First Time, Be Gentle....

For me, blogging has always been one of those things that I really want to do, but when the reality of finding something new and interesting to talk about all the time reveals itself to me, I instantly turn tail and run. But I really love gaming and have for years. It's one of the only things that I really truly "get" in life and it's something that most people don't. I guess it's really time to give this a shot, so here we go.


What better way to start than with DICKS!!!

I haven't played the Lost and the Dammed expansion for GTA4, (I'm just plain done with that game, but that's for another time.) but I have seen the offending scene. By now we all know whats going on in this part of the game, so I wont recapitulate it here, but suffice to say It's gratuitous, entirely too long, (the scene, that is.) and I found it juvenile. But here's the thing.....

Despite my above criticism, I'm really happy that Rockstar decided to put it in the game. Ecstatic, actually. But not necesarily for the content itself.

The scene and the controversy around it immediately brought two things to my mind: Larry Flynt, and the "Bong Hits For Jesus kids." All three of these things challenged and our ideas about freedom of speech, art and culture, and they inspired thoughtful discourse and ruminations on our society. And they did all this in ways that most people would dismiss as purille, gross, or just wrong.

I'm secure enough with my masculinity that a few seconds of swinging pipe wont bother me. (That reminds me, go see Watchmen.) The truth of the matter is that "the scene" in TLATD is pretty lame and giggle worthy. But for some people, a part of the body that half of the worlds population looks at at least a few times a day is simply too much to bear. Much like the idea that people might want to see naked ladies. Or the idea that high school kids might be interested in drugs.

The laws and standards that govern our society do have boundaries, but those boundaries aren't clear. Larry Flynt and the "bong hitter" ended up showing exactly where those boundaries lie. And while it would have been a more thrilling and dramatic situation if say, a political protester was dragged off the steps of the capitol because the government didn't like what he was saying, we get Larry and the Kids.

The fact that Rockstar will step up, and take a chance on doing something different, unique, daring and original should be celebrated, and I give Rockstar all the props it deserves. Nevermind that Rockstar is one of the only companies with the kind of money and big name franchises to be able to attempt to do such a thing.

Rockstar did a good thing, but the did it in a bad way. I'm really happy that the Video Game business has at least one company who will take the chance to step out and see where they can go.

Just maybe next time it could be a little more "Eastern Promises" and a little less "Showgirls."