There are few easy targets in the world quite like video games. Ratings-hungry media outlets, or politicians with re-election in their eyes, have frequently gone after the interactive medium, even as phrases like “Call of Duty” and “Wii Fit” reach the cultural status of household names.
Throw in some mentions of “traditional family values” and “the children” enough times, and you’ll have a nice little crusade your hands. News media will gorge on this like a Saturday morning Jimmy John’s customer at 2 a.m.
From famous anti-video-game activist and disbarred Florida attorney Jack Thompson to the industry’s own Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), all sides can agree that actually playing violent video games is unnecessary to determining their supposed harmful effects on players.
It’s almost understandable, therefore, for child psychologist Carole Lieberman to make the following claim without ever touching the game she references.
Lieberman states, “The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games” in the Fox News article tastefully titled, “Is Bulletstorm the Worst Video Game in the World?”
On Feb. 9, a day after the publication of Lieberman’s quote, irate gamers flooded the Amazon.com page of her latest book, “Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them & How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets,” with hundreds of one-star ratings, equating it to “‘Mein Kampf’ meets Playboy,” according to destructoid.com.
Currently, Lieberman’s how-to guide for the world’s “good girls” sits at the coveted rank of 366,803 on Amazon’s Bestsellers in Books list, with 162 reviews that average out to 1.5 stars. Meanwhile, Epic Games’ “Bulletstorm” is projected to exceed 4.5 million units.
Lieberman and her team went on damage control by issuing a statement claiming Fox News had taken her quote out of context and requesting a different course of dialogue.
“I know we can both approach this situation in a kinder and more civil manner,” she said in the statement.
Yes, this response was beyond petty, fitting a textbook definition of eye-for-an-eye. It wasn’t civil, intellectual or even mature, but it was damn effective.
“I think the gaming community's response to Lieberman [is] interesting, in that it demonstrates the true agency and power of social networks,” said English professor Zachary Waggoner, who teaches a class on video game theory. “This community organized and took action via digital coordination.”
A similar situation occurred in 2008 after child psychologist Cooper Lawrence made a number of unwarranted claims about a game she had never played on Fox News (surprise, surprise).
The gaming community reacted accordingly, filled the Amazon.com page of her latest book with one-star reviews, drove down sales and ultimately caused Lawrence to retract her statements.
It is clear that the gaming community can organize and act as a cultural entity with undeniable influence. However, for any truly substantial change to occur, it must move beyond flame baiting tactics, no matter how in tune with poetic justice they may be.
Bills like the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2011, sponsored by Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., would place a warning label on games with an ESRB rating higher than “Teen,” not unlike those found on cigarettes. The call to arms is louder than ever.
Take your voice out of the comments section and onto the ballot.
Reach David at dsydiong@asu.edu
