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"We are training our kids to be killers, and we are training our sons to treat women like whores."
That was what Glenn Beck had to say on "CNN Headline News" on May 1 during "Grand Theft Morality," a segment attacking "Grand Theft Auto IV" for its content. Beck went on to describe how players can climb the ranks through "unbelievable acts of violence," and how the game, along with other media are responsible for crime in the United States.
I don't know about the remaining sane people in the United States, but I'm sick and tired of the stupid pundits being paid to say absurd and inaccurate things. Last time I checked, Beck wasn't a certified psychologist. But he is a self-admitted former alcoholic and drug addict, according to CNN. Anyone else catching the irony of his morality lesson here?
Beck isn't the only person making these claims. Despite a strong consensus that GTA IV is a ground breaking, wildly entertaining game - it has a metacritic.com rating of 99 percent - some people, such as Florida lawyer Jack Thompson, just can't leave the game alone. Thompson, a long-time opponent of the GTA franchise, sent a vicious letter before the game's April 29 release to the mother of Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two Interactive, which distributed GTA IV, according to blog.wired.com.
In his letter, Thompson called Zelnick's mother a bad parent and went on to describe her son's product as a "murder simulator."
"Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. Zelnick, which this year is May 11, two weeks after your son unleashes porn and violence upon other mothers' boys," he said. "I'm sure you're very proud."
I should be shocked. Attacking someone with ideological differences through his mother is low, even for a jackass such as Thompson. But apparently, the release of Rockstar Games' perennial work of art can still bring the nut-jobs out of the woodwork.
The developers of "Grand Theft Auto IV" are doing exactly what other Americans do: demanding their constitutional rights to express artistic visions without fear of persecution.
Nobody is trying to have "Schindler's List" banned for its depiction of mass murder - a movie that has extremely disturbing content sprinkled throughout it. So why are video games, and more specifically, "Grand Theft Auto" so reviled in the United States?
Dan Houser, vice president of Rockstar Games and co-writer of GTA IV, hit the nail on the head in a recent interview with New York Magazine.
"If we equally got rid of a lot of books that talk about violence, okay," Houser said. " But if we don't like these games because they've got content that we're happy to see in movies and TV shows, then what you're saying is you don't like the medium because we don't have a George Clooney-type sticking his face in front of the camera."
The content in GTA IV isn't any racier or more offensive than what people might see in an R-rated movie or cable TV show such as "The Sopranos."
Fortunately, not everyone in the United States subscribes to the shoddy social conditioning argument held by Beck, Thompson and others like them. "Grand Theft Auto IV" sold 3.6 million copies the day it was released, and made more than $500 million its first week, The Associated Press reported.
The game shattered the record held by the previously best selling Xbox 360 game "Halo 3" and bested the film industry's hot-selling comic-book-adaptation film "Iron Man" by $300 million.
This is with good reason. "Grand Theft Auto IV" is one of the best pieces of entertainment this year, in any medium. It is full of life, laughs, fun and moments of great beauty. And it is without a doubt worth the retail price of $60, more so than most video games.
Whether people pay tribute to Michael Mann's "Heat" in a bank robbery mission or just cruise the streets of Liberty City listening to Kanye West's "Flashing Lights," GTA IV is a treat that shouldn't be missed, and I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in quality entertainment to at least take a look at the game. They won't regret it, I promise.
Evan Burt can be reached at eburt@theorion.com
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