Blogger Concerned About Violence Against Women in GTA IV

@ dmr9748

cute reasoning, albeit facile and sub-sophomoric.

this blogger has some legitimate complaints to make, whatever some of you porn & pool self helpers might believe.

let's not kid ourselves: as people grow up, they take their cultural cues from the society that shapes them. when an individual - say a young male - grows up and enters puberty while being bombarded with certain images such as violence as an acceptable way to solve problems and masculinity manifested through dominance over women, they can and will adopt -some- of these tendencies, consciously or not.

the very fact some of you believe that being "American" entitles you to do whatever you want illustrates this perfectly.

the above blogger doesn't suggest banning any such material and, in fact, neither do i. i doubt either of us are bible bashers of any kind. i'll admit i'm a Unitarian, but i came to that faith long after holding the kinds of views i hold. previously, i was agnostic. why some choose to use the bible as a counterpoint to arguments like mine baffles me - i'm all for slapping a rating on the bible, also.

simply put, it would be nice if developers could show some restraint, rather than exploit certain negative base desires and tendencies of the male population to fatten their wallets.

i enjoy games. i'm currently playing AoC, which is quite violent and contains some quite explicit sexual themes. however, it does have some inherent controls and can be played from both gender PoV. some of you may remember the "controversy" surrounding Mass Effect - also laughable, honestly. i would not place either of those games in the same sentence as GTA, though.

this is an earnest bit of advice to the games industry: regulate yourselves before you get regulated more than you or any of us want.

 

 

I wish the people that bitch and moan about this stuff would sit and think that the same right that gives them the opportunity to bitch and moan in the first place is also the same right that gives game developers the opportunity to develop these games and the consumer the right to purchase and play them.

Easy solution, you don't like it, get rid of the right that allows it.

If you want to keep the right to bitch about something then I want to keep the right to play games like GTAIV.

If I lose that right, then you should lose the right to bitch.

If you don't like that right, then STFU and move to a country more suited for a-holes like yourself.

I can't believe people are so stupid to not take account for the human factor.

I have played the hell out of GTAIV the past few days and I have not slept with a hooker nor have I driven my car over one. The human factor is that the person at the controller can go and kill anyone and anything they please, be it man, woman, child, animal, but also have the option not to kill non-key NPCs within the game.

It's just like the last line of her comment. You read the warning. You knew it was mature content. The human factor was that you were too stupid to heed the warning. Now you feel sick, sad, and angry.

Guess what, I know you have a period. I have the same feelings when I have to deal with your crap like this every 3 to 4 weeks but you don't see me going online and bitching about it to the world. I had my warning about it already yet I choose to deal with it. Maybe you should do the same, stupid.

To have the want to bar everyone else's rights is completely un-American and should be punishable by public stoning at the hands of the true American people who love their rights to do whatever the hell they want to do within reason.

Guess where I learned about stoning people. The bible.

You think GTAIV has some crazy s in it? Go read the bible.

Well, you better not let your kids read it. All I need is to have to go pick up my kid from school because he crucified some jack ass on the playground.

Here is a small cheat sheet when it comes to anything offense in the world:
1. Does it have warnings that suggest I may not like it?
2. Should I have heeded the warning that it first displayed?
3. Do I find this offensive?
4. Will I bitch and moan about it to someone because my opinion should be static across all walks of life on this planet?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then DON'T !@#$ING WATCH, PLAY, INTERACT, BE WITHIN 500 FEET OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another thing, if you answered yes to any of the questions above, stay the hell off the internet because the majority of people who use the internet are tech savvy individuals who have IQs over 100 who understand the concept of "if I don't like it, I don't have to watch it" and are mature enough to know the difference between reality and virtual reality.

Now, if you think that is bad, go watch two girls one cup and Pain Olympics. Bad? You haven't seen bad until you watch both of those all the way through.

But she apparently has no problem with the violence committed against men, I'm guessing.

if you want to make a difference focus your attention on real world violence against women. virtual violence is hardly comparable real world violence when talking about the influence it can impose on others.

I haven;t played GTA4 yet, but does the camera still just pan down and show a rocking car? If so then the sex is hardly graphic.

@Kurisu,

No, it's much more graphic this time around, but still nothing that can legally constitute as pornography.

I don't want to add any credence to MADD's whining... but you may want to consider a "NSFW" tag above the video.

Shouldn't the "MATURE CONTENT" have been warning that it wasn't work safe?

lmao, and the circle goes round again...

Well, her little article gets off to a fantastic start...

"So, I had heard a bit about generalized violence towards women in Grand Theft Auto's past incarnations."

You heard a "little bit"? I'll take it for granted then that she hasn't played the game and all her opinions are based on hearsay and rumour.

"In GTA 4, however, not only can you pick up and have sex with prostitutes, but then you can kill them: with you car, a gun, or whatever you have lying around."

You can do the same thing to men (not the picking up now), but this doesn't seem to bother her. On the other hand, you can just not bother to do that to the women. The only pedestrians, male or female, that I've killed in the game have just been unfortunate victims of my attempts to get the hang of the more realistic driving.

"The sex is graphic"

Untrue. Or, it depends on your definition of graphic. I saw an episode of the Soprano's where Tony and his mistress have sex in a darkened room in a zoo in public. The way it was acted, to me it seemed far more sexually graphic than a a few pixellated boobs or animation of a car bouncing...

"In general I don't have a problem with violence in the media, in movies, etc."

Then why go after this? It's no different to any other media, less graphic or violent than some! Oh wait, let's hear your answer to that:

"In this game however, you work in the space of "possibility" meaning within a framework you can make what you want to happen. Meaning you are choosing to pick up the prostitute and kill her, as opposed to driving your car."

And? Your point being? What if there was a film that contained a rape scene, and I chose to watch that single scene over and over and over again? Or if I fast forward through a film to see the nude scene only? Are those not contained in the "space of possibility" for media?

"The other amazing thing about this game is that its rated M for Mature. In the 2005 National Institute’s study, 50 percent of boys between the ages of 7 and 14 successfully purchased M-rated video games."

I wonder if they asked how many of those bobys got the game because their parents bought it for them?

"After watching the video of "possibility" on youtube, i felt sick, sad and angry."

You have an opinion! Good for you! Now act upon that opinion and choose not to buy or play the game!

"Does anyone know a good way to protest this game and its rating?"

Wait dumbass! Just because it's good that you have an opinion does not mean you should go out and push it on others! I hate reality TV and soap operas. I feel they promote ignorance. My girlfriend watches both, but the worst I do is roll my eyes when she says they are coming on. I don't try and get them banned, taken off the air or try and stop her from watching them. I go and play a video game instead. Or I look after our son. Or I go read a book. Take a leaf from mine and do the same.

"Oh, and by the way, the creator of the game is Rockstar games, owned by Take 2 Games, which is slated to have their stock price skyrocket after GTA4 tallies profits."

As they deserve for making an incredible game. A groundbreaking piece of interactive entertainment that deserves all the of applause and kudos it is receiving.

"if you want to the video is here:"

If you want the actual context that would make the video make sense, you will have to look elsewhere unfortunately.

Another day, another GTA IV complaint. At this point, all the complaints from every person and special interest group is just coalescing for me into one big drone that I'm beginning to simply tune-out.

To paraphrase the line from Mystery Science Theater 3000: "Repeat to yourself, 'It's just a game! I should really just relax.'"

Here's the way I read her comments: "I am really bothered by choice. People make bad choices sometimes. I don't think people should have a right to choose things for themselves."

Wanna bet she labels herself "pro-choice" on abortion issues and would have a serious problem with the government telling her what clothes she should wear as a manner of expressing herself?

Ok yes the violence is distasteful as is the "sex" but the latter is far from graphic, and this isn't a game for children.

Gift.

and this isn’t a game for children

Any number of groups have been saying that in various news mediums for several weeks now. Yet, the other day the CNN anchors were remarking how they had no idea +20 year-olds played games when informed of the fact by the tech correspondent.

P.S. That tech correspondent lady is awfully cute. I wonder if she's a gamer.

Hmmmm,I wondered when the feminazis would start somplaing about GTAIV's release.It's just like the PTC,AFA,and all these other groups that claim to promote "family"values.If they like what they see,then no one should.

Hey Dennis,aren't you getting tired of all the GTA stories?

I think black manta forgot to close his italics tags

I wonder if this will fix it?

Anyway, as others have said, another day, another bandwagon hopper.

feminists have been downgraded from useful to just plain activists these days.
just like most racial groups.

i mean seriously, some courts won't even hear out a guys side of the story just cause hes a guy and theres a female against him, or a white guy gets ignored for some "minorities" story alot lately.

i'm neither sexist nore racist, or at least i try to avoid being so.
but i sit here and watch "minority" groups or "feminist" groups whine all the time about jobs, and the government helps them, while me, being a white guy, gets no help whatsoever, and can narry find a job.
meanwhile the gov HELPS others while i sit and rot?
i actually know one job i lost to a woman, just because it was a woman, and "law" requires they hire at least 1 female should it arise.
i was 10 times more qualified for the position, and she got the job just cause she had tits and a vag?
wth?

nowadays these activist groups are about as meaningful though as a blister on my arse.
they don't help, they just make things worse.
no, not just for me, but for everyone, including themselves.
stop whining so bloody much..

and why's she so concerned over digital prostitutes anyways?
i find it funny prostitution is illegal in most places as it is, but you'll hear feminists complain about safety for the whores among them (then complain about them being whores...)
wtfh?

Bla bla bla voilence bla bla bla sex bla bla bla ratings enforcement.

equal rights equals equal murder in games. i can just as easily beat a hooker to death with the dildo in SA as i can a man. deal with it

Don't worry, lady. Men get as much as the recieving end as women. Try to prove me wrong by playing the game, oy.

I don't like picking up hookers in this game or previous GTA game and don't. I get health through other means. Just because it's in there, don't mean you have to do it. The drunk mini game on the other hand was funny. But then again, I have a 'drink' about once every one or two months and I never drink enough to get drunk, and on top of that, do not own a car, nor drive one

- Warren Lewis

Couple points of notes.

1) The killing phrases were generic comments that is made after most kills, nothing specific to killing the hooker. I got the "and stay down" after shooting a bad guy in a mission once.

2)I have GTA4 and I did a test with a hooker. I brought her in the middle of nowhere, there was not a single person in site. After the "deed" I got out and shot her and took the money. Ten seconds later, I got a wanted star and police started to come after me. This wasn't a fluke, I tried it a few times(different completely secluded areas) and each time I got a wanted star and the cops came. So this isn't consequence free killing like past games, you do this to a hooker, the cops will come.

Fucking IGN, you gave everyone in the world just enough to justify why GTA should be put behind locked glass cases in retail stores.

GJ, assholes.

This isn't suprising: society generally places more value on women than men these days. Assault on a woman feels much worse than assault on a man. We send men off to die in wars while debating the validity of doing the same with women. An abusive husband is treated differently than an abusive wife. You could call it human nature.