Decadent Leisureliness?
RockStar North is a video game developing company, convicted with the creation of one of the most controversial video games, Grand Theft Auto. The game conceives of a single player narrative that follows three criminals, and their efforts to commit thefts and heists. It allows players to roam and act freely in an open world design based on the city of Los Angeles, named Los Santos. Missions include subversive acts to achieve goals. A huge part of winning relies upon committing socially immoral acts such as raping prostitutes, stealing cars, and killing people. It has gained extreme popularity due to its highly immersive experience, which also allows you to play from a first perspective rather than a third. The size, story telling & characters, and technical achievements, which emulate a real world due to its intricate graphics, have caused the game to acquire extreme popularity and sales (Tassi, 2014). In contrast, it has attained much criticism and controversy over the increased violence it caters towards women, more specifically sex workers, and over having the option of killing or harming innocent people.
As a result, the game has been banned in several countries such as, Thailand, Australia, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The reinforcement of unjustified violence and the extreme encouragement of sexist acts are two of the many reasons that justify the ban (Tassi, 2014). One would raise many moral dilemmas over the dynamics of the game due to its direct correlation to violent incidents happening in the real world, the encouragement of anarchy and mutiny, the reinforcement of violence against women, and the general effect it has on a player’s psyche. It challenges the first amendment by placing the player in a world, where your liberties do not end at the beginning of the other’s, or at the enforcement of law (since you can replay). This is due to the fact that the concept and definition of social harm are altered and skewed to fit the game’s world and advance further in levels, because, there is no other way to win.
If we want to assess entertainment producers’ moral responsibilities towards audiences when creating such games, we would definitely hit many roadblocks as the constituents of morality differ based on location and medium, however, almost anything included in entertainment can be legally exonerated using the first amendment as an excuse (In the United States). Apart from censorship laws,
entertainment producers usually steer away from targeting a specific person or social group unless the story is based on historical facts, however, the intended message still gets through via alternative representation which isn’t exactly crude but existent nonetheless (Tassi, 2015). So unless something is meant to defame or incite violence, it’s completely justifiable. Conversely, some might argue that the case is different when it comes to gaming, because of interactivity with and control over the rules of the world (Mathews, 2015, pp.2). Video games are a newer medium, which is why game designers are still struggling with what kind of ethics code they should adopt, especially when effects such as desensitization to violence, and increased aggression or misogyny have been blamed to be responsibilities of video games. A study conducted by Cairns, Kundeko, and Zendle in 2018 included two experiments with a large pool of participants, the aim of the study was to test if interactivity and immersiveness in video games may increase the activation of aggressive behavior. In neither experiments did the researchers find any positive correlation. So if behavioral realism in games hasn’t been proven to be a direct cause of violent behavior, then why would the laws and ethics that apply to the general media be altered for video games? This view has been enforced during a Supreme Court rule in 2011 that deemed all media “essentially interactive”, thus bears no difference in comparison to other forms of media (Mathews, 2015, pp.1). Some might ask then about the many incidents which include heavy criminal acts, such a mass shootings, which have been blamed on attempts to imitate video games like GTA V. Research argues that it somewhat depends on the selective nature of the player since GTA V does not include harmful acts like killing a prostitute to regain money, running over an innocent bystander, or killing unarmed people as part of its missions (Tassi, 2015). All 48 missions of GTA V revolve around robbing, going after some drug dealer, taking vengeance from the man Trevor’s (one of the characters) wife slept with, or stopping Michael’s (another character) daughter from auditioning for indecent shows. The option to commit unjustified violence or crime in the game is present, but never mandatory or critical. Also, when committing such acts, the player becomes liable and is quickly hunted down by the police; therefore the game’s fictional realism is accurate as it emulates the rules of the real world to a certain extent (Mathews, 2015, pp.1 ). Many players claim they never commit such as acts, rather they stick to their missions.
The question of whether different rules of censorship and banning should be applied to video games remains unanswered from a scientific standpoint, but the argument that the rules should match those of other media forms are reinforced. Restricting the games to certain ages and promoting it to non-minors should be enough; as well-cultivated people will not be affected by exposure to fictional realism, which derives its rules from the real world.
References
Tassi, P. (2014, December 6). What GTA Five Teaches Us About the Unsettling Future of Immersion. Forbes. Retrieved From: https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/12/06/what-gta-5-teaches-us-about-the-unsettling-future-of-immersion/#24efab3615b6
Tassi, P. (2014, December 11). ‘GTA 5’ and the Ethics of Mass Murder. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/12/11/gta-5-and-the-ethics-of-mass-murder/#4a80e605734d
Mathews, R. 2015. Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers. Chron. Retrieved From: https://elearn.lau.edu.lb/bbcswebdav/pid-233777-dt-content-rid-716665_1/courses/JSC_419_11_201820/Ethical%20Responsibility%20of%20Video%20Game%20Manufacturers%20_%20Chron.pdf
Cairns, P & Kudneko, D & Zendle, D. (2018). Behavioural realism and the activation of aggressive concepts in violent video games. Retrieved From: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875952117300113