Jack Thompson, a Miami-based attorney, has always been an enemy of the gaming industry and gamers. Many dislike his outrageous theories that gaming breeds psychopath killers. The recent shootings at Virginia Tech have brought Jack out of hiding once more, and he is showing off his skills as a massacre chaser.
Trying to understand what is going on in the mind of Jack Thompson would be like trying to control hurricane winds by snapping your fingers. The man is the embodiment of foolishness and tactlessness.
The recent shootings at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University by Seung-Hui Cho resulted in the death of 32 of his schoolmates and educators. And, as is par for the course as far is Thompson is concerned, the Florida lawyer chooses once again to piggy-back his anti-game advocation off of a horrible tragedy.
It is not my intent to slander Jack Thompson for his attacks on video games. In his mind, perhaps he is doing something virtuous. And perhaps we - as gamers - are simply annoyed and enraged that someone is trying to take away something we love. We are reacting defensively as anyone would. Whether it is a child being told he cannot have any more sweets, or a couple knowing that they have to budget and cut back to support their family, we are not happy campers.
But is that what we should really be focusing on? It does not matter what Jack Thompson is fighting against. The way he is doing it is wrong. It is tactless, and he seems to have no regard for the cause at all, no regard for the victims of these massacres, and no regard for the dignity of every single person involved in his wild accusations.
No. Instead Thompson appears to take pride in the glory of the battle, the thrill of the hunt, and the inevitable victory he sees at the end of it all. But what he is doing is wrong on so many levels. I say this not as a gamer, but as a concerned citizen.
Why does Thompson do what he does? Is he trying to be a hero? Is he trying to protect all of us from our own destructive tendencies? On the surface, this would appear to be his motives. He focuses on the tragedies of others so that he can ensure they will not happen again. But if he is trying to protect innocent families, and steer gamers away from becoming ‘violent psychopaths’ through their favourite hobby, then he is pursuing the wrong method.
If you are trying to get someone to diet, you do not insult their weight. No one working in a fitness centre or weight loss clinic will look at their client and yell, “Hey Fatty! Fatty, fat, fat, fat, fatcakes!” It is ludicrous. How is that helpful? How is that going to get you close enough to the people you are trying to help?
This is what I do not understand about Jack Thompson. If he truly cared about the damage that video games do, he would be trying to convince and rehabilitate the gamers. But instead, he refers to us as ‘knuckleheads’. He refers to our hobby as ‘mental masturbation’. He calls us ‘pixelantes’.
If you are trying to win gamers over, you are making a big mistake by trying to belittle and degrade all of us. As a collective, we do not take your brand of criticism very well.
As a result of this, it seems clear that Jack Thompson’s intents are not to make the situation better. If it was, he would not have made enemies of everyone in the gaming industry. Instead, it seems that Thompson thrives on the publicity that surrounds these events. The media circus. And as a result, he is - in many ways - like the deranged psychopaths who engage in these school shootings. They kill dozens of people, and become instant celebrities in the media spotlight. And for those who are already depressed or suicidal, is there any better send off for your life than a media circus?
So Jack, please, do us all a favour and stop. Just stop. You are taking the memories of good people who were murdered, and you are dragging them through the mud. Enough is enough. Stop your ridiculous tirades, and just retire and live in obscurity with whatever small fragment of your dignity that may still be intact.
Check out these links for more information on the shooting: Were video games to blame for massacre? Be sure to read the article, and watch the attached video clip with Jack Thompson being interviewed on Chris Matthew’s Hardball. You will notice that Jack executes his typical tactic of jumping from Point A to Point Z, without filling in the interim regions with proof.
Family of Virginia Tech gunman feeling ‘helpless, hopeless, lost’ An article about the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, and his life since immigrating to America. Please take note that most people who knew him expressed that he had social issues, and may have been autistic, but his parents did not seek help for him.
ABC Good Morning America An interview with Seung-Hui Cho’s roommates. The question that the interviewer asks at the end, “Is there anything you would have done differently as far as reaching out to him?” seems a bit insensitive. Is she trying to get these kids to think it was their fault? “Yeah. Maybe if you had tried a bit harder, those 32 people would still be alive.”
Talk about tactless.
Seung-Hui Cho Manifesto The video sent to NBC by the shooter.