7,832
edits
Murder Simulators: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
HLIAA14YOG (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
|||
| (17 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:Murder Simulators 5524.jpg|thumb|500px|As you can see, today's society is [[Sarcasm Mode|''dangerously'' immoral]].]]
Not only is it true that [[New Media Are Evil]], but some works attract criticism because of loose association with some contemporary murder or suicide. [[Trope Namer|The title comes from]] since-disbarred attorney Jack Thompson's accusation against games like ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''.
Line 11 ⟶ 10:
There is some basis in reality, however. People who play violent games for a long period of time can be desensitized to committing violence, making them more likely to commit murders or hurt others. However, a) this effect only occurs with those who were already inclined to commit violence, and b) ''any'' violent media (or even a real life event) can cause this, especially when the consequences of the violence aren't dwelt upon. To place the blame entirely on video games means ignoring the effects of violent TV, movies... and of course, real life violence, which is often [[If It Bleeds, It Leads|a fixture of the nightly news]].
See also: [[Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000]]; [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]; [[Hitler Ate Sugar]]; [[Comics Code]]. Often overlaps with [[
{{examples}}
Line 27 ⟶ 26:
* Both John Hinkley Jr. and Mark David Chapman were fans of ''[[The Catcher in The Rye]]'', and it probably doesn't help that Holden Caulfield refers to having a "people shooting hat". Though in Salinger's defense, the people shooting hat was a one time joke.
* While not necessarily blame, the reason the terrorist Ilych Ramirez Sanchez is known as "Carlos the Jackal" is because a copy of ''The Day of the Jackal'' was found in the apartment of one of his girlfriends, leading to the press creating a story that he was a fan of the book.
* [[Harry Potter]] being accused of getting kids to become Wiccans or Satanists might qualify, especially since the quotes used to back-up this accusation came from a '''''<u>SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER</u>''''' (namely, ''[[The Onion]]'').
** Made even worse by the fact that [[J. K. Rowling]] is a
=== Live
* A few years ago there was a long article in a Dutch TV guide on this subject regarding TV violence which demonstrated an infuriating variation of this trope. Although they did acknowledge a lot of research that showed that violent imagery on the TV had an influence on kids' behavior, they still tried downplay the influence of TV violence at the end of the article and pointed the finger at other forms of media (mostly games).
* Alan Titchmarsh's show on [[ITV]] once ran a "debate" on video game violence. It started off with the games representative being outnumbered 2 to 1 and went steadily downhill from there. Highlight include Titchmarsh not knowing that there was, in fact, a ratings system for games, and the crowd booing when it was pointed out that violence is also present in films. Watch the madness [http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/03/20/alan-titchmarsh-vs-cvg/ here] (preferably [[Head Desk|on a cheap monitor]]).
* Andrea Yates was said to have been inspired to drown her children in the bathtub by an episode of ''[[Law and Order|Law & Order]]'' (where a woman did just that) that aired shortly before she did the deed. No such episode existed.
* ''[[Penn
=== Music ===
Line 53 ⟶ 52:
* Japan isn't immune from such things either. While the assumptions have lightened up, otaku ("obsessive" fans of various things; geeks or nerds) have been denoted as perverted men who [[Hikikomori|hole themselves up in their homes]] and do nothing but chat online. They apparently will attack young girls or stalk them. This stereotype/assumption was because of a [[Serial Killer]]/rapist was shown to have many horror films as well as various anime of questionable content. The media, of course, led to the conclusion all "otaku" are dangerous.
** Two words: [[wikipedia:Tsutomu Miyazaki|Tsutomu Miyazaki]]. When police found the serial killer's apartment filled with [[Lolicon]] manga and [[Gorn]] videos, a massive backlash against anime and manga ensued. (This, combined with a string of expensive theatrical flops, was directly responsible for the end of anime's golden age in the '80s).
*** All was not lost though, far from it : according to [[The Other Wiki]], thanks to this controversy, the Galge industry, in order to survive, [[wikipedia:Galge#1990s|created the Sofu-Rin organisation]], setting industry guidelines concerning acceptable contents ; this move would be a vital key in the [[Romance Game]] boom of [[The Nineties]], and got us gems such as the ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'' and ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' series, and later ''[[Kanon]]'' and ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' among others.
** Another anti-manga scare ensued in 1995, when the Aum Shinrikyo cult launched a terror attack on the Tokyo subway; they used manga as a promotional tool, their leader directly lifted some of his theology from '70s anime, and many of their recruits were disaffected [[Otaku]].
*** [http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9802/msg00101.html Reportedly], the Aum Shinrikyo incident had eerie similarities to plot elements in the first draft of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', forcing rewrites to avoid controversy. Of course, ''Evangelion'' attracted plenty of controversial anyway...
Line 61 ⟶ 60:
* [[Marilyn Manson]], ''[[South Park]]'', and ''[[Doom]]'' were all blamed for the [[Columbine]] shootings.
** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' was also blamed by one group. Why? Because of the Sector 1 bombing mission at the beginning of the game. Yeah.
* There also needs to be some mention of the belief of some Christians that ''[[Harry Potter]]'' and ''[[Dungeons
* Similar to the Jim Adkisson example above, the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and several others in a Tuscon, Arizona supermarket was blamed on the violent rhetoric coming from radio and TV talk show hosts and pundits like [[Rush Limbaugh]] and [[Glenn Beck]]. Singled out for scrutiny was [https://web.archive.org/web/20110918022656/http://www.thefastertimes.com/nonsensenews/files/2011/01/24972_382925783587_24718773587_3655178_2736968_n.jpg an election map] created by [[Sarah Palin]] in which twenty Democratic-held seats (Giffords' among them) [[Harsher in Hindsight|were marked with crosshairs, indicating "targets" for Republican candidates]].
* [[Gunman with Three Names|Anders Behring Breivik]], the man responsible for the Utøya summer camp massacre and Oslo bombing in Norway, [[Invoked Trope]] this trope by claiming that he had used ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2'' as a "training simulator", causing [[Moral Guardians|the usual suspects]] to come out of the woodwork.<ref>Never mind the fact that ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2'', being an arcade-y, over-the-top war fantasy, can't teach you much even about how to handle a gun, to say nothing of [[Hollywood Tactics|proper tactics]].</ref> Presumably, this was an attempt to deflect blame from the fact that he was a political extremist who targeted the camp (which was affiliated with Norway's Labour Party) because he viewed it as an indoctrination center, and that if this became the dominant story, his cause would be stigmatized and marginalized through association with his actions. In any event, it seems to have failed, with most discussion of the massacre revolving around his political and religious views.
** He also mentioned [[WoW]] in his infamous manifesto. What he essentially wrote was that MMO games such as the aforementioned were good scapegoats to pick if family or friends happened to ask why he was spending so much time in isolation (in reality used to plan his deeds) due to the social stigma around them for being time-consuming and socially isolating, so no one would question the response. When media picked up on this, the words were often twisted and misquoted as Breivik using WoW as a murder simulator for practice (possibly in part because of his own invocation of the trope on ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2''). One of the effects of this was for a Norweigan store chain to immedeately stop sales of violent video games as well as gun-like toys.
=== Tabletop Games ===
* [[Dungeons
** This belief had become so widespread that at a certain point, [[Wizards of the Coast]] had one of their employees go around explaining patiently to people that getting your customers to kill themselves is not a good business model -- [[Mind Screw|this appeal to greed being the easiest way to convince people that they were not in fact evil.]]
* A murder that happened in Sweden several years ago was touted on headlines to have been a ritual sacrifice, the 'vampire murder', because the victim played ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''. It later turned out it had nothing to do with that... although they didn't exactly put their correction on the headlines, no.
** There was one in America that turned out to be true.
Line 74 ⟶ 73:
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[Deus Ex]]''. Warren Spector was asked by a mainstream media member at [[
* Killology is the study on how real life tactics and common sense in video games can be translated in real life. The man behind it, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, taught killing to Green Berets, so one would think he would know his stuff.<ref>Among other things, he's also been credited for helping ''coin the term'' "murder simulator."</ref> It was a big enough concern to be raised in the making of Rainbow Six, whether the games are likely to teach terrorists anything.
** Army tactical manuals are still freely available on the Army web site, of course...
** His concern was desensitizing children to killing and violence, and that video games can teach a child how to handle weapons and use tactics properly.<ref>Which one would have thought a military officer would favour.</ref> However, video games often eschew realism for fun, and as such, most kids would wind up shooting themselves in the face or wondering why the gun isn't firing due to copying
** Some of Grossman's claims have been refuted by the U.S. Military itself, such as his claim that ''[[Doom]]'' is used to desensitize Marines to the act of killing (the marines use a special software program to teach hand-eye coordination, but that's it). Another red flag is that many of the studies Lt. Col. Grossman cites to back up his arguments in turn cite ''Grossman himself'' as their primary source.
** Another blow to Grossman's claims stems from another key source for his studies: S.L.A. Marshall's ''Men Under Fire.'' A book that, over the years, has come under scrutiny from both academics and the U.S. Military, for its dubious and still-controversial claims.
* ''[[Halo]]'' was blamed for the Beltway Sniper attacks because an Xbox and the game were found in the possession of the guilty parties. In fact, this happens to any game with guns in it if it's found in the possession of a murderer. [[
* The murder of a taxi driver in Thailand was blamed on ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] 4'', with the murderer confessing that he plays the game.
** A couple of teens threw a bunch of Molotov cocktails and went on record saying ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] IV'' taught them how to make them. While there are Molotov cocktails in the game, there are no such instructions in-game.
*** If they wanted to be believed, they should have cited ''[[Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars]]''.
** There was an unfortunate case in Cleveland where the victim's father kept insisting on blaming ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] 3'' for his daughter's murder, trying to get it pulled from area stores.
* In Germany, there was a case when two young boys ran amok and killed a woman. Guess who they blamed for this? ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', out of all things! Just because these two boys have been watching "[[Advent Children]]" the day before... Well, then again, the rumor that [[Final Fantasy]] was the "true culprit" was made up by the "Bild", a newspaper known for dropping the readers' IQ below 0. Still, many people believed it and insisted that FFVII was a "Killer game" and should be forbidden... see [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch]].
** As recent as January 2011, German news sites used screenshots of ''[[Counter-Strike]]'' as illustrations for articles related to video games and violence. It once became the archetypal murder simulator to german media and apparently is keeping that position for good.
* There was another case in Germany where a guy stomped a homeless man to death. His attorney and the media tried to pin the blame for this on one of the ''Smackdown vs. Raw'' games, because he was allegedly frustrated that he was unable to beat his pal in the game and thus wanted to "win" the game in real life, using moves he learned from the game. Such as
* The Illusion games ''Rapelay'', ''[[Battle Raper]]'', and ''Biko'', all of which involve the player raping women at some point, though it is somewhat optional in the Biko games. They're frequently brought up on message boards and occasionally in media as being "rape simulators" that encourage young men (but never women) to rape people. It is always overlooked, however, that they're ero-games and not meant for minors at all, and are illegal for minors to buy in any case.
** In the Illusion game ''Yuusha'' (for short,) young women ''are'' encouraged to attack and rape a demon lord in order to keep his power sealed. The entire game is a send-up of the controversy.
Line 97 ⟶ 96:
* After the Virginia Tech massacre mentioned above, pundits were falling all over each other to blame video games for the shooting spree ([[National Stereotypes|the fact that the shooter was a Korean college student probably contributed]]). Lo and behold, warrant searches of his house discovered no video games of any kind and his roommates did not recall ever seeing him play one. A little further research determined that the shooter was an unmedicated schizophrenic. Note that those same talking heads were not rushing back to correct themselves. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228/page/2/ At least some media members recognized the scapegoating.]
* Parodied in "[[I'm OK]]", an entry to Jack Thompson's infamous challenge to make a game where the leaders of the gaming industry are killed by the player. The father of a murdered 14-year-old says that [[Captain Ersatz|Jack Offson]]'s claim that video games caused his son's death is preposterous, and that his son wanted to be a video game designer; however, when Offson tells him to think of games as Murder Simulators, he says, "When you put it that way, it all makes sense!"
** Ah yes, "Modest Video Game Proposal". He promised to donate to charity if it would actually be made. When it WAS made, by different people (most famous would be "I'm O.K: Murder Simulation"), he said it was a joke and he would not donate. So what happens? [[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]] donates the sum he said he would donate, with Jack Thompson's name and text [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|"From Jack Thompson, because Jack Thompson won't".]] Cue to Thompson trying to have the creators [[
* As of ''American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick'' in 2001, the American judiciary does not consider there to be enough evidence to argue that video game violence leads to real violence. A work that deliberately incited violence would be subject to ban under the 1942 case of ''Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire'', and the ''Kendrick'' case noted that a photorealistic, plot-free, grotesquely violent game might be ban-worthy, but neither applies to, say, ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', the game that was to be banned in the ''Kendrick'' case. (The judge also noted that ''Mortal Kombat'' has positive themes as well as negative ones—for instance, the female fighters are [[Action Girl|just as powerful as the male ones]].)
* In Brazil, [[wikipedia:Mateus da Costa Meira|a shootout at a movie theater]] resembled the first level of ''[[Duke Nukem]] 3D''. And it could fit "Some Combination Of Mediums", but no one blamed the film being screened... even though it was ''[[Fight Club]]''.
* Shortly after [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10513994 Raoul Moat] went on a killing spree after murdering his ex-girlfriend's lover as well as injuring her, the ''[[British Newspapers|Daily Star]]'' ran an article claiming that the Scotland-based Rockstar North was planning on making him the star of the next ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' game, even [[Kick the Dog|bothering a
* In Britain, the gutter press, in their quest to prove that you can blame absolutely anything on violent video games, blamed riots on ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''. Not the shooting of a man who pulled a gun on police being morphed into claims of [[Police Brutality]]. Not the simmering class and ethnic tensions in the UK. Not the poor economy. Not the fact that police funding had been cut in the name of austerity. Not mob mentality, where if one person acts
* After a school shooting in Germany, media coverage ran high as usual to find the common suspects. Initially, however
* Andrew Schlafly of [[Conservapedia]] has a love of [[Insane Troll Logic]] and a hatred of video games and will invariably take advantage of the most tenuous connection to link any news story involving violence or misadventure to gaming. Highlights include the event of an apparently healthy college football star dying suddenly due to what turned out to be an undiagnosed heart condition; articles mentioned he had last been seen playing a video game, so Andy [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.phptitle=Template%3AMainpageright&action=historysubmit&diff=939108&oldid=939064 felt free to speculate] that the game was somehow responsible. He also announced that Kim Jong-un and the perpetrator of the Norway summer camp shooting were video game fans, as if this explained everything that was wrong with them, and managed to interpret a story about a boy accidentally shooting his younger brother to death because of an argument over a video game as being about the dangers of games rather than the dangers of '''''leaving guns where your children can get them'''''.
* [[Feminist Frequency|Anita Sarkeesian]] has also delved into this. The most infamous being her use of footage from ''[[Hitman (video game series)|Hitman Absolution]]'' to "prove" that games like it purportedly revel in murdering and killing hapless women, despite the ''Hitman'' games [[Video Game Cruelty Punishment|generally ''penalising'' players for killing non-targets]] regardless of gender. Her bullshit claims, combined with journalism as a whole and especially video game journalism going down the gutter in terms of reputability, led to the campaign known as [[Gamergate]].
* In a 2015 piece for [[The Escapist]], Robert Marks [https://web.archive.org/web/20150910122103/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/garwulfs-corner/13982-Hatred-Makes-You-Look-In-the-Mirror-to-See-Meaning brings up the issue] of the relatively controversial game ''Hatred'' being a Murder Simulator. But unlike other examples mentioned above, he ''defends'' the case for ''Hatred'' and games like it being called such things as well as why the term "Murder Simulator" deserves much more than how [[Moral Guardians]] and ideologues use it.
* The ''Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls'' report released by the UN in 2015 has since become notorious for [[Epic Fail|a variety]] [[Documentary of Lies|of reasons]]; so much so that UN had the report quietly pulled out, though not before leaving enough [[Memetic Mutation]]s to remain in the [[Never Live It Down|public consciousness]]. One of said reasons being how the paper (the original version, at least) quoted without any shred of irony a polemic about how video games are turning kids into "killer zombies" and included a ''C Drive'' on the list of citations.
* Following the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016, an ignoble trend occurred in which video game journalists and commentators among others either tried to pin said shooting on video games and the supposed "glorification" of violence in them or chastised the then-upcoming [[E3]] 2016 [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|for being insensitive if not ignorant to said shooting]]. Suffice to say, it marked a new nadir in journalism at large and provided further fuel for [[Gamergate]].
== In Fiction ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Lampshaded and subverted in ''[[Durarara!!]]''. Two torture technicians are about to torture someone using methods inspired by manga. They reference the idea that partaking too much of a medium can make you violent/detached from reality, but then say essentially that
===
* Parodied in a panel of ''
=== Film ===
Line 118 ⟶ 119:
* Mentioned a few times in the ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'' series. Considering that the director, [[Wes Craven]], is a man who made his name with [[A Nightmare on Elm Street|violent]] [[The Last House on the Left|horror]] [[The Hills Have Eyes|movies]], it's hard not to see this as [[Take That|his response]] to [[You Can Panic Now|fear-mongering]] [[Moral Guardians]].
** In the first film, there's this exchange:
{{quote|'''[[Final Girl|Sidney:]]''' You sick fucks, you've seen one too many movies.
'''Ghostface:''' Now Sid, don't you blame the movies! Movies don't create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative! }}
** In the second, a discussion in a film class early on has several characters debating whether or not violent slasher flicks turn people violent. In addition, the killer {{spoiler|(at least, one of them)}} plans on blaming his killing spree on said slasher movies (such as the newly-released ''Stab''), invoking this trope in order to create a sensational trial and get the [[Moral Guardians]] on his side.
Line 130 ⟶ 131:
* Parodied in ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'' when [[Stephen Fry]] explained that people had been encouraged to copy him when he punched [[Hugh Laurie]] on screen ... by specifically punching [[Hugh Laurie]] in public. Many incidents then followed when Stephen found excuses to give Hugh money instead.
** Another parody mimicked the [[Judas Priest]] example, with Stephen as a singer accused of singing the words Set Yourself On Fire, by the lawyer of a woman who did just that. Mid trial he then bursts into a song called Woman Drop Your Case, resolving the issue.
* In the third episode of [[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]], the manga Rapeman was used as evidence justifying the arrest of a man as an accessory to a rape committed by his 13 year old son. It's particularly idiotic due to the fact that it was the ''only'' evidence for the charge and that the arresting detective didn't even know what the manga was actually about (she incorrectly guessed the premise<ref>she thought it was a serious manga about a high school student who gets revenge on the girls that reject him by raping them instead of an erotic black comedy/satire manga about a high school ''teacher'' who uses rape to dispense justice for those that hire him</ref> due to her
** In another episode, three people in their 20s recreated a hooker killing from a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Grand Theft Auto]] and blamed their actions on the game. Their claim was that the game had warped their fragile minds so badly that they couldn't tell they weren't playing the game anymore when they hunted her down and hit her with a car and stomped her to death. The prosecution proves it for the bullshit it is.
** In another episode, a mother who was head of a [[Moral Guardians]] group blamed a shock jock for the rape her son committed. She shot him in what was proven to be a publicity stunt.
Line 138 ⟶ 139:
* the fourth episode of the second season of [[Misfits]] is about a man who believes he is a character of a violent videogame (he even see things like on a videogame), because he played the videogame (most probably The Storm was the ultimate responsible); he kills three people onscreen.
* A German police investigations show had the game "Killman 4". Which was sold as pirated copies on school yards and empty parking lots as if they were drugs. Did I mention they were also smuggled into the country?
* In an episode of ''[[Dexter]],''
=== Video Games ===
Line 144 ⟶ 145:
** Actually, that's barely even half of it: Turns out that, in addition to using Raiden to kill actual soldiers in the hopes of his evolving into the next Solid Snake, they also used him in an attempt to control humanity's willpower and manipulate memories into their own image, among other things.
* There's a joking nod to the trope in the [[Gears of War]] 2 multiplayer map "Day One" where one of the arcades machines in the level has the name "Murder Simulator."
* [[Postal]] 2 parodies this by featuring protesters picketing Running With Scissors (the game's creators) in protest of violence in video games. Ironically,
=== Web Comics ===
* Obligatory ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'' example, when they mocked this trope back in the "play violent games and you're a criminal" days. Tycho and Gabe are waiting at a line, when Tycho, sick of waiting, shouts [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|"I play violent video games! I could snap any minute!"]]... only to make fun of the clerk hiding behind the counter immediately afterwards.
{{quote|'''Tycho:''' ''[[Magnificent Bastard|"My bad!]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|This isn't even my line!"]]''}}
Line 157 ⟶ 158:
* Parodied in an episode of ''[[King of the Hill]]'' when two game developers introduce the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' clone ''Pro-Pain'' as a [[Take That]] to Hank Hill. Hank and Buck Strickland soon take up the role of indignant [[Moral Guardians]] and Hank is soon tasked with finding copyright infringement in the game in order to take them to court; the whole Moral Guardian plot is then thoroughly [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] and then turns into [[An Aesop]] about game addiction.
** Interestingly, Hank begins to enjoy the game when he tries to ''avoid'' killing anyone or causing damage, just like [[Real Life]] pacifist runs and the [[Deus Ex]] example above.
* Also used in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' in a Halloween special set in classical times where Bart's watching a fire and laughs when it crackles;
{{quote|'''Marge''': I don't want you staring at that fire. It's too violent.}}
* Parodied in [[Code Monkeys]], with Dave programs an Atari game where the main character has to impress Jodie Foster. One of the objectives is to assassinate President "Ray-gun." Three guesses as to what happens next.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Artistic License Law]]
[[Category:Show Business]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
▲[[Category:Murder Simulators]]
| |||