(no subject)

[erastes]

Ooooo - Book Pron..

Yesterday I received Mordred Bastard Son and The Boy I Love. (Also the Broken Sword 4 game which I am sucking at horribly and haven't solved a problem without cheating yet... WHY can't I snap their necks like twigs - WHY????) Today I have ordered: The Regency Underworld why should all the Regencies be about dandies and Lords? Young Mr Fleury is a gentlemen of the lower classes and although that particular reprobate is currently on a riverboat somewhere with an ace up his sleeve and his hand on the plantation owner's son's cock I'd quite like to do a book about the Not So Nice section of Society. Are there any books about the Mollies - the majority of which were very much working class...?

I've also ordered Everyday Life in the 1800's and I should have read the reviews FIRST because it's a guide to American life and not British - but that's actually Serendipitous as I WILL be writing about Fleury (when I've finished Junction X) and I know very little (see the Wikipedia entry for NOTHING) about the early 19th Century in America. So it's a sign! whee! Stop me buying books...

Regarding Games: They've gone and banned Manhunt 2 which strikes me as dreadfully nanny state. It will make the game a best-seller as people will still track it down, import it, whatever. It's not a game that appeals to me (the first one was about the making of a Snuff Movie and you had to kill to win and I assume this one is similar) but it's no worse than many many survival horrors - the only difference being you are killing people and not mutated horrors. This could cause a precedent however, with the advent of the Wii - games are becoming even more interactive than ever and in this game (for the Wii) you used the paddles to stab and strangle your opponents with your bare hands. Whilst this doesn't appeal to me - I don't see the difference between this and the thousands of games that have used gun controllers to shoot the screen - and the humans portrayed on the screen. I've killed everything in games from giant pink rabbits to unarmed scientists using every conceivable weapon from a crowbar to a nuclear powered mutant hand - it's not convincing me to gun down my work mates, much as I'd enjoy it.

Comments

[logophilos.livejournal.com]

strikes me as dreadfully nanny state

I'm tremendously conflicted about this. On the one hand, studies seems to show conclusively that constant exposure to violent or pornographic images substantially desensitises the viewer to such material, and I can't help but be certain that in some individuals, that will lead to them seeking real world stimulation. On the other hand - why just this? Why not all violent games, books, films, art? Where would you stop? And is the vast majority of perfectly normal viewers and users, who do *not* go out and rape, maim and kill after playing such games, to be penalised for the psychopathic few?

I think we live in a dangerous world, where merely thinking about things is becoming a threat to many people, and we are unable to draw distinct lines between reality and fantasy. Or indeed, decide whether fantasy should be treated any differently from reality, when it comes to things like gross violence or child pornography. I disliked the fact this decision was made apparently in a knee jerk reaction to a single case, when measured, long term studies on the effect of fictional violence, are repeatedly ignored when it comes to policy making.

Sadly, I think this is a situation which will only get worse. Thoughtcrimes are becoming a reality.

hmm, aiding and abetting thought-crimes...

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

RE: your last sentence there? Well, darn.
Hey, I've read your posts about your workmates.
Describing them ought to be plenty of defense in court, really. I don't think *any* jury in the world would convict you, no matter *what* the evidence.
Just sayin'...