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Schwarzenegger's Appeal of CA Games Bill Under Fire
The CA games bill struck down last week to cheers is currently in a holding pattern as Governor Schwarzenegger works on an appeal. His decision to fight the judiciary is coming under fire from several sources. The ESA has mounted a campaign against the initiative through its Videogame Voters Network. Even the media is objecting, with an opinion in the LA Times telling the governor not to bother. "Having made a career off fantasy violence, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an odd advocate for the regulation of violent video games. After all, his face (and, sometimes, his voice) helps to sell a number of electronic kill-fests. Yet there he was last week, pledging to appeal a federal judge's decision against a state law banning the sale of such games to minors."
I am consistently pleased that I do not live in California, their politicians only help stress that feeling.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
Seriously, anti-video game bills are getting shot down left and right these days. With the media having a ball with Schwarzenegger painting himself as a hypocrite for casting in a number of games and local courts around the country refusing to even bother involving the Supreme Court, this bill is never going to pass.
"I vas just doing it for the money." Now he's a "public servant." Makes a big difference in attitudes.
is there anything you Californians out there think is more important than video game viloence in your state that tax dollars would be better spent fighting on?
Yes. Just about anything else. California, especially the northern portion, is fairly environmentally conscious. I think most residents (and clearly, being a lone Californian entitles me to speak for all Californians) would prefer to see it go to, say, environmental cleanup efforts or maintaining the roads or even something as crazy liberal as low cost child care or health care.
When asked for comments the Governator's spokesmen replied: "He did it for the lulz".
Restricting sales to minors based upon these ratings is no different than restricting a minor's entrance into a theater based upon moving ratings.
So you mean it should be a voluntary restriction enforced solely by the game retailers, with zero force of law?
I agree completely. And in which case there's no point in the Governator even being involved.
That's where the hypocrisy is. Call me when Arnold starts campaigning to make it illegal to let minors into R rated movies, then he'll be consistent. Until then, he's a hypocrite.
The enemies of Democracy are
It's worth noting that the MPAA's rating system (and the enforcement thereof) is voluntary. If he were arguing for the MPAA's rating system to have legal enforcement as well, there would be no hypocrisy but he's not.
This poo is cold.
"Bender should not be on TV!" - Bender
You gotta find first gear in your giant robot car
There may not have been much fuss when the film rating system was introduced; after all, it allowed more freedom of expression than the Hayes Code. There have been fusses of various sorts since. One of them replaced informal X ratings with formal NC-17s; this didn't destigmatize the rating. (X didn't start with a stigma, but after the mid-'70s, it got one.) PG-13 was invented because people were starting to make hard-PG films that were too close to the '80s R standard. And, for some reason, filmmakers want films to have as high a rating as possible that doesn't lock viewers out; people deliberately push ratings up to PG-13 and R, but push them down from NC-17 and R. G films are rare.
The Passion of the Christ got an R despite the goriness of its subject matter. It was determined then that, even when the ratings are being enforced, anyone can get into an R-rated movie as long as a parent comes along. Church groups took advantage of that loophole, and on occasion, younger members of the congregation suffered for it.
The governor has got to remember that videogames are like films this way: anyone can play as long as it's a grown-up buying. And it usually is--the ratings are usually enforced. So...
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney