Vaz claims games let you "rape women" Comments by Robert Purchese
Misguided MP challenged in Parliament.
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Anybody happen to catch Julian Brazier on Five Live last Friday? He came on spouting nonsense, half-truth and innuendo in much the same vein as the quotes from the article, decrying the laxity of British film censorship in general and the role of the BBFC in particular. Then they wheeled out the mighty Mark Kermode, their resident film critic, who proceeded to hand Brazier an enjoyably thorough verbal kicking.
Gave me a chuckle, anyway. |
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The real worry here is that Keith Vaz must know the full facts behind the Stefan Pakeerah case but still continues to peddle his distorted version of events in order to get his name in the papers. As he was Pakeerah's MP I find it wholly incredible that he would not be aware of the fact Leicestershire police specifically ruled out any link to Manhunt and made it clear the game belonged to the victim, not the assailant.
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It's quite amazing that someone paid quite a high sum of money to do their job is so utterly useless at it that not only are they churning out old arguments that have already been dismissed by pretty much every authority, they can't even be bothered to find out the name of a console, and they're actually resorting to what are essentially lies to make a scapegoat out of something they don't, and won't even take the time or effort to try to, understand.
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@ Rodafowa
Thanks for the tip I googled it, what a complete tosser! Great respect to Kermode for tearing him a new one! Everyone should hear this utter prat try to blame movies for rape and compare "battle" to solve the "problem" to stopping child porn! This man SHOULD NOT be making decisions for our country!! Games don't make me want to kill these w*****s do! Here's a link for the show Rodafowa was talking about. http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/bw.htm |
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silver jon
04/03/08 @ 15:24
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"parappa the raper" - dudefather, that is absolutely brilliant.
Dum derdle doobah der der dum dee derrr "Gag the victim . . . (gag the victim) . . . tie the hands . . . (tie the hands) . . . " Ok, it's a very sick joke. But it's got me giggling at the thought of that cartoony character saying something so perverse. btw: the problem with too many politicians is that they are motivated by a sense of personal power. They crave influence. And to have influence one must have some kind of control. They don't like the fact that they cannot have organisations accountable to them. And, it has to be said, the games industry does itself no favours by constantly courting controversy. Anyway the whole thing reminds me of the comedian Sean Lock, who has a routine about mutilating and killing an imaginary animal (is it a panda ?) and then pointing out to the audience that it doesn't matter. It doesn't exist. I think it was a parrot. |
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@ frod
Well we can only hope this Byron report works out the way it should. We all know what the problem is like you say it's not treated as it it should, for adults. But you know I don't know if I can agree with that 100%. When I was young (right or wrong) I saw many "banned" horror flicks in the 80's. From the ages of 7-8 I saw movies like Evil Dead, Exorcist, Spit on your Grave etc, add to that I LOVE violent games. You may gasp in horror but I'm not crazy or violent (I think?) and ALWAYS knew it wasn't real, just effects and actors or just a game. I KNEW what entertainment was and still do, so do my friends and everyone I've ever met for that matter. So why has that changed now? |
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Guys, the way to handle this is to write, a stroppy but polite letter to your local MP or to a the leader/culture representative of the party you are most likely to vote for. (Either by letter or e-mail.)
Avoid swearing, silly references which no non-gamer would understand. Instead grab some figures off the ELSPA website stating that the average age of of a video game player is in their early thirties, point out that Britain is the worlds third largest producer of video games and dispel as many myths as you can (if you can acuse Kieth Vaz et al of wilfully distorting the facts and mention again that the police, defence, prosecuters found no link what so ever with Manhunt in Vaz's oft used example in which it was the victim who owned the game not the murderer. Also feel free to point out that it is illegal to sell BBFC rated video games to people below the age stated with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment. Close by lamenting how your hobby is constantly used as a scape goat for societies ills with no evidence to back it up and mention that you would not vote for a party/politician that curtiles personal freedoms so much. Generally just have a quiet and respectful rant. I would put an example letter up here but copied and pasted letters are soon spotted and get ignored (feel free to post any responses though). I did get a good response from David Cameron('s people) when I wrote to him after he had his rant on video games last year. |
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I wish Mp's would deall with the fact that the fucking rape conviction rate has gone down since the 70's (and not because more people are reporting it.) From 30% to less than 9%. And the fact that 1 in 5 women will be on the recieving end of some form of sexual violence in their lives. Rarther than buying into moral panics.
Women are raped because of the dominant societal discourse not videogames. I guess its because they all do degrees in politics not sociology, and thus cant provide any useful social commentary past a self serving sycophantic ode to the white middle class nuclear family. (Ie one of the smallest and therefore what should be the least important elements of society.) |
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Mentalist(air)
04/03/08 @ 15:58
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Britain is the worlds third largest producer of video games
Fourth, now, we've been overtaken by those cunning bastard Canucks. I suppose if you're writing a strppy letter to your MP, you could put in a request that they raise a bill for Candanian-style tax breaks for UK-based games developers :) |
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Muddtallica
04/03/08 @ 15:59
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Rodofowa, ba09, thanks for pointing me in the direction of that Brazier/Kermode debate, it was very interesting. I don't normally think a great deal of Kermode, but you can't deny that he can speak persuasively when needs be; h certainly nailed Brazier on the point about Irreversible. That movie is about as much of an "incitement to rape" as 101 Dalmatians is an advertisement for the fur trade, or Schindler's List is an endorsement of genocide.
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Mentalist(air)
04/03/08 @ 16:01
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Doesn't like videogames, though, Mark Kermode. He's with Ebert on the games-as-art worthiness debate.
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nickthegun
04/03/08 @ 16:09
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Yeah, all the screaming and shouting by both idiot parties masks the real issue.
We do need a fully clarified advisory body to certify games and legislation to punish people who sell 18 games to kids. Then, hopefully, everyone will just shut the fuck up. |
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kangarootoo
04/03/08 @ 17:35
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Following on from frod's link.
More news commentary. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-62205... The actual paper referenced in frod's link. http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev... Some general stuff about media violence research, including some common critisisms (one of which references Huesmann's own work). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_viole... None of it is clear cut by any stretch. Its far from a simple or black and white issue, and its always a shame to see posters coming out with an opposite version of the same nonsense that KV been spouting (don't mean you at all btw frod, just in case that seems implied). Safe to say none of us on here really understand the issues fully and we would all look a bit smarter if we accepted that and tried to inform ourselves. Keith Vaz is clearly a cock, but lets not let that completely cloud the issue. Whether KV can be arsed to research any of the words that come out of his mouth AT ALL does not mean there is no substance whatsoever in the suggestion that media influences behaviour by degrees. |
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kangarootoo
04/03/08 @ 17:37
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Let me add my support to the "lets enforce age ratings properly" campaign also.
A fucking HUGE fine for any vendor selling a game to an underage customer, and an equally massive fine for a parent doing the same (unenforcable as such a thing would be, but I can dream) would help to nip that shit in the bud quick smart. |
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Well, Vaz wasn't sure about the portables them youngsters are using these days, so maybe he actually meant to talk about the Nintendo DS and how them youngsters are playing localised copies of that witch-touching thingy which caused a stir a while back and which shall remain nameless here, yet is available to minors in shops everywhere?
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MightyMouse
04/03/08 @ 19:29
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Mind you I do think that the ratings need looking at. I remember being amazed that Myth was rated 15 many years ago, but then personally I don't see why there need be ratings other than 18. Ah well, it's a different debate and I freely confess to knowing none of the facts.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_3
This one as well. 2 in 1 package- stalking and raping :D These japs are crazy, i tell ya. Prolly illegal in UK as well and prolly anyone without serious brain damage doesn't play them. |
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dominalien
04/03/08 @ 21:33
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Finally, Playstation and Xbox fanboys can unite against a common enemy.
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Psychological links between violence and games may be proven but then so is the link between Domestic Violence and men after their football team has lost.
But no one talks of banning football. Finally to engage in an enjoyable past time mud slinging at psychologists. The meb who largelypopularised and gave birth to psychology Carl Jung and Freud, were respectively a devout Christian and an man who wanted to be a writer all his life, based his theories on greek mythology, and served mainly a white middle class female clients... Psychology is like the man who built his house on the sand, unstable foundations. That and unlike other subjects it tends not to want to reinforce its foundations by criticising its past masters like say any other academic discipline ever.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/03/08 @ 23:49
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vacuumgarden
05/03/08 @ 12:40
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Vaz is a fearmongering tool, much like Gordie and most of the Labour front-bench. His lies don't surprise me.
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