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It happened in a Midwestern school in 1988, after the horror that was the Jr. High School Gym Class, someone in the locker room decided it would be a “good time” to grab a smaller classmate by the throat and threaten him with a butterfly knife to the throat. I don’t recall with much clarity what the other students were doing, but they certainly weren’t hindering the bully, or helping the victim. These bystanders simply let the act happen with, what I would consider, their approval. And I can understand their feelings; “Thank goodness that’s not me! That poor kid looks scared, but I can’t do anything to help, because then I’ll become the victim.” Are all things that have raced through my mind when I was passive in a situation involving bullying. I’m sure anyone who’s even partially considered a gamer can see exactly where this is going…
The game Bully due to be released in a couple weeks (October 17th) and I’m still very much at odds with opinions about it. The two sides I’ve heard can essentially be summed up by either: 1) It’s a tongue in cheek game, it’s not meant to be serious. 2) Bullying is a very serious problem in our society and anything that glorifies it, especially if the acts are masked as comedy using sarcasm, is inappropriate.
My initial reaction to Bully was to roll my eyes and expect nothing less from a Rockstar game, I didn’t feel any strong desire to play such a game. Next the onslaught from various parent groups, media groups, etc. appeared and demanded that the game never reach the store shelves. My view shifted from apathy to one of defense of Bully since, in my opinion, these groups were over-reacting about “just a game”. Yet a few months ago I was posed the question: “Is there a good reason why a game about bullying should exist?” My gamer brain instantly jumped to the two canned responses when a controversial game arrives: “It’s cathartic” and “It’s sarcastic fantasy, not to be taken seriously”. But the question nagged me for a long time; in fact it nagged me so much that I began seriously questioning my beliefs about the subject.
I’m not here to say that Bully shouldn’t be released. People are free to publish video games about what topic they choose, it’s one of the great things about this country. However the parts that I didn’t consider before are the moral and societal implications of questionable content. Think about that question again: Should a game about bullying be released? Think about all the major games in the past that have sparked much debate: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Doom, Grand Theft Auto, are some notable games. Each one progressively getting “worse”, each one “approved” by society and each one setting a president for things to come. The point I’m trying to get people to think about, is what do these games, mass media, pop culture tell us (and our children) about our society. That violence, being bullied, blood & gore, are all just comedy, sarcasm, and entertainment not to be taken seriously? I’m going to quote the movie Jurassic Park here where Ian Malcom says: “Everyone was so preoccupied with whether or not the could (create dinosaurs), they never stopped to think about whether they should.”
I think I have a good handle on what a game about bullying from Rockstar might entail. I think they made a choice to try and gain publicity, money, and recognition instead of thinking about the greater impact they might have on society. So I’ve come to the conclusion that Rockstar should release Bully, I just don’t think they should have created it. Being the concise person that I am, I’m going to try playing Bully and report back here with a game review for it. I also have on my shelf a copy of “The bully, the bullied, and the bystander” to read after I’m finished. I’ll report back again after I’ve read that as well. I’m more passionate about things like this since I became a father and have a child who will grow up in this world. Even if it’s unpopular, I want to teach her to not be a bystander, since saying nothing about these things, is the same as accepting it.
Bullying isn’t a topic that's tongue in cheek, it’s not a thing to mock, it’s something very serious, painful, and scary. Just ask the kid in gym class who had a knife to his throat. You can contact me at: wileee@wileee.com.
-wileee
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