Because I love Bandwagons.
Censorship, and specifically the debate over an R18+ video game has been something quite important to me for some time now. This isn?t just because of the games that get mutilated in order to pass classification or the games that simply don?t pass classification, no this is about freedom of choice, freedom of expression and my belief that no one person should hold ultimate unanimous power over what an entire nation considers ?Moral? and ?Correct?.
Those of you who are up to speed with the debate could probably work out that the man I refer to in my previous paragraph is Michael Atkinson, Attorney General for South Australia. Being the self-righteous and opinionated man that he is, Mickey has decided that his (and only his) opinion is of any worth when it comes to the rating of video games in Australia. One could be confused by this statement, as he professes to encourage discussion on the issue, before attacking the games industry for saying that he is censoring a discussion paper. However, one need only listen to a recent interview on ABC radio national to understand perfectly Mickey?s beliefs; anyone and everyone who states an opposing view is actively working against him and even those people responsible for the rating of video games in Australia are a group of sneaky, underhanded, conniving liars who disregard all guidelines and ideals that they are supposed to follow in a depraved attempt to corrupt the youth of Australia.
Not in so many words, obviously.
I do not exaggerate when I say that Mickey believes the Classifications Board is actively seeking ways to push games that should be rated R18+ (AO for some other countries) through the grinder as MA15+. This isn?t to say he doesn?t have some evidence of this occurring but, as with most political arguments, the evidence lacks consistency or even substance. It does raise an interesting point, however. If Mickey is allowed to take it upon himself to decide what is right and good for Australia (remember, this is a man with only the loosest ties to the entertainment industry and video games specifically) why should the Classifications Board, the people who are employed and trained to decide how something should be classified not be given the same power?
Obviously because they aren?t able to say with an overly smug voice that they had a 76% vote in a two party preferred system at the last election. Or because they can?t legitimately send out letters to thousands of gamers around the nation with a bold-faced challenge to stand against them at the next election.
Yes, good old Mickey did both of those things too.
As has been mentioned in so many different articles, forums and discussions, Mickey?s argument reeks of ?Think of the Children!?. So many of this comments are aimed at protecting our youths and one can?t help but get the feeling that this is less an actual pillar of moral reasoning and more an attempt to scare parents who have little knowledge of the problem into submission. As evidenced by David Doe in the same interview on ABC Radio National, the introduction of an R18+ rating is not the only layer of protection that parents have available to prevent their children from playing content deemed inappropriate. Every new generation console has parental controls to prevent the playing of certain ratings of games and the children still have to get their hands on the games in the first place.
This segues nicely into another wonderfully flawed argument put forth by Mickey. That the introduction of an R18+ rating will do nothing to prevent children from acquiring video games because they can easily get them in their homes. Well let?s think about this for a minute shall we Mickey? If the game is bought by the parents and the child is allowed to play it, that is not the fault of the R18+ rating. If the parents don?t know about the parental lockout systems, that isn?t the fault of the R18+ rating. If the children are able to purchase the games themselves, that isn?t the fault of the R18+ rating.
Are we starting to notice a trend here?
This is by no means a definitive article on the topic. I just felt that it?s important to highlight not only the logical fallacies within Mickey?s wonderfully political argumentative style, but also the arrogance and contempt for people with differing opinions that the man who has installed himself as the moral voice of Australia carries around and brandishes like a Medal of Honour (If you?ll excuse the terrible pun).
Keep debating it Australia, and stand up against him. Stand up for freedom of expression and choice, stand up for your right to choose how you want to live. And most importantly, stand up to what can only be described as a dictatorship.
------------------------
I realise censorship and the R18+ debate in Australia is something a lot of people have probably written about. This is an article I have written for Chronoclasm.com as their Content Admin and I thought I'd share it with the Escapist as well.
If you enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) this article, you can see more of my reviews and gaming articles at http://thesreyn.wordpress.com now, or Chronoclasm.com once my editor is finished looking over the articles. Feel free to leave love (or hate) as well as suggestions!
-Thesreyn/N337 Linja
Censorship, and specifically the debate over an R18+ video game has been something quite important to me for some time now. This isn?t just because of the games that get mutilated in order to pass classification or the games that simply don?t pass classification, no this is about freedom of choice, freedom of expression and my belief that no one person should hold ultimate unanimous power over what an entire nation considers ?Moral? and ?Correct?.
Those of you who are up to speed with the debate could probably work out that the man I refer to in my previous paragraph is Michael Atkinson, Attorney General for South Australia. Being the self-righteous and opinionated man that he is, Mickey has decided that his (and only his) opinion is of any worth when it comes to the rating of video games in Australia. One could be confused by this statement, as he professes to encourage discussion on the issue, before attacking the games industry for saying that he is censoring a discussion paper. However, one need only listen to a recent interview on ABC radio national to understand perfectly Mickey?s beliefs; anyone and everyone who states an opposing view is actively working against him and even those people responsible for the rating of video games in Australia are a group of sneaky, underhanded, conniving liars who disregard all guidelines and ideals that they are supposed to follow in a depraved attempt to corrupt the youth of Australia.
Not in so many words, obviously.
I do not exaggerate when I say that Mickey believes the Classifications Board is actively seeking ways to push games that should be rated R18+ (AO for some other countries) through the grinder as MA15+. This isn?t to say he doesn?t have some evidence of this occurring but, as with most political arguments, the evidence lacks consistency or even substance. It does raise an interesting point, however. If Mickey is allowed to take it upon himself to decide what is right and good for Australia (remember, this is a man with only the loosest ties to the entertainment industry and video games specifically) why should the Classifications Board, the people who are employed and trained to decide how something should be classified not be given the same power?
Obviously because they aren?t able to say with an overly smug voice that they had a 76% vote in a two party preferred system at the last election. Or because they can?t legitimately send out letters to thousands of gamers around the nation with a bold-faced challenge to stand against them at the next election.
Yes, good old Mickey did both of those things too.
As has been mentioned in so many different articles, forums and discussions, Mickey?s argument reeks of ?Think of the Children!?. So many of this comments are aimed at protecting our youths and one can?t help but get the feeling that this is less an actual pillar of moral reasoning and more an attempt to scare parents who have little knowledge of the problem into submission. As evidenced by David Doe in the same interview on ABC Radio National, the introduction of an R18+ rating is not the only layer of protection that parents have available to prevent their children from playing content deemed inappropriate. Every new generation console has parental controls to prevent the playing of certain ratings of games and the children still have to get their hands on the games in the first place.
This segues nicely into another wonderfully flawed argument put forth by Mickey. That the introduction of an R18+ rating will do nothing to prevent children from acquiring video games because they can easily get them in their homes. Well let?s think about this for a minute shall we Mickey? If the game is bought by the parents and the child is allowed to play it, that is not the fault of the R18+ rating. If the parents don?t know about the parental lockout systems, that isn?t the fault of the R18+ rating. If the children are able to purchase the games themselves, that isn?t the fault of the R18+ rating.
Are we starting to notice a trend here?
This is by no means a definitive article on the topic. I just felt that it?s important to highlight not only the logical fallacies within Mickey?s wonderfully political argumentative style, but also the arrogance and contempt for people with differing opinions that the man who has installed himself as the moral voice of Australia carries around and brandishes like a Medal of Honour (If you?ll excuse the terrible pun).
Keep debating it Australia, and stand up against him. Stand up for freedom of expression and choice, stand up for your right to choose how you want to live. And most importantly, stand up to what can only be described as a dictatorship.
------------------------
I realise censorship and the R18+ debate in Australia is something a lot of people have probably written about. This is an article I have written for Chronoclasm.com as their Content Admin and I thought I'd share it with the Escapist as well.
If you enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) this article, you can see more of my reviews and gaming articles at http://thesreyn.wordpress.com now, or Chronoclasm.com once my editor is finished looking over the articles. Feel free to leave love (or hate) as well as suggestions!
-Thesreyn/N337 Linja
