May 1, 2008
Neil Conan, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation gave Jack Thompson the bum's rush during a three-minute appearance that also featured G4TV's Adam Sessler and a guy named Jim from BushLeague.TV.Highlights of Thompson's brief appearance include:
Conan: I understand that you think one of the characters in Grand Theft Auto IV is based on you
Thompson: Well, they go into a lawyer's office and they kill him. I had my house vandalized, by the way, today by gamers. I get calls, death threats all the time by gamers... The real issue here is, though, that there is so much sex and so much graphic sex... I'm working with various law enforcement agencies,hopefully with the result that Take Two corporately and the chairman Strauss Zelnick will be indicted for that because this is way, way over the line...
Sessler: I hope you don't mind if I step in there, Neil. Having played the game I have yet to discover the graphic sex Mr. Thompson is identifying...
Conan: John Thompson... Have you played the game?
Thompson: It just came out and I have a life...
Conan: And which law enforcement agencies are you working with?
Thompson: I'm not gonna tell you.
(GP: this answer seemed to convince Conan to terminate the interview... it's also a question that I have asked Thompson without receiving a satisfactory answer...)
Conan: Alright, well, thanks very much for speaking with us.
Thompson: (chuckle) I'm done?
Conan: You're done.
Thompson: Oh, great. I'll go play the game now.
Conan: Good luck... (click)
UPDATE: To listen to an mp3 of Thompson's 3-minute segment, click here... Or, get the full 16 minutes from NPR's website.
UPDATE 2: Thompson found a more sympathetic ear on Glenn Beck's CNNHL program, which I just caught. Can someone YouTube that? Of course, that nonsense about the military desentizing recruits with video games has been debunked before, but now Beck is parroting it.
Thompson also (again) linked the Red Lake school shooting to GTA and Virginia Tech to Counter-strike.
Comments
Re: Jack Thompson on NPR: If You Blinked, You Missed It
He definitely got called John.
Re: Jack Thompson on NPR: If You Blinked, You Missed It
Hmm...
QUOTE!
Thompson: Well, they go into a lawyer's office and they kill him. I had my house vandalized, by the way, today by gamers. I get calls, death threats all the time by gamers... The real issue here is, though, that there is so much sex and so much graphic sex... I'm working with various law enforcement agencies,hopefully with the result that Take Two corporately and the chairman Strauss Zelnick will be indicted for that because this is way, way over the line...
UN-QUOTE!
Three issues with this:
a) How, exactly, does he know it was GAMERS who vandalised his house? Obviously just something ELSE he can hold against the gaming community...
b) What is way over the line? These kind of games are rated for a reason. 18+ games should be played by...hey, wouldn't ya know...18+. I assume he's talking about content, so let me just say: there are so many different companies who produce stuff that is presumably on the same level as this. Movies and things. They're just as easy for a kid to get hold of (nick it off your older brother, etc.) so why isn't he having a go at the movie industry as well?
c) I find it hilarious that he's talking about the sex part. "so much sex and so much graphic sex..." No need to point it out twice...what, did you just realise that sex has become part of the entertainment industry? Well over half of the internet is porn, buddy. GET OVER IT.
I find Jack Thompson highly amusing, mainly because he's being so irrational it's fun to watch him get his panties in a bunch. But I also find him to be a blemish on the face of the earth. Now...where did I put my ZIT-AWAY cream?
The stream of curses at my incredulity would melt the polar ice caps.
Sigh, the predictability of stupidity never ceases to amaze me.
Still... "I'm not gonna tell you? I'm not gonna tell you?! I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU?!" I give up. Someone hand me an aspirin and an antacid.
"it just came out, and I have a life"
RE-E-E-EALY? Never would have guessed, but I doubt he has any time to leave whatever volcano he rented from Faux news to actually buy and play the game before he says ANYTHING!
I know, I know!
The Taliban.
Great line.
I wonder if Thompson's story about being vandalized by gamers and receiving death threats got any truth in it. I know that Thompson is known for making up facts to attract sympathy, but I also know that there are many gamers who'd go that far.
My god, how many people would LOVE to say that to him!
with all due respect to the upstanding members of the legal community
you dont have to be a gamer to find thompson shameful and disgusting,while i dont approve of commiting crimes jack has screwed up the defence of a few people in criminal court, how do we know it might not be relatives of those people?
on one hand i agree on the other hand i think that conan had never heard of thompson and once thompson got started conan saw the trainwreck coming and just stomped on the brakes so to speak
That's what you get for being a Jackass, Jack...
...
...
...ass.
Oh Thompson, when are you going to base your facts on, oh I don't know, facts?
I know that you're don't have to be a gamer to hate Jack Thompson. I was just wondering if his story has any merit (no matter if it was a gamer, a lawyer, a land mower, or whatever).
He's known to make up facts, but it's still possible.
Like you even need to ask... There is precious little that could convince me that anyone has vandalized his property, even though the concept doesn't sound that outlandish...
But at this point, Jack Thompson is the boy who cried wolf... so if he says it's true, you know it aint.
I'm wondering if the vandalism tale is even true. I'm not understanding what would make Thompson think that (specifically) gamers vandalized his place - what, did they break the window with a copy of GTA4?!
Jack's law enforcements = sock puppet on his hand with a plastic sheriff's badge. Maybe a Hot Wheels police car, too.
The vandalism, well, I have the strangest feeling that it was something along the lines of his house being TP'd or putting up signs or lawn flamingos on his lawn. Though it's possible that some moron actually did damage his house, in which case, I hope they catch the kid.
Also, go for it, Jack. I can't wait to see how you plan to prosecute the publishing of a video game with the equivalent of an R rating, especially when there are (much more explicit) R-rated films on DVD available from the same retailers.
I find he won't answer the tough questions - like Conan's about which law enforcement agencies. I believe that if there was a PD buying his theories he'd be only to glad to announce it.
I don't doubt at all that he gets death threats. Nor do I doubt that he harshly insults gamers, many of whom are adolescent males who can be given to act rashly.
And of course Thompson won't tell anyone which law enforcement agencies he's talking about ,most of them likely have him blocked, or he doesn't want anyone telling them who they might be dealing with.
Conan: John Thompson… Have you played the game?
Thompson: It just came out and I have a life…
No further comments.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90041702
Amusing stuff.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90041944
Also, has anyone been able to find a chainsaw yet? Cause I haven't and Beck claims you can, and if there is one, I want it. If there isn't, then I'm going to laugh some more.
Yeah, probably. Just another fact they got wrong.
"I'm not gonna tell you." God, he sounds like a five year old, doesn't he?
that's a half-truth: he may have not played the game, but harassing gamers and spreading lies does not qualify for "having a life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzr138ijmaQ
CNN Headline News - Grand Theft Morality Pt.2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqSCLrtioEI
Oh geez, here's a crazy conservative on TV screaming about the dangers of video games.
speaking about something that he is clueless
about. CNN needs to fire him.
parents who become misguided by this
bulls**t. Who was the kid who's parents
prevented him from openly enjoying
popular entertainment? The kid later
went on a shooting spree in a church,
I think. I know that the kid did view
pop entertainment, in secret, and was
punished when they, his parents,
found out about it.
Who wants to flood Cnn forums? or do something.. I feel compelled to do something lol.
their kids away from "evil media"
remind me of the parents who
don't get their kids vaccinated.
Neither group have evidence
supporting their views, and there
is evidence in support of the view
that they oppose.
Well, I guess that if a teen isn't
psychologically mature enough
to play a M+ game, then they shouldn't,
but if they are, then let them. If they
are or aren't should be determined
by the parent, or perhaps a trained
psychologist. But, of coarse, that would
require the parents to actually take part
in their child's development.
Note to parents: there's a whole sh!t lot
more to parenting then getting knocked up,
feeding the little monster, and dragging them
to school. Don't agree, then you can give your
kid up to your local foster community.