As teased last year, the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has taken on the issue of video game violence. Everyone's favorite disbarred lawyer Jack Thompson even made an appearance to speak his mind on games such as Grand Theft Auto IV and to feed his many fish, plus there's a look at a gaming violence triangle, a visit to the E for All Expo, and a nine-year-old kid who loves his Sony PlayStation 2, but didn't enjoy firing a real gun when given the chance. This installment of Bullshit! is certainly worth watching, but since not everyone out there has access to Showtime's bank of channels, I'd like to share a brief moment from the end of the show when host Penn Jillette offers his summation on the issue.
The football analogy oversimplifies the issue, but I find myself agreeing with it. Granted that I'm not a football fan and never really understood why it's supposed to be fun to watch or play, whereas I firmly believe that video games are an important aspect of relaxation and social interaction. However, football has the long-term advantage at this point in our history, as the sport has been around for several generations. Football has "always" been there, while video games are the comparatively new form of entertainment on the block. Check back with our society when my generation of twenty-somethings are senior citizens and I'm certain that you'll find that video games are just as commonly accepted by all generations just we encourage activities with sports, music, and literature today.
