If you haven't heard, there was this 17 year old kid in Germany named Tim. Before last week, he was a pretty typical teenager, going to school and chasing girls. A little less typical, he also had a fuckload of porn on his computer, including charming things like bondage. His father, Jorg, was also a heavy presence in his life. His Dad owned FIFTEEN (count 'em) guns at home and sometimes failed to keep them locked. Tim also suffered from depression and on New Year's Eve, his advances were rejected by a pretty girl.
So, have you got all that? Good. Last week, Tim Kretschmer shot and killed the girl who rejected him, all of her friends and then shot eleven other random people at Winnenden school. And then he ate his own gun before he could be captured by the cops. Beforehand, he talked about school shootings on the internet under the name 'JawsPredator1'.
Now, where would you lay blame? With Tim and his depression? His bondage fetish? His father's outlandish and readily available gun collection?
No, of course not you fucking moron. You'd obviously blame this:
I'm sorry, what's that? You're confused? Am I hearing you right? How could you be confused? The Times newspaper in London sure ain't confused. Check this out:
The teenage gunman spent the night before his spree playing a violent video game in which a heavily armed mercenary tracks down and kills an arms dealer, police revealed yesterday, writes Adam Lewitt.
Tim Kretschmer spent from 7.30pm to 9.40pm playing Far Cry 2, in which the player takes on the role of the killer.
Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old’s rampage. In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer hijacked a car, held a pistol to the driver’s head and asked: “Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?” Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9m copies, wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.
Most sinister of all, Far Cry 2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. The game, which carries an 18 certificate in Britain, includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It also rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer.
Kretschmer also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game, both of which have a 16 certificate in Britain.
Some American experts are convinced of a link between school shootings and violent games.
If you stand it, Check the full article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5908602.ece
Well, are you convinced yet? No, of course not. Because YOU ARE NOT A FUCKING MORON.
For decades now, media outlets and politicians have laid the blame for real-world violence on the door of video games. Regardless of how fucked up the kid is in the first place, with abuse, depression, exposure to weapons, drunken parents, peer pressure, bullying and countless other reasons, it's ALWAYS video games are to blame. A bunch of sprites on a TV screen is consistently the reason that young children suddenly go from this:
to this:
I'm fucking sick of it. Why is it so hard for people to accept ACTUAL REAL REASONS for kids going apeshit and killing people? I still don't understand. I guess I should just shutup and be thankful that I don't live in the 1950s. When people were claiming comic books and Elvis Presley's hips were tools of the devil.
Just be thankful that this guy is dead. If he was still alive, obviously we'd live in a world of serial killer rapists roaming the post-apocalyptic streets.
Naturally I agree with pretty much everything you said, but...there will be some people who really are affected by playing video games, and people who suffer from depression might fall into that category.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think is that clearly somebody should have stopped him from playing violent video games and looking at bondage porn until he had got himself sorted out.
I think Far Cry 2 actually *is* the inspiration for his murder spree, but it's step two in the process.
Step 1: Depression sets in and his mental condition gets seriously bad
Step 2: Plays violent games and looks at bondage porn which his mental state can't handle
Step 3: Takes inspiration to set his world to rights.
The problem is not so much playing the games, but the fact that obviously no one gave a shit about this kid when he was in Step 1 to stop him from getting to Step 2.
Playing violent video games is only a problem if the person playing them hasn't the ability to handle his life's situations. Obviously this kid didn't.
Yes, Far Cry 2 was the inspiration for his killing spree, but it wasn't the reason for it.
Nice comment there. I'll agree with that.
ReplyDeleteI just feel sorry for the kid because he was so fucked up he didn't have the mental capacity to truly appreciate how awesome Far cry 2 is. I'm assuming he didn't finish the game before he went a-murdering. Hell, I've been playing for something like 30 hours and I still don't think I'm anywhere near the end.
He was probably going to go on the spree days ago, but thought...hold on...if I go now, I won't finish the game...I'll just play a few more hours...
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the comment about Farcry 2 being awesome.... I thought it kinda blew....
But yeah Step 1 is the issue. Step 2 could have been anything, watches violent movie, reads violent book, played a violent Roleplaying game, had a violent little fantasy all too himself without any external influence at all.
Thing is tho, there are plenty of people out there at Step 1, and they don't get to Step 3. Step 1 does not excuse Step 3 .... Ever ..... It was weak and insulting to those who do get through step 1.
Oh and Elvis's hips were actually the devil reborn. True fact.