Deadly Violence is Not a Game
The Washington Navy Yard shooter, like notorious killers at Columbine, Newtown and other massacres, was addicted to hyper-violent video games. Ironically, the day after his rampage a brutal new game set records as the fastest selling entertainment product of all time.
GRAND THEFT AUTO V generated a billion dollars in three days, beating any other game or film. In its rave review, the New York Times praised the game’s designers for creating “a sun dappled land where using a grenade launcher to mow down American soldiers…is a light-hearted romp.” The newspaper’s only reservation involved the denigration of females as “lustful airheads,” not the game’s “enthusiasm for violence and sex.”
In other words, the Times worried that GRAND THEFT AUTO encouraged contemptuous attitudes toward women, but remained unconcerned about glorification of killing cops and soldiers as a form of fun.