Political Correctness
By Daeica 1 Comments
I'm sure when most of us heard this, it touched us personally. Many of us believe (no pun intended) that political correctness and games are two worlds apart. I know, I was personally offended. Not by the lyrics, nor the islamic law supposidly saying that nothing from the Q'ran may be recorded/broadcast in any media form, but the fact that they delayed it due to the current tension between the islamic and western countries.
Being a dane, this subject is something I take personally. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard the controversy over the Danish cartoon drawings of Muhammed, the terrorist case involving 8 young adults (some in the mid 30's) about a year ago, and in more recent news, the now-going trial of 2 of the supposed terrorists, all of other ethnic background. To those that have been (living under a rock) two of the suspects were arrested with intent to commit terrorism, evidence: two gallons or more TARP (high explosive) video's of said suspects singing martyr songs while mixing the chemicals. Fun stuff, and about 50KM's away from where I live.
It'd be an understatement to say that integration in Denmark failed on a large scale during the first wave of refugees comming to the country from the war-torn parts of the world. While it's hard to point the finger at anyone, keep in mind that we are a social-minded people, so without any more elaborate plans for the refugees, they were taken in, in a large stream.
However, this was a political descision, and the refugees were rejected by the danish population, whom can said to be slightly racist, and thats speaking mildly. So ghetto's were formed, internal banking systems within families of said refugees were made, private funded muslim meeting grounds and the building of a cultural breeding ground within the capital rose slowly. Now we are seeing the aftermath of this very critical failure of this controversial culture clash.
I myself come from a rather racist family. It's nothing I'm proud off, and it scorns me whenever I hear them utter sentences that could get you convicted for 3 years if spoken publically. I'd like to think of myself as open minded, even when it comes to terrorism. Law's don't solve anything, the real salvation is in tackling the root of the problem. The Why of things, even suicide terrorism.
Living in an area with a high population of immigrints,my school has atleast 30-40% students of a different ethnical background, and I've always been going to school/after-school-club/activities with a large procentage of minorities (Let me explain; After basic-school is over, there are institutions the children can go to, to be socially interactive, which is usually open from midday to 8-10pm. As far as I understand, this is not a common thing outside the northeren europe)
Anywho, back to the topic. While we should have some tolerance, we shouldn't go as far as to limit our creativity, aslong as we've willing to be held responsible. Sony clearly haven't taken this route, which is not only a defeat to the freedom of expression (Freedom of speech is a farce, it has never existed. You are free to say what you want, in your own private company) but is also a not-so-uncommon occurance anymore. Many of you rememeber the trouble Resistence: Fall of Man ran into when they copied the Manchester Cathedral as the scene of one of the more epic battles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversy_over_the_usage_of_Manchester_Cathedral_in_Resistance:_Fall_of_Man)
Tony Blair had this to say:
"I agree with my honourable friend. I think it’s important that any of the companies engaged in promoting these types of goods have some sense of responsibility and also some sensitivity to the feelings of others. I think this is an immensely difficult area, the relationship between what happens with these games and its impact on young people. I’ve no doubt this debate will go on for a significant period of time, but I do agree. I think it is important that people understand there is a wider social responsibility as well as an interior responsibility for profits."
If anything this man has ever uttered, that has any credability, this is it. It basically comes down to this: Is games justified in breaking tabo's and creating controversy, as an art statement or a product of art. Or are games entertainment and thus should be political correct?
Note that Sony is the victem again.
The fact that one of the demands from the the Cathedral was money, should make any person furious, religious or not.
So how does this differ from LittleBigPlanet? I'll dare say the hypocrisy is the same, but I'm not sure if what Sony did was wrong were it under different circumstances. The lyrics removed were indeed highly inappropriate for this type of game, really, and had it not delayed the launch or gotten the media attention that it has, no one would have been the slightest bothered by the removal of text. I stress text, because the song itself is actually pretty damn good (http://www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate)
I'd agree with Richard Dawkins in saying "It's time we stopped being so damn respectful" and that goes for all. Religion is a private affair, when dragged into the public, it should also be open to critisism without people so apologetic when talking about the big surveilence camera in the sky.
(Updates to come)
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