After Target and Kmart in Australia decide to
stop stocking the game, fans of Grand Theft
Auto demand that the Bible is also banned as
it is misogynistic.
We tend to believe that our values are the
right ones for everybody.
Many people's definition of "liberal" seems
to be "say and do whatever you like, as
long as I don't find it repulsive." Just as
many people's definition of "freedom" is, in
fact, "free to think and do only those
things of which I approve."
And so it is that a great battle of values
has emerged in Australia. The country's
Kmart and Target stores have decided to
ban "Grand Theft Auto V ." I'm not sure
why it took them five versions to get
there, but it's clear the stores were
moved by a petition that was signed by
50,000 people.
It declared that the game "encourages
players to murder women for
entertainment." It added: "The incentive is
to commit sexual violence against women,
then abuse or kill them to proceed or get
'health' points." It concluded: "Games like
this are grooming yet another generation
of boys to tolerate violence against
women."
Many will surely have sympathy with the
petitioners. The issue of violence against
women remains central to every society in
the world.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, some
GTA fans are deeply unamused. They're
now calling for Target and Kmart to ban
the Bible.
Posting their own petition in the same
place as the anti-GTA V one --
Change.org -- these petitioners declare:
"Withdraw The Holy Bible -- this sickening
book encourages readers to commit sexual
violence and kill women."
Its wording tries to mirror that of the
original petition. For example: "This book
means that after various sex acts,
readers are given options to kill women by
stoning her unconscious, Setting them on
fire, cutting off their hands, and killing
their children!"
And then there's: "One of many fan
passages on In The Holy Bible depicts
woman being set alight for having sex. "And
the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself
by playing the whore, she profaneth her father:
she shall be burnt with fire." (Leviticus 21:9). "
Clearly this is more of a sardonic
statement than a real attempt to get the
Bible banned. However, GTA V has begun
to incite even more heightened reactions
than the previous versions.
As Gamespot's Danny O'Dwyer pointed out ,
the addition of the first-person mode in
GTA V means that the player no longer
had the excuse of third-person
objectivity.
"I felt guilt," said O'Dwyer, as he
performed shootings himself in the game.
There's no universal agreement about
whether violence in games motivates
violence in real life. But, as O'Dwyer
explained, Grand Theft Auto occurs in a
world less of fantasy and more like our
own.
He believes that GTA V allows us "to
censor ourselves." But how many will? And
how many will find a more extreme pleasure
in truly feeling like the brutal agent of
destruction?
Banning the game from Kmart and Target
is symbolic more than effective. It's not
as if it isn't available in many other
outlets. It's not as if the game hasn't
been available for a long time. Its sales
are somewhere near the $2 billion mark.
The current furor surrounds the fact
that it was re-released in November to be
played on newer consoles.
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