The Misconception of Mature: Violence in Video Games

Theres mature and then theres graphic violence, they are separate things but can mix in media. Ive played and enjoyed the GoW series but only really played thru them once, after that there didnt seem to be a point to replay. Id compare God of War vs The Last of Us similar to fast food vs a home cooked dinner. Both will fill you up but deep down only the latter will satiate, the former you will **** out in an hour.

This is a problem with ratings in general. For example, a James Bond movie rated PG at best 14A at worst shows Bond killing henchmen with ease, bloodlessly and consequence free. They drop after getting shot in the head while James winks at the camera. Saving Private Ryan on the other hand is rated 18A at best, and R at worst. As anyone who's seen it knows, it has some of the most graphic battle scenes on film, with people regularly being dismembered, screaming in agony, and crying over their fallen comrades. The ratings system is obviously being applied to the level of disturbing images which, granted, may be traumatic and difficult for a child to understand. But what the rating should apply to is the level of realism. A movie that shows glorified, consequence free violence should be rated higher in my opinion than one that depicts realistic consequences, as a certain maturity level needs to be reached before a child can understand that what they are seeing is complete fiction.

Same goes for sex and nudity. If parents weren't so terrified of talking to their kids about sex there is no reason an information and education toting young teen couldn't watch a sexually themed 18A movie and understand what they're seeing and know how to put it into context with real life. And if encouraging teens to have sex is the worry behind letting them see movies with sex or nudity, guess what: there is nothing you could ever do to a teen that would make them want to have sex more than they already want to. Let them watch the damn movie.

I've been struggling with something for awhile now, and I wonder if I'm alone. What I struggle with is an emotional void as far as video game violence is concerned (real life violence still troubles me, naturally), but what I'm referring to is this...
If I see something violent in God of War, or Gears... meh. I'm 'used' to it, and that's what troubles me. I shouldn't be used to violence, no matter what form it takes. I see it, and I don't care. It's there, it exists, it's part of the game. This... isn't a good thing. I mean, I've been worried that we're turning into digital sociopaths. No, I don't mean we're going to kill anyone in the real world, I'm certain we're all horrified by real life violence... but in the digital world, we're becoming emotionally bankrupt toward the violence. We -should- be bothered by things like God of War: Ascension.
This is why I'm happy to have felt something when I saw Last of Us, and even Tomb Raider. Good article, Alex.

That's a well-made point, and I hope you'll let me give my own take on this.

One of the things about the insanely over-the-top violence of games like God of War is that it's very stylized violence. In other words, not the least bit realistic, and I don't mean the mythological setting. I mean the sheer physical acrobatics. If you're guiding Kratos through his usual slaughter quotient, you're controlling and seeing things that simply don't happen in real life. It's what we once would have called kung-fu action movie violence. People jump around like kangaroos, or fly like birds, and never get too tired to keep going. And, if armed, their weapons seem to move with a mind of their own.

It's so unrealistic that we subconsciously forgive ourselves for enjoying it on the grounds that it is obviously fake. The problem is when even stylized violence goes too far for us to let it go, as God of War (to keep using that example) arguably does. Continued below...

When the stylized violence goes too far as we just can't accept it any longer, we need to understand that it isn't so much about morality as it is simple personal taste. If you're the kind of person who would act out in violent ways you see in a video game, or movie, or TV show, or whatever, then the problem is in you rather than the media. Normal people can tell the difference between the violence of God of War or a Bruce Lee movie, and the violence of (to use the article's own examples) The Last of Us or Saving Private Ryan.

All of which is a round-about way to say, NecroWolf, that I understand exactly how you feel, and I think you're perfectly fine. You can tell the difference between stylized violence and serious violence. So don't let yourself feel worried about your reactions.

If you're worried about over-the-top, stylized violence, be glad you're not a Roman living in the first and second century, or a Spartan living in third/fourth century BC, or any one of the unbelievably violent time periods/geographic locations that have been shedding ridiculous amounts of blood for the sake of entertainment since the beginning of man. Be glad it's on a TV screen and not live-action.

Humans love violence. It's in our nature.

The ratings system is just a patch for a much bigger and more systemic issue around parenting. Video Games are the new culture transmitter, and they should push all the moral boundaries that all other mediums have instead of being sanctioned with ratings. Not only do they bridge the age gap, but they are one of the few things that the whole world can share with each other in common heritage.

Maybe there should be a new J rating for Juvenile

I felt like 70% of this article was semantics, and that the focus on the concept of 'Mature' weakened the much more interesting underlying observations about violence in videogames. 'Mature' as an ESRB rating refers to the mental development of the gamer--it isn't an advertisement of content sophistication.

I would much rather hear your thoughts on who these violent games are being marketed to. If you believe that ultra-violent games are being marketed to an immature audience, do you mean children? If so, how do you think this contrasts with movies, where PG-13 is still a clear tipping point between a blockbuster or not?

You are right, although sometimes we want to watch The Expendables after Shutter Island, nonsensical and more brutal violence are slowly beginning to show in more and more games and movies, but it seems a lot of people enjoy that and as a result, people who don't like it pay the price.

One last thing, keep this articles coming!

This reminds me of the term 'decline' bandied about in certain circles. Even Manhunt's brutal and literally pornographic violence is meaningful. System Shock and SS2 made for shooters that were exhilarating, terrifying, horrifying, fun and more than a little bit nauseating in their implications. Exploring and fighting in those environments was uncomfortable and unnerving. The first two Fallouts were unflinchingly frank in their depiction of violence, including against children, and all of it had a valid context. Fallout 3's violence, though less extreme, was essentially gore porn. Context is king.