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JANUARY 31, 2008
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Gritskrieg
I rant, you read
Or
I rant and that’s really all that
matters
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by Grits
Irresponsible. That is perhaps the
least offensive word I can use
whentalking about someone who
would go on the air and condemn
a game forits content without ever
having actually played it.
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I could use stronger language but then I would be sinking to the level of
individuals like Martha McCallum and Cooper Lawrence. During her show on
the Fox News Network, “The Live Desk with Martha McCallum”, both Martha and
her guest Cooper, a psychologist and author, made such outrageous claims in
regards to the content of the game that it’s hard to believe that Fox News
actually provides their newscasters and commentators with any sort of
research before they go on air. Geoff Keighley of Spike TV tried to correct the
very erroneous information the two were spouting. Geoff, after trying to correct
the two women, asked Cooper if she had actually played the game to which
Cooper, with not only distaste apparent in her voice but disdain as well, replied
no.
Claims were made about Mass Effect that were so blatantly false that it’s a
wonder that Bioware hasn’t opened a lawsuit against Fox News and its
affiliates. Martha actually said that the game allows a player to “engage in
graphic sex” where the “person playing gets to decide what’s going to happen,
if you know what I mean.” Later, the panel of… I really want to say “idiots” but
they may very well be educated people… let us use the gentler and more
correct phrase “ignorant individuals”; the panel lambasted Mass Effect. One of
the ignorant individuals went so far as to describe the game as being “Luke
Skywalker meets ‘Debbie does Dallas’” and another said that the people
placing the Mature rating on the game instead of the more severe Adults Only
rating needed to have their heads examined.
I would like to point out to this gentle panel that the very network they work for
has the FX channel. Have you ever seen “Nip/Tuck”? In a span of 45 minutes, I
have seen more bare ass cheeks flaunted about on the screen during that
show than I ever saw in thirty plus hours of playing Mass Effect. This panel
made it sound like you could sit down immediately after purchasing this game
and have a graphic, fully interactive, digital sexual experience. It doesn’t work
that way.
If any of these commentators had chosen, say, a book to review without ever
having read it, and claimed its contents to be nothing more than a collection of
literary pornographic essays because of one sex scene written into the book,
would the publishers and writer of said book allow such a thing to go legally
unanswered? I sincerely doubt it. At the very least, the commentators would be
called upon to make a public on air apology in regards to their statements for
the simple reason that they didn’t read the book.
No less should be called for in this situation. If one is going to broadcast their
opinion as being fact, with psychologist Cooper Lawrence to claim fact based
research to back their opinion, one should be held accountable. The network
owes Bioware and its employees an apology. Instead they’ve invited Electronic
Arts to send representatives to appear on air and discuss the matter. Inviting
the parent company to “come on air and discuss the matter” is tantamount to
saying, “If you won’t come outside to fight, I don’t have to apologize for punching
you when you weren’t looking.” It’s ridiculous to say the least.
Cooper Lawrence, to her credit, retracted her on air statements but only after
her book was poorly reviewed on the Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com
websites by angry fans. How apropos that people who had probably not read
her work made negative, scathing comments about her work in a public format
after she did the same thing to Mass Effect.
If you’re interested in seeing the clip of the show where Mass Effect was
discussed, you can find the pertinent parts HERE.
I can only hope that future commentary on video games by this network will use
people who have actually played the game being discussed. To do anything
else would be… Irresponsible.
Grits - End of Line
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