Humor and Game Violence

The Hug me I’m scared reiterated a fact I am all too familiar with. There is funny Ha-ha and funny strange; Hug Me I’m Scared falls in the latter. I was laughing but not entirely sure why I was. Which is reflective of all the different types of humor that exist. Sometimes it’s irreverent, strange or even what some consider lowbrow humor. (Potty jokes) I try to stay in the middle ground; keeps the options open to laugh but Hug Me I’m Scared may have been a little much for me.

Comics, Rock and Roll, R-rated movies, and video games all have contributed to the downfall and desensitization of youth for decades. Though not all at once. One gave way to other when it was deemed more damaging then the former. It was R-rated for a while until it switched to video games years ago. Now to be honest I have been playing video games for over a decade now so I remember when the ire fell upon their influence to youth. And it still continues although maybe less fervent than they have been in the past. Partly due to the fact that videos games and even the term “gamer” has changed especially in the last two years. Almost every person play some type of video game, just look at their phone Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, even solitaire can be classified as a video game. Does the violence depicted in them cause adverse changes in a persons psyche? Now it’s cartoon violence but where is the line drawn. I will concur with the desensitization from overly violent games, where violence and gore are part of the core mechanics and often a reward. God of War comes to mind. Even the new Mortal Kombat is really stretching the boundaries on violence for violence sake. But Mortal Kombat never advertised itself as an educational experience. Also the game is intended for adults eighteen and over so it’s really up to the parents to deter their children from the grotesque images. A fact that seemed to be neglected by most of the studies safe for one on the pro side. Ultimately this is where the argument should begin, how involved are the parents in the lives of their children. You can legislate and try impeding sales but it’s the parents of these children who play violent games who are responsible