July 10th, 2009
Penn & Teller call "Bullshit!" on game violence and Jack Thompson
Penn & Teller call "Bullshit!" on game violence and Jack Thompson
Our friend Jack Thompson has been quiet for awhile now, so ever wonder what it is he spends most of his time doing? Well, feeding his fish, apparently. On last nights episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, the world famous magic duo looked into video games violence.
"In this episode, the duo debunks the theory of politicians and other alarmists that playing video games leads to teen violence by handing over a real semiautomatic weapon to a nine-year-old video game player to see if he becomes a human killing machine."
Surprisingly enough JT agreed to go onto the show and put forward his "opinions" on video game violence and, of course, Grand Theft Auto. Whilst spending an awfully large amount of his camera time feeding his fish, he mentions that he is an activist and attorney. Perhaps he forgot to mention that he was disbarred last September? Regardless, he takes his usual stance on Grand Theft Auto and such games being murder simulators and talks about the apparent "scientific tests" that prove it, which is later prove to be, well, bullshit. Thompson's credibility is also laughed at when Penn shows the truth behind the historical events Thompson typically falls back on in interviews.
If you've seen an episode of the show before, you'll be aware of how well the duo disprove many of societies idiocies. The final view on video game violence? It's all a load of BS, video games are learning tools and in fact very educational and sociable.
I strongly encourage you to check out the episode as it repeats throughout the week on Showtime. Jack Thompson is teased and shown to be the idiot he is, and if thats not enough to get you to watch it, seeing the theory of violence in video games and there effect on children and players in general debunked should be. No actual footage of any Grand Theft Auto games are show, but it is the main topic of discussion throughout the episode.