this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
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[CW: violence/gore]. As the title suggests, is there a left case to be made against ultra-violence in video games? I'm thinking mostly about MK11 and MK1 fatalities, as opposed to less gratuitous and less hyper-realistic violence--in Dark Souls or something. Whenever this topic is brought up, other factors usually take up the oxygen in the room: People might immediately think of family-values conservatives, such as the Media Research Center, who act like wet-blankets towards entertainment. Or we think of nerdy Joe Lieberman, who showed the 1993 Sub-Zero spine fatality to Congress (lol). There was Hillary Clinton who decried the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and the host of rightwing politicians who blamed Doom for the Columbine shooting (clearly as a way to absolve gun legislation from any culpability). So this is what I mean when I say that the conversation on video-game violence has been ceded entirely to these dudes, as opposed to something left spaces can discuss without sounding like squares or censors. This came to mind after I was reading about the video game designer who developed PTSD after working on Mortal Kombat 11. His dreams became excruciatingly violent, and his day-to-day was interacting with coworkers studying medical anatomy and watching videos of slaughtered animals. That can't be good for anyone. I guess what I'm asking is: should leftists see this as harmless fun, or something problematic? And, will photo-realistic Fatalities exist in the communist future?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It's fiction. It's not real. If you have an actual study that shows that it causes actual harm, I'll listen to you but until then you're just making moralistic argument for no discernable reason besides that it makes you feel icky.

Most people don't seem to be genuinely interested in doing this work or making this type of content, either

Bullshit. The Indie horror scene is and has always been huge. People enjoy it and IT DOESNT HURT ANYONE so there's no reason to outlaw it. What does need to be outlaws is coercive business practices that keeps employees from having to experience these forms of media against their will. Again every single one of my comments has been pro-worker. You would rather impress your own morals on others without ANY scientific backing or attempt to understand another's point of view. You are literally saying the same arguments that SWERFS say to attack sex workers.

Believe it or not, I think communism is about raising up the proletariat, not policing video games.