Blog - Laura Novak

Teapartyzombiesmustdie: Shades of Juden Raus? - Guest Post by Phantomimic

10/14/2011

I don't know if you've heard about, it but a company called StarvingEyes Advergaming Productions put out a very controversial on-line game called: "Teapartyzombiesmustdie". I will be honest and admit that I played the game out of curiosity. It is a first person shooter game where you go around killing zombies many of which bear the likeness of Tea Party celebrities including (among others) Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, and Glen Beck. To accomplish this you employ an array of weapons including crowbars, machetes, axes, pistols, AK47s and shotguns. The game description reads: “The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits.”

The game has several levels and three main areas that you enter to perform your deeds. These are the Fox News building, the Americans for Prosperity organization building, and the trailer park (where you find Sarah and Michele). Every time you go from one level to another you are presented with a little pearl of liberal wisdom regarding Tea Party shenanigans. If the zombies prevail it is stated that you died because "you didn't have health insurance" and that that is too bad because "there is no such thing as God and death is for eternity". If you win you are treated to a final graphic where a donkey projectile-defecates on the Tea Party crowd.

Needless to say the conservative media went wild claiming this game proves that liberals are not the kind tolerant people that they pretend to be. While I think this is an unfair generalization, I can see their point. This game is way more extreme than Sarah Palin placing the famous crosshair over Representative Gabrielle Gilford's district which caused all that furor. In any case, a campaign to call Advergaming's clients resulted in the game being taken off-line. However, if you want to catch a glimpse of what it looked like, you can check out this video.

Now let me get to my point. It is easy to dismiss this game as the work of a nutter. Even within the rank and file of liberals you will find extremists, and a few of them are bound to have programming skills. But there is something that worries me.

Over the years I have played several violent video games (Duke Nukem, Starcraft, Halo, etc.) and they all involved killing aliens or some total stranger not identifiable with any group in our current society. But in this game many of the zombies bear the likenesses of real people and the language is also unabashedly vitriolic (e.g. stupid white trash birther rednecks, lobbyist pigs, Fox New Anchor Barbies). Teapartyzombiesmustdie makes me think of one of the most infamous games ever made, Juden Raus! (Jews Out!).

Juden Raus was a board game that was made in Nazi Germany. The object of the game was to deprive Jews of their property and make them leave the city. The game was not created by the Nazis and, ironically, it was not viewed favorably by them as they thought that it trivialized their policies toward Jews. However, the game did resonate with the anti-Semitic beliefs of a significant portion of the German population.

By evoking Juden Raus I do not intend to draw parallels between the political situation of Nazi Germany and that of the United States, or the situation of the German Jews and the Tea Party people (they are obviously very different). My point is rather that the zeitgeist that had been created in Nazi Germany made someone feel that it was perfectly fine to make this board game and put it out into society envisioning that it would be played by both children and adults. This is my fear regarding Teapartyzombiesmustdie. What made the head of StarvingEyes Advergaming Productions, Jason Oda, think that it was OK to create this game (which he described as a "personal project") and place it online?

Could it be that the level of polarization, meanness, and hatred in U.S. society has reached such a high mark that some people feel it is acceptable to cross lines they would have never dared to cross before? I take solace in the fact that the reaction to the game was swift and that it was taken off-line. This proves that there are mechanisms in this country that allow groups that feel discriminated to fight back. My concern is what happens when individuals on one side of the political divide get more and more frustrated with the other side, which they regard as a threat, but also consider to be brain dead and not worthy of even trying to reason with? What other lines will be crossed in the future? Is this the spirit of our times?

What do you think?

I want to thank Laura for giving me the opportunity to guest blog at her website. I am Phantomimic, the peculiar eclectic writer. Please visit me at http://phantomimic.weebly.com or follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/Phantomimic). Thank you!

Laura Novak link

10/14/2011 09:27:47 am

Thank you, Phantomimic, for writing this excellent piece.

I am surprised, though perhaps I should not be, that someone would want to see a personal project through to this point. What lurks in the minds of men? What makes someone want to target another individual? You are correct in defining it as an overall and overarching theme that violence and eliminating people we disagree with becomes acceptable in society. It's deeply disturbing. And as someone who has a child who has never played a video game, I was not aware of this thing.

psp accessories link

5/27/2012 03:26:58 pm

Your given information's are very good thanks for your information.

Jen

10/14/2011 10:00:33 am

Great post. Scary story about "Juden Raus" - I did not know that. I completely agree that going overboard and dehumanizing other people is what would make us inhuman.

Viola-Alex

10/14/2011 10:53:12 am

I believe this is more about opportunism than anything else. Stupid idea gets thrown out to the market just in case it succeeds and makes lots of money. I doubt the person creating it or the people marketing it even gave a damn. And they clearly didn't know Democrats very well.

I, for one, have never played a video game, smoked a cigarette, or seen TITANIC. I plan to die that way.

phantomimic link

10/14/2011 11:16:46 am

@Laura The allure of killing as a solution to problems that involve dealing with others is very powerful. In many ways it is the easy way out. After you kill someone you don't have to respond to their arguments or deal with the fact that others agree with them. Killing allows you to eliminate the problem almost instantaneously. The acceptance of this option by a significant amount of the population in some countries has invariably led said countires down a path of social turmoil and backwardness.

@Jen Exactly, when we convince ourselves that our opponents are not human the next step is to think, "Therefore, they don't have rights." The transition from there to rationalizing their deaths follows naturally.

phantomimic link

10/14/2011 11:50:34 am

@Viola-Alex True but my point is that there is always a perception as to what is acceptable in a society when it comes to public expression of views. It is my opinion that his fine line has been moving in the minds of many to interpret that more extreme forms of expression involving violence are acceptable.

I applaud you stance on smoking and video games, but Titanic? Oh come on, that is a great movie!

CA Guy

10/14/2011 11:59:30 am

Unless P-mimic has evidence to the contrary, I would take odds on this game being a creation of some twisted mind from the mouth-breathing far-right.

Just as counter-intelligence agencies work hard to plant false information into the enemy mainstream press, the diabolic mindset to create something this laughably heinous is certainly less prevalent on the left.

After all, we are all "dope-smoking, dirty hippies." How on earth would we marshal the time and energy? Too busy sitting around on Wall Street.

No, I seriously doubt this was anything more than a nefarious little con-game, in it's yucky-iest sense.

Actually, I can picture the self-deemed "puppet-master" type, who thinks he is so cleaver to game the gamers. A cross between Rush L and the fat guy in Jurassic Park, deep in his own Randian world, deep in his jumbo bag of Fritos.

phantomimic link

10/14/2011 12:36:44 pm

@CA Guy It seems that the creator of the game, Jason Oda, had created a couple of political games before. In 2008 he did Kung Fu election where players choose one of the then presidential candidates to battle each other (Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson against Romney, Giuliani, and McCain) with weapons and Kung Fu. In 2004 he did Bushgame.com where television characters from the 1980s battled monster versions of officials from the Bush administration. At the time he told the associated press: "I just hoped that people can go beyond the obvious little soundbites you hear all the time and have better ammunition and better understanding of the reasons why Bush should be out of the White House,"

Bobcat Logic

10/14/2011 02:35:55 pm

The idea that the left started such politically/religiously violent video games (which, I think, might be assumed from this post) needs a bit of context.

Doesn't anyone else remember this from 2006?

[just in time for Xmas]
"a new video game, based on the books, called “Left Behind: Eternal Forces,” in which players compete with the Antichrist and his United Nations peacekeeping force by battling their way through photorealistic New York City and either converting or killing those they encounter.

Bobcat Logic

10/14/2011 03:33:08 pm

Let's also keep in mind that Anders Breivik, Right Wing Norwegian Mass Murderer, credited the violent video game "Modern Warfare 2" as a “training-simulation” for his later slaughter of close to a hundred of his fellow citizens.

The Right Wing in the US has consistently demanded (by way of very graphic threats to left-wing politicians) that violent video games should not be regulated but should be available to anyone of any age who wants them. In a 7 to 2 decision the Supreme Court agreed.

The brouhaha over this particular game as evidence of "violent" leftist tendencies has all the markings of a Right-Wing inspired hoax, such as the recent "agent provocateur"activity of a Right-Wing journalist who tried to stir up violence, and bad publicity for the left, by invading the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum pretending to be an OWS demonstrator.

curiouser

10/14/2011 04:44:05 pm

Violent video games appeal to a base instinct...at least, that's what I see in certain family members, much to my dismay. I worry that the games that glorify war may increase the likelihood my little ones will be interested in the military or the desire to own a real AK47.

Occasionally, I feel like sticking pins in a Sarah Palin voodoo doll but actual realistic, blood and guts violence goes too far for me. I'm glad the Tea Party Zombie game got pulled. Hopefully, that will be a deterrence to developing anything similar.

curiouser

10/14/2011 04:56:37 pm

Okay. I just looked at the video. Turning the characters into zombies adds humor and makes it a bit less realistic. But is that even more sinister? It reminded me of Lethal Weapon and the disquiet I felt from laughing while observing extreme violence.

Rationalist

10/14/2011 06:21:45 pm

Great post. Some things are like a shortcut to our Id - this came sounds like one of them.

Lidia17

10/14/2011 07:18:35 pm

I think this is a too-earnest over-reaction which actually risks cheapening collective assessment of events like the Holocaust.

The game in question is clearly satirical, whereas other violent games are not satirical in the least. TeaParty Zombies is something people will have played for five minutes just to assess its quality and cleverness of its jokes (like the Palin Oval Office site); it's not a game left-wingers are going to immerse themselves in for hours, imagining the heroism of their first-person virtual exterminations.

Sheesh.

When this came out, months ago, the big outrage on the Right came from exactly those violent/heroic places INSIDE THEM: the place that poorly grasps humor and satire, and the place that really wants to physically annihilate their enemies in bloody attacks.

Projection of these authoritarian traits onto others leads to a complete misunderstanding of the political opposition. And in fact this is what the game is spoofing…

KMR

10/14/2011 07:35:20 pm

This quote by Siddhartha Gautama fits perfectly with why Phantomimic's unsettling post is important.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”

What bothers me most in a general sense is that video games are played mostly, I do think, by young impressionable minds.

phantomimic link

10/14/2011 11:37:06 pm

@Bobcat Logic I did not imply that it was "the left", rather it was someone within "the left" that is not representative of "the left" as a whole. But still he felt it was OK to do this. However, it must be said that there was not the widespread condemnation from the whole "left" as there was with the Sarah Palin crosshairs incident. Each side is a bit lax on their principles when it is the other side that is getting the flack.

@curiouser @KMR There are several theories about this. One says that the important thing is to teach our children to distinguish fantasy from reality, but children do a good job of this by themselves. How many children have tried leaping out the window after imagining they were bitten by a genetically engineered spider (movie: Spider Man)? Exposure to violent video games and TV programming however, can make children more aggressive. This is not necessarily bad, but it has to be channeled and controlled.

@Lidia17 But again, one man's "clearly satirical" is another man's "violent message". The point is that there are characters in the game that bear the likeness of real people. A line has been crossed here.

@Rationalist It does represent an escalation in what is usually portrayed in video games.

ginny11

10/15/2011 12:02:13 am

I am not a "gamer" and am totally out of the loop when it comes to any of it, so I hadn't heard about this. Thanks for taking the time to write this informative and insightful post! I also had never heard of Judan Raus, though I can't say I'm shocked that such a thing existed. I agree with you: it's going too far to create a violent video game in which we target a particular group that with disagree with. I'm not so sure it can all be blamed simply on the level of polarization, though. Rather, I think it's possible that it's a natural progression of where our culture has been heading for years: video games and movies keep getting more and more violent, and people become more and more accepting of this. It's only a matter of time till finally it jumps from aliens being the enemy to real people.

Lidia17

10/15/2011 01:10:31 am

@phantomimic— Yes, and many people took Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal"—that the Irish famine be resolved through cannibalism seriously. Does that mean it should not have been written, or that it should have been banned??

I'm not saying that this game ascends to the level of Swift, nor that it merits any particular accolades among satirical efforts, but "dumbing down" our discourse to the level of only the most credulous or hyper-sensitive human creatures is enervating and ultimately self-defeating.

Playing this video game as a lark is not going to encourage a tree-hugger vegan teen to off Newt Gingrich for real. I would instead look to the Tea Party followers themselves—the ones who actually show up armed all the time!! That a battle can be waged against them "virtually" with absurdity and humor (even grotesque humor) is a point for "our side".

Censorship is a point for their side.

-----------
On an every-day level, anyway, I think you'll find that modern society is far less violent in actuality from almost any preceding time in history. Even in the United States, whippings, beatings, brandings, forced sterilizations, lobotomies and public hangings were perfectly "normal" at one time or another, even into the 20th century, as was succumbing to horrible diseases and frequent industrial accidents. The majority led lives constantly touched by violence, a situation we are currently fortunate to avoid, to a great extent.

So I guess I don't really see that the hand-wringing here is particularly valid, empirically speaking.

Canucklehead

10/15/2011 01:29:50 am

The idea that this game could be created by, or for, liberal humanists is frankly silly. That anyone could seriously make the claim that it is a "liberal" game just because it opposes tea baggers is just an artifact of America's two party system. That system has been gamed by conservatives in a manner that cannot be reversed without going outside the system (and no, 3 parties won't work, but 40 parties will very effectively nullify the "permanent Republican majority" that exists in America, no matter what the exact count of Dems and Repubs sitting in govt. actually comes out to).

In short, "liberal" comes from behavior and beliefs, not from labels or an opposition toward labels.

ChicagoMom

10/15/2011 01:55:41 am

Just wanted to say that I agree with Lidia17. I think this game is clearly satiric, and I really doesn't bother me. It's an obvious kind of propaganda, and its very obviousness is what makes its relatively harmless in my opinion.

For an example of a more dangerous propaganda, consider the army video game that was developed by our military. It was called "America's Army," but it was created to pump up enlistments in a time of war. It was offered free online, in 2002, before being sold in stores.

Tournaments were held in malls, and army recruiters were present to talk up the young players. Originally, the plan was also to keep track of the highest scorers online and make special efforts to try to recruit them, but they eventually lost their nerve over that.

One of the game's developers, Dr. Michael Macedonia, has talked about being inspired by the book "Ender's Game," where the six-year-old hero-soldier fights real battles on virtual-reality screens (kind of like our use of drones now). He's quoted as saying "'I've always been fascinated by what you could do with a six-year-old'"

Oh, and the US is not the only country producing ideological, under the radar video games. China's doing it. So are countries in the Middle East. Hizbollah has produced a game called "Special Forces."

Lidia17

10/15/2011 02:00:51 am

@ChicagoMom, now THAT is a revelation! I had no idea about US military video game development… thanks for that important exposition.

Viola-Alex

10/15/2011 02:05:31 am

@Lidia17-- you expressed well what I dismissed in shorthand (I think.) What worries me about the post is not a violent video of zombie Tea Partyists-- but the person who made it thinking it has a place in the world and deserves his energy. Swift's satire is truly clever and bites hard for a purpose. Silly things like this video (or that silly Tea Party bastardization of Alice in Wonderland posted here)which are half-baked ideas posing as cleverness-- that's what makes me despair of our culture. Not violence.

The disenfranchised may always be violent. But to think the best and brightest may be designing stupid video games. . .

That this video man thinks his job matters to the world.

I knew a poet from my college years, a gifted man of promise, who later became a zillionaire writing the scripts for those video games where people inhabit worlds online and play roles. This poet was hired to create the worlds and "write" them. His choice was to score big, like many of my generation. But when I saw him later, he was disaffected and frankly, pathetic. On his third wife and family. Plenty of toys. An American success.

Writing a video world was easier than writing poetry (or finishing the novel he'd started.) Or teaching writing. Or creating something of value.

THAT'S what makes me sad. What I believe is immoral. People thinking silliness should make them rich.

Viola-Alex

10/15/2011 02:08:43 am

@Chicago Mom. Thank you. I saw a segment on that on tv. (Or maybe it was NPR) Most successful recruiting tool of our age, it was said. You've played the game, now do it for real, they'd tell the recruits.

Far worse than my poet story.

Barbara Alfaro link

10/15/2011 02:23:19 am

An excellent post. You are certainly not alone in your concern about "the level of polarization, meanness, and hatred" not just in politics but other areas of our current culture. The "Teapartyzombiesmustdie" "game" is just one example of something both stupid and hateful. I've never purchased or played a video game.

Bobcat Logic

10/15/2011 02:28:08 am

@phantomimic

That someone might have felt it "O.K." to create such a game results from a climate created by the Right whose members have gloried in violence against liberals, in video games, in their political rhetoric, and in reality, for a long time.

The heavily conservative Supreme Court in a 7 to 2 decision also rejected left wing attempts to regulate these violent games.

You should read the hate mail that came into the office of CA. Representative Leland Yee when he suggested regulation of such games in California.

Yee also received hate mail and threats from the same people when he questioned Sarah Palin's speaking fees which were being kept secret by a state-funded university. Yee had his mail examined by the FBI and Arizona officials following the shooting of Gabby Giffords. Someone in law enforcement clearly saw a connection to the threats Yee had been receiving on each of these fronts.

I don't see the need for hand-wringing by anyone on the left for anything here. We know where the violence and threatening rhetoric originated and it wasn't with with the left. If the guy who invented this game considers himself a liberal, he was working from a satirical motive, at best, or he is lying about his politics, and is serving another agenda.

DebinOH

10/15/2011 02:33:14 am

Well, I hadn't heard of this game (not surprising since I am not a gamer). All I can add is that I wouldn't let my sons play any games like this at all when they were young. My youngest does play Halo with his friends (he is 22) but I have never seen it so I have no idea what goes on in it.

The military tape aimed for recruits - icky!

SunnyVee

10/15/2011 03:01:18 am

Sorry if this goes a little OT...but this interesting discussion is touching off a few things in me...

1. Viola-Alex, "AMEN!!" thanks for your post articulating so much about where I feel our world is today. You said,

"But when I saw him later, he was disaffected and frankly, pathetic. On his third wife and family. Plenty of toys. An American success.

Writing a video world was easier than writing poetry (or finishing the novel he'd started.) Or teaching writing. Or creating something of value."

After being laid off from a Big-money career position, I have fallen to the "bottom rung" socially...but been quite enlightened about what is really important. (at least, I hope so...it will of course be an ongoing process.)

2. Given the increased polarization and division among us... reminds of a great book called "The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart," by Bill Bishop...I recommend it.

Happy weekend !! :)

Tom link

10/15/2011 03:32:05 am

I don't like violence of any sort. I don't like guns, real or pretend. I don't like that there are violent video games. I don't like that there are video games period.

@Viola-Alex

Did you know or happen to know, or know of, Don Alldredge, the man who founded the theatre department at Virginia Tech? He was a buddy of mine in Alabama.

Lidia17

10/15/2011 03:52:08 am

@Viola-Alex, you're right about what sort of efforts are remunerated, certainly (although I might question whether the TPZ game writers have cashed in to any significant extent from their creation).

I was talking with my husband, who is absolutely disgusted with the state of Italian media (N.B. a media that is very heavily censored!!). He's outraged that public monies (Italian TV is largely publicly financed) go to pay for "veline" (showgirl whores with no talent), and that lack of talent is almost a necessity for fame and money-attraction these days.

Subject to this regime, many young people DO expect to obtain things à la Kardashian—with no talent or effort whatsoever. Reality shows here are not necessarily more prevalent than in the US, but are more insidious because there is little else, few contrasting cultural offers.

-------
That said, throughout history intellectuals have bemoaned the state of uncomprehending youth: "kids these days".

I prefer to look at the "kids these days" down on Wall Street and protesting in Milan. Not everyone is in thrall to the worst and most banal elements of popular "culture".

----
I think, V-A, that you might be overthinking the motivations of the TPZ creators. Kids don't know what "deserves their energies" because there is nothing to truly orient them to this concept. Make a list of what "real jobs" they could be doing instead of ideating outrageous video games, and what would you come up with? MOST "real jobs" today are a complete joke, a "preso per il culo".

I would not want to be in a position to judge the relative absolute worth of A.) the TPZ game creator vs. B.) Citibank PR flack, Heritage Foundation fellow, Clarence Thomas, the Best Buy folks who insist on selling you extended warranties, George Bush, Washington Post/NPR book reviewers who don't read the books before emitting the review, etc., etc. etc. [make up your own useless/destructive profession here].

We really are all quite deficit in terms of "right livelihood".

Viola-Alex

10/15/2011 04:55:37 am

At least you, Lidia, and SunnyVee understand me and my concerns about "right livelihood." My husband is a chef, and I've never known anyone work harder than he does. My grown children moan about their jobs, such as they are, and I worry I made them think they are too special and that every little thing they do is special. But that is VERY O/T.

Technology has made it easy for us to feel accomplished. Even this comment makes me feel like I'm doing something even when I'm not.

Or that I'm understood, even when by total anonymous strangers.

And Tom, no, I don't know your friend. I'm not a theatre person which has been part of my problem. But I admire anyone who has started a theatre! Much more preferable to making a video game imho.

FrostyAK

10/15/2011 05:42:25 am

I'll preface this by saying I worked with kids for many years, in a number of different capacities. I grew up in an age without video games, without in-home movies, and with very little actual violence on tv. I'm really glad I did.

IMO, violent video games are one base of what's wrong with society today. Add to that the current level of violence and sex on tv and in video movies, and you have the perfect storm for anti-social behavior to develop.

Children are exposed to violence and sex very early, much earlier than they can understand either. In my experience most homes from the very liberal to the very conservative, from the very religious to the atheist, have at least one of those media - tv, video movies or video games.

Some homes regulate what their children are doing and watching very well. I've found that homes with a stay at home mom, with fewer children close in age, do the best job of monitoring their children's activities. If a Dad's poor taste in video games and videos is not counteracted by the other caregiver the children are exposed to much more adult content at an earlier age. As the discrepancy in ages of the children increases, there are more chances for the very young to be immersed in a world of violence. If there are teens playing violent video games and the 5 year old watches, soon he will be playing the same game, even if done stealthily. Same with videos - Moms are more distracted the more kids they have. Even more so when there are large age variations.

First came violent VHS videos, where people died in horrible situations. Rewind the tape and they are alive again. Even when the child knows this is fantasy/unreal, they take away a message. Sometimes that message is that death is not permanent. Video games play on the same principle, once the 'enemy' is dead, they can replay it and the 'enemy' is alive again.

There are some online video games that boast of more than a million subscribers worldwide. Some of those are obvious fantasy games (but still feed into the KILL or be killed meme), and others are very realistic, with the 'enemy's' blood splattering all around. As noted above, the military feeds the need of young people for violent video games and uses them to recruit. It WORKS because kids are so used to killing in home and online versions of video games. They are like lambs to the slaughter, so to speak.

What of the mass murderers in high schools? Where did they get their ideas? The idea to KILL if you don't like what's happening in your world. IMO, from video movies, video games and tv.

I like forensic and detective shows on tv. Would I let a child watch such? Absolutely not. I like the old Disney movies too. Many of them are suitable for children, though some not so much.

Brad Scharlott

10/15/2011 05:46:16 am

O/T: I have started a personal blog. If you wish to see my first post, "Is "Ruffles" just Trig before he got his ears fixed?" go to http://scharlottsbeacon.blogspot.com/2011/10/welcome-to-brads-beacon-hi-all.html

brad

Lidia17

10/15/2011 07:42:08 am

FrostyAK, re. antisocial kids… I'm —instead— always amazed at the vast numbers of people who instead DO NOT react violently, kill, etc, given the circumstances.

I often consider the frequency of innate physical defects (like a club foot) compared with mental defects like those exhibited by Sarah Palin and others. I am always astounded that our brains, by and large, allow us to function outside the realm of psychosis notwithstanding the many physical and psychic assaults we sustain.

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As for kids being exposed to sex and violence at an early age… consider that it has been utterly normal for children to sleep in a family bed, which leads one to wonder how siblings ensued. Then you have the exposure to farm animal sex à la Neal Horsely. Exposure to violence was certainly more normal than abnormal: spare the rod and spoil the child. I was just watching one of those "pawn shop" reality shows where one of the items for sale was an 18th c. half-size musket for use by 10-12 year old boys.

Many, although sadly not all, kids today are shielded from much of that (at least in the US, they are). In Nigeria, girls are sold out as brides at the age of 10, and in many parts of the world boys are dragooned into irregular armed forces at an age not all that much superior, while in the US and in Italy, individuals of 20, 25, or even 40 years of age are considered “children”.

When one thinks of the number of susceptible subjects crossed with the incidence of negative societal insults… to my mind the amazing thing is certainly that more people do NOT kill others/themselves. The actual human realm of experience and action is quite flexible and—largely—forgiving and tolerant, if not usually deservedly so.

Folks in Rwanda did not need sophisticated and abstract technological video games in order to be induced into killing millions of their erstwhile friends, neighbors and even family members. "Video games" could well be somewhat of a scapegoat for larger societal breakdowns which would/will occur anyway. I'm not saying that that isn't a concern in the US, just that the US is hardly unique in having to confront existential problems among its youth or within any subset of its population.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 10:24:19 am

Thank you all for your comments, sorry I have not responded earlier but I am in the middle of moving to a new house!

@ginny11 I hope it is not a natural progression like you suggest. It will be a sad day when we, as a society, become tolerant of this practice.

@Lidia17 I distinguish actual violence from incitation towards it. Yes we have progressed like you explained in reducing actual violence but in terms of incitation towards violence I think we have regressed in modern times. I don't claim the game will incite people to violence (although that is just the claim made by liberals about the right-wing language filled with gun-related terms), what I am saying is that it has crossed a line that had not been crossed before, and that this is a reflection of the state of our society. I don't think it is a point to any side, there are no "sides" we are all Americans, yet we act like if that were not the case.

@Canucklehead Every side has their hotheads and their nutters. One can always claim after the fact that so and so is not a real liberal or a real conservative, but how are others to know?

@ChicagoMom Well, when you are in the military and you get sent to a war you may be shot at, and you will have to shoot back and maybe kill people. If you don't you are dead. The military has to recruit or else we won't have an army. When you join the military you have to be gun hoe about this. But really, is this game any worse than say, HALO? However, Teapartyzombiesmustdies, is not about a killing a foreign enemy, it is about real people in our society. If it is satire it represents a significant escalation of the genre.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 10:47:25 am

@ Bobcat Logic All people of certain importance who put out opinions that are perceived as a threat by others to their social organization or their livelihood, get hate mail. This is regardless of whether you are writing against unregulated video games, gay marriage or welfare, or for taxing the rich or universal health care. I don't think this is a culture created by the right. My personal theory is that the internet has made our society meaner due to the anonymity that you have while posting.

But that is the subject of another post.

@ Viola-Alex Regarding the story about your poet friend, you seem to link his decision to create worlds for video games with his lack of success as a human being. Even if that is true, I don't think it is because of video games. Any profession that makes you rich creates several perils that you have to deal with. If he was not up to snuff it may have been because of his upbringing, bad friends, lack of social smarts, or other maters.

Also let me add that video game worlds can have great beauty and living (or battling) on them can be an exhilarating and enriching experience. If he designed any of the worlds I have played, I tip my hat to him. He created something of sheer beauty and poetry.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 11:08:59 am

@FrostyAK You say that you "grew up in an age without video games, without in-home movies, and with very little actual violence on tv.", and in your opinion "violent video games are one base of what's wrong with society today." However, at the end of your post you say that you "like forensic and detective shows on tv." In theory someone who grew up without television could look at those forensic or detective shows and say, "This is what is wrong with society." in our days we would sit around the radio or read a good book out loud. My point is technological innovation tends to be perceived in more negative ways by the older generations.

Violence in one way or another has been always with us in stories, books, radio programs, television, and now video games. Teaching children to be familiar with violence is not something bad, but it is the parents that have to make the difference in how they instruct their kids and make them learn the difference between fact and fiction.

search4more

10/15/2011 11:17:38 am

Crime has fallen in the last decade so...

Hm. Dunno what that means, but maybe it's evidence that video games are not rotting society. They even may act as an outlet for violent tendencies. ...A pressure valve of sorts.

I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I have always been of the opinion that if brothels were legalised then the amount of sexual violence, and maybe even violence in general would go down. It could be that video games give young men a way to explore their testosterone fueled dark side without actually acting upon it in the real world.

will a game where people get to fantasize about shooting Tea party people increase or decrease the chance that they will actually do that in the real world? I don't know the answer to that. The game is certainly unsettling, but like other people have said maybe shouldn't be taken too seriously.

How many people actually played it? It's interesting to talk about, but was it actually even something that many people are aware of?

-------------------------------------

Laura,

Are you going to transition your blog away from babygate now that Palin isn't running? I notice Brad is starting up his own blog and this post is not about Palin. Obviously there is no reason this blog has to be about Palin at all. I was just curious. There is a lot of stuff in the world to talk about of course. :-)

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 11:20:09 am

When my wife and I raised our daughter she was not allowed her own TV and computer. Our only TV and computer were in the living room. Anything that she watched we watched. Our daughter grew up playing educational video games and went on to play things like "Zoo Tycoon", "Crystal Maze" and other non-violent games. The most violent game she played (when she was older) was "Fate" and even here there was no blood splattering when you killed the creatures that attacked you. Right now she has grown out of video games and is so interested and motivated in her college studies that she has no time for that. And that is fine with me, even though I have played video games.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 11:28:26 am

@ search4more I don't think there will be an epidemic of people trying to shoot Tea Partiers anytime soon. I have admitted to playing violent video games and I don't think they are necessarily "bad". My point is that never before had I seen a game where the characters bore the likeness of real life people in our current society, with the object of the game being to kill them. I hope that something is not shifting in our collective psyche that will make this acceptable.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 11:34:32 am

I have to go now but first some shameless promotion. I am planning to self-publish some short stories this fall (http://phantomimic.weebly.com/adventures-of-nell.html). They are the most family-friendly stories that you can imagine, so if you are interested in reading them send me an e-mail to phantomimic@gmail.com and I will let you know when the book is up on the Amazon Kindle.

Thank you, take care, and keep on reading Laura's blog.

Phanto

Tom link

10/15/2011 01:25:09 pm

TV is sales. It's also for the most part sex and violence one way or the other. That's all you need to know about us.

Video games, like TV and the Internet, require a boob tube. It's indoor amusement. You know and have heard the rest so I won't bother.

Tom link

10/15/2011 01:27:25 pm

And don't tell me it's too cold out, or too hot out. It's not.

Bobcat Logic

10/15/2011 02:30:41 pm

@ whomever

I'm with Lidia on this one -- we need to get some (International and historical) context, and think long and hard about it.

Also, crime and violence in the US is actually down, as Search4more pointed out. So let's keep a sense of perspective.

But in keeping our perspective, anyone who is paying attention has to note that the Right is far more prolific and vicious in making violent threats (and carrying out these threats) than the Left. There is no recent parallel(among the Left) to the threats from the Right, the posturing with weapons, and the political shootings (many of which haven't been widely reported) -- the most infamous of which is the Gabby Giffords shooting and the Right-Wing mass murders in Norway.

I'm old enough to remember the "Symbionese LIberation Army" and the "Weathermen." So I'm under no illusions that the left in the US has always pure at heart. But right now, compared to the Right Wing whack jobs and gun nuts, the Left is the soul of reason and restraint.

So let's keep the conversation real and current. The current Left has not been a threat (until, perhaps, OWS, which causes discomfort to Citigroup bankers) except in the minds of people like Glenn Beck.

To connect this game (and who knows for sure its intent or origins) with Judenraus borders on obscenity and provocation. I say this as one of the Juden.

phantomimic link

10/15/2011 10:37:07 pm

@Bobcat Logic Being part of the "Left" I have my gripes with some of the people in the "Right" and the terms derived from gun language that they employ. But what we need to keep in mind is that the "Left" and the "Right" are vast amounts of people with very different ways of thinking that are loosely stitched in out minds. I know people who own guns and they are excellent citizens (some of them are relatives), and I know they would not hurt anyone. For the sake of the argument I agree with you that individuals from the "Left" tend to be less of a potential threat than individuals from the "Right", but this is a very tenuous (and some would say unfair) generalization.

As to Juden Raus, I took great pains to make it clear that the only parallel I was drawing was to the spirit of the times that made an individual think that putting out this game into society was acceptable. I have many good friends who are Jews. Be assured that there is no intent in my mind to "provoke" or be "obscene" towards anyone.

V ictoria link

10/16/2011 03:19:56 am

As a student of history, it is easy to see the same tendencies of the past popping up again today. In some areas we have made progress - women have been liberated in much of the world - but in many ways I'm frustrated to be a member of this species. Unfortunately I can't go join another!

Brad Scharlott

10/16/2011 05:00:31 am

O/T: I have a new blog post up: http://scharlottsbeacon.blogspot.com/2011/10/illustration-of-normal-ear-over-ruffled.html

Laura Novak

10/16/2011 05:28:31 am

I am so excited about Brad's new blog. I will blog about it soon!

Great Palin-related post going up later today. Just need to put finishing touches on it. Stay tuned!

And my thanks again to Phantomimic for his well written and thoughtful post. Especially on a weekend when he is moving house!!

I love Phantomimic's writing and encourage everyone to visit his website and/or read his work on Scribd. He is a gentleman and a scholar and it's been my great pleasure to host him here.

Thank you again!!

phantomimic link

10/16/2011 07:08:29 am

Laura, I am always amazed by the diversity of stuff you post and the people you contact. You blog is very entertaining and relevant. Thanks again for inviting me here.

Regards.

Phanto

Bobcat Logic

10/16/2011 11:48:00 am

It's strange, but a lot of people on the Internet are suddenly mentioning various leftist issues and movements in conjunction with some of the most sinister aspects of Nazi/anti-semitism.

And now Bill Kristol has gone beyond mere insinuation and directly accused the OWS movement as being anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. (Never mind all the similar demonstrations going on in Israel.) There is a good discussion of these slurs on Daily Kos currently in progress.

Now, it could all be just a coincidence, of course -- all these sudden juxtapositions of left wing issues and Nazi themes. But I tend to think some Neocons in powerful positions are becoming very nervous about something, and they and their minions are pulling out all the stops.

Laura Novak link

10/16/2011 11:52:52 am

Thank you again, Phantomimic. It was all my pleasure. Thank you again for writing for my blog, and getting us all to think about a new topic.

Suzanne

10/16/2011 07:42:11 pm

Yikes, Phanto. The games humans play! So scary.

Lidia17

10/16/2011 09:59:29 pm

Bobcat Logic, they are nervous that the world's entire financial edifice, and "life as they know it" is going to come crumbling down around them.

Which it will, sooner rather than later, with #OWS or without them…

Brad Scharlott

10/17/2011 09:05:08 am

O/T
I have a new post up, and Laura is prominently mentioned as a hero among the Trig Truthers.

http://scharlottsbeacon.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-of-thanks-to-real-heroes-this-is.html

for details link

7/15/2013 10:11:19 pm

No,I have never heard about such a game. Tea Party zombies must die! Who comes up such names? It is safe to say that the programmer who designed this game obviously had political motivations. I have seen the demo video and it is disturbing.

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Teapartyzombiesmustdie: Shades of Juden Raus? - Guest Post by Phantomimic

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