Violence and video & computer games

There have been growing concerns surrounding computer and video gaming over the past years. Many individuals and community groups have displayed fears that computer and video game play may encourage aggressive behaviour, or foster undesirable problem solving skills that glamorise and glorify violence. Is this the case? Or, is gaming simply a recreational activity, in a similar category to sport, reading and other hobbies.

Video and computer gaming has been blamed for many social disturbances such as school shootings. For example Columbine High School shooting undertaken by two youths, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killing 13 and wounding 23, was said to be the result of both boys being avid gamers. As accomplished players of the somewhat violent computer/video game Doom, it was said that the gruesome massacre, made their computer game a reality, by bringing death to many and also to themselves.

In the days following the Columbine High School massacre, the country went on a panicked hunt for the oddballs in High School, a profoundly ignorant and unthinking response to a tragedy that left geeks, nerds, non-conformists and the alienated in an even worse situation than before the school shooting (Morris, 2003). Computer games found themselves the objects of suspicion and disrespect.

Relatives of people killed in the Columbine massacre are seeking damages from the computer game makers, claiming their products helped bring about the killings. The group filing the lawsuit say investigations into the tragedy revealed the influence violent computer and video games had on the two teenagers who carried out the shootings, with a total of 25 companies being named in the lawsuit, seeking $5 billion in damages (Ward, 2001). The text of the lawsuit alleges “absent the combination of extremely violent video games and these boys’ incredibly deep involvement, use of and addiction to these games and the boys’ basic personalities, these murders and this massacre would not have occurred” (Ward, 2001).

Columbine was not the first United States high school shooting, nor was it the first in which forms of contemporary youth culture were held to blame, but it prompted a huge amount of media attention and speculation. Similarly a 19 year old in Germany, 2002, conducted a 20 minute shooting spree leaving 17 dead including himself. These and at least 12 other murders since 1997 have been linked to violent video games (Muir, 2004).

This being said, could other recreational activities not also be blamed for other social disturbances? For example, many non fiction literature is now in circulation written by both victims and offenders of serious crimes such as rape and murder, featuring step by step descriptions. If an individual was an avid reader of such literature and then was involved in a similar crime to Columbine High School shooting would books be blamed? I think not.
Is the underlying issue that older generations are simply afraid of ever changing technology and the keen interest young generations have within it?

Welcome...

Welcome, as a first time ‘blogger’ who only recently found out what exactly a blog is this is quite a new experience making the first post. Feel free to check my blog in the following weeks as more posts are added.

Is alternative youth culture dead?

Is there such a thing as ‘alternative youth culture’? In today’s society conforming to any social group or scene no matter how alternate it was once considered, could now be seen as mainstream.

For example, when you walk into your local music store, be it Sanity, JB Hi-Fi or other similar chain stores, how much of the store is dedicated to so called ‘alternate music’. For example when browsing at music chain stores online purchasing systems music which was once considered alternative is now under drop down menus such as ‘chart albums’.

It has been said that youth culture had fragmented into many scenes, and belonging to each scene meant wearing its clothes and buying its records – it was not enough simply to be in the age bracket. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the following were considered alternative:
-Tattoos
-Body piercing
-Unnatural hair colouring
-Drug taking
-New romantic era (men wearing make up)

If we ran through that list today in the year 2007, in any suburban high school or university, the majority of youth would be considered by at least one of the above criteria to be alternative, if not more. This being said, not only would youth be considered alternate but many other individuals no matter what age group they belonged to could be considered alternative. In developed western countries of today such as Australia and America it is more uncommon or ‘alternate’ not to have body piercings of some description, tattoos or unnatural hair colouring. Academics believe that body piercing and tattooing can no longer be considered deviant or a form of self expression.

Drug taking today is also a common occurrence, according to Australian Youth Facts and Stats (http://www.youthfacts.com.au/), in the year 2004 Australian teenagers’ substance of choice was alcohol, with 46% of boys and 40% of girls reporting they had drunk alcohol in the past month.

In 2003, in individuals aged 14 to 17 years:
- 21% had used marijuana/cannabis
- 4% had used amphetamines
- 3% had used ecstasy/designer drugs

It has been argued that alternative Eculture is made up of the following:
- Blogging
- Culture jamming
- Mobile phones
- Independent documentary makers

In 2004, a study of 258 adolescents in Years 7 to 12 found that 83% currently had a mobile phone, with only 17% not having one. The majority of those who partook in the study were first given a mobile phone at age 13 – 14 (57%). Of those without a mobile phone, 47% felt ‘left out of the social interactions’ and 33% ‘sometimes felt pressured to get a mobile phone’. For those without a mobile phone, the main reason adolescents gave was that their parents would not let them (46%). This alone shows how the alternative youth culture may be long dead.

Culture jamming: art or graffiti?

Defined as the art pf using existing mass media to comment on those very media themselves, culture jamming is a highly debateable topic. Culture jamming can vary, with a variety of forms utilised including adbusting, performance art, graffiti art and so on (http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=87&p=1588).

Culture jamming: art or graffiti? There are numerous arguments to support both views. In this post I will try to display arguments from both opinion points.

Culture jamming uses the original mediums communication method. For example if a billboard was going to be targeted, it would stay in the same form of a billboard. This therefore can lead to two view points. Firstly, if the original mediums communication method is simply replicated with the necessary changes, is it art because no defacement has occurred? An example of culture jamming which has had the original mediums communication method replicated with various changes is the Starbucks Coffee logo below.

However, on the other hand if elements are added to the original medium such as extra letters or words, or images, is it graffiti as defacement has occurred? An example of culture jamming which has had the original mediums communication method added to or defaced is the McDonalds advertisement below which has the phrase 'Feeling hungry all of a sudden?' adbusted into 'Feeling heavy, all of a sudden?' by adding the word 'heavy' over the previous word 'hungry'.

This being said, it has been argued that culture jamming differs from artistic appropriation and also from vandalism where the primary goal is destruction or defacement.

Many organisations have used culture jamming as a form of activism and a resistance movement to the hegemony of popular culture, based on the ideas of "guerrilla communication" and the "detournement" of popular icons and ideas (Farrell and Stewart, 2007).

Adbusters is particularly well-known for their culture jamming campaigns, and the Canadian political magazine often features photographs of politically-motivated billboards or advertisement vandalism sent in by readers. It is an activist magazine, devoted to numerous political and social causes, many of which are anti-consumerism or anti-capitalist in nature (http://www.contagiousmedia.org/press/nike/nike-adbusters.htm).

Another adbusting organization humorously named ‘Lazy Artist’, made up of painters, video artists, graphic designers, photographers, writers and musicians from Amsterdam was formed in 2002. Lazy Artist has adbusted numerous global corporation including McDonalds, ING Banking and Esso to name a few.

Below are a few examples of adbusting which I found amusing, whether they are art or graffiti.