Steroids in baseball? Violent Media? FOCUS ON SOMETHING IMPORTANT AND STOP BEING TRYING TO BE THE FUCKIN MORALITY POLICE AND LEAVE US TO LISTEN AND PLAY WHATEVER WE WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He speaks the truth and its enlightening.
-mw
People who create media DO have a "responsibility" to the global community to "do the right thing" but the responsibility should not be solely rested on the shoulders of the authors of said media.