Kan film og computerspil inspirere folk til at ville udføre disse handlinger? Gamere overalt på jorden ser med foragt på denne teori og afviser den øjeblikkeligt, men vi skal huske på en ting: Fordi man ikke selv er modtagelig, betyder det jo ikke, at din sidemand heller ikke er. Kan spil i stil med Grand Theft Auto affyre en reaktion i spilleren? Kan actionfilm gøre det samme? Eller er spørgsmålet, at der ude i stuerne sidder nogle mennesker, som tilfældigvis spiller Call of Duty, der er mentalt ustabile og kan have vanskeligheder ved at skelne spillet fra virkeligheden? Spørgsmålet om computerspillenes centrale rolle vender altid tilbage i disse sager, og skønt jeg er enig i gamermiljøernes kritik af den påstand, er jeg samtidig åben over for modargumentation. Computerspil, i min uskyldige optik, forsøger bestemt ikke at inspirere folk til at udøve vold. Tværtimod. Computerspil er et medium, som man kan bruge til mange formål, herunder blandt andet at lade frustrationer komme til udtryk på en måde, hvor det netop ikke rammer uskyldige mennesker.
Påstanden om at computerspil er med til at gøre problemet værre, finder jeg til dels letkøbt og uansvarlig af myndighederne, men samtidig forstår jeg bekymringen. Fra mit perspektiv er problemet i USA, at våben er så let tilgængelige for alle, idet det jo er en rettighed for dem at bære våben. Der sidder folk derude, som har seriøse problemer, og disse mennesker har muligvis ikke nogen, som de kan gå til for at få sat ord på disse vanskeligheder. Hverken forældre eller venner i sociale kredse. En form for hævn kommer i nogle tilfælde til at stå på dagsordenen, og når våben er så tilgængelige, har man pludselig en opskrift på katastrofe. Men kan hævnen være inspireret af medierne? Fra westerns til actionfilm lærer man jo, at hævn bedst serveres med bly, og i actionspil lærer man, at ansigtsløse karakterer fra håndlangere til fodgængere let og elegant kan fjernes. Jeg er ikke ved at skifte min holdning, men vi, gamerne, kan ikke blive ved med at se medierne som et irrelevant fænomen under angreb. Jeg siger "irrelevant", fordi jeg inderligt er overbevist om, at medierne faktisk er uskyldige i denne sammenhæng. De prøver ikke, at få folk til at skyde andre, men min tese er, at de, uden at vide det, bliver en art katalysator i denne kontekst, og dét er et problem.
Løsningen er ikke at gøre computerspil ulovlige. Løsningen er heller ikke, at gamere skal gennemføre en psykologisk undersøgelse hvert år for at se, om der er tendenser til det ene eller det andet. Løsningen er bestemt heller ikke at stille bevæbnede vagter på skolerne og tilmed oversvømme disse steder med endnu flere våben, som NRA mener. Løsningen er, ganske enkelt, at nå ud til disse mennesker. Give dem et rum, hvad enten det er i cyberspace eller i den virkelige verden, hvor de kan få deres frustrationer ud på en ikke-skadelig måde. Men helt centralt må være at få våben ud af folks hænder. En gang for alle.
English version:
The American President, Barack Obama, has just called in a meeting, where Vice President Joe Biden, members of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and representatives of both the film and video game industries will be attending. The purpose of this meeting is to create a task force that will deal with the issues of gun violence in the States. The recent and most tragic shooting in Connecticut, which President Obama calls the worst day of his presidency, has made it very clear that something is terribly wrong. He hopes to find a solution to the problem and has stated that he wishes to pass new gun control measures, but at the same time he also wishes to examine the role of video games and movies.
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Are video games and movies capable of inspiring people to commit these acts of violence? Gamers everywhere look upon this theory with disgust and reject it immediately but we need to remember one thing: just because you aren't easily susceptible by outside influences doens't automatically mean that the one next to you aren't as well. Can games such as Grand Theft Auto trigger a reaction in peoples' minds? What about action films? Or should the question instead be: are people who are mentally unstable with serious issues, who just happens to play Call of Duty, also having problems distinguishing the game from reality? The central role of video games in these matters is a recurring theme, sadly, and though I agree with the gaming communities critique I remain open to any counter arguments. Video games, in my humble opinion, aren't trying to inspire people to do any acts of crime. Quite on the contrary. Video games offer many things to many different people but one of the universal things is a way to vent out frustration where innocent people won't get hurt.
The claim that video games somehow make the problem worse is, again in my humble opinion, a cheap argument and quite irresponsible. But at the same time I understand this argument. From my point of view the problem in the States is that guns are so readily available to the general public due to their right to carry arms. There are people out there with serious issues who might not have anyone to share and to verbalize these issues with. Either parents nor friends in any social circle. In some cases the idea of revenge becomes an option and with guns so easily attainable it quickly becomes a recipe for disaster. But can the media affect this idea of revenge? From genres like Western to Action we get the sense that revenge is best served with lead. In action games we see that everything from faceless minions to pedestrians can easily be removed from our paths. I'm not changing my point of view in this matter but I'm saying that we, the gamers, cannot continue to see our beloved video games as an irrelevant medium that's under attack. I say irrelevant because I firmly believe that video games are innocent in this regard. They are not trying to get people to do crime. But I'm raising the idea or the notion of games being, unknowingly, a kind of catalyst, and that's a very real problem.
The solution, as I see it, is not to ban video games. It's not to make gamers go through psychological evaluations each year to see if there's any tendencies to commit violence. The solution is certainly not to post armed guards at schools and furthermore flooding these areas with even more guns, like the NRA proposed. The solution must be to reach out to these troubled individuals. Give them a space where they can vent out their frustration and anger in a non-violent way. Either in cyberspace or in real life. But most importantly: get the guns out of the hands of the people.
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