Editorial

"Banning" and "censorship" are words that bring to mind examples of repression and oppression but they still form part of our vocabulary.

Whenever things go wrong or the security we expect from society takes a knocking, we all look for someone to blame for not preventing the evil. In other words, we do not like anyone to interfere with our likes or dislikes but we want "authority" to protect our liberty by coming down firmly on those who we feel are a threat to us.

Do violent games, films and other forms of leisure affect a person's behaviour? Do we have to be concerned that violent games are popular? If so, what about films?

The subject is topical because a PlayStation game known for its violence has achieved top sales. It has been described by The Times of London as the "most irresponsible yet irresistible game of the year".

Maybe because of some calls for its banning, or despite of it, its sales have rocketed, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (GTA: VC) still made it as one of the top-selling PlayStation 2 games in Malta for 2002.

GTA: VC is now one of the most popular games in PS2 history and the fastest selling title of all time in the UK, Forestals PlayStation manager Mark Schranz says. He admits the game is violent but claims that violence is subjective. "While other games might be more bloody, this could be more realistic. Unfortunately, society demands this kind of violent reality".

He asks why we do not ban violent films, even referring to the latest James Bond movie. Most of us would see a difference between a realistic situation and one that was superlatively raised above all probability.

To ban or not to ban, that is the question. Banning, like censorship, is no light matter and it is as difficult to achieve consensus of opinion over the matter as on the quantity of salt to put into our food.

What is bad, some will ask. And, indeed, there are some of us for whom violence is an expression of heavenly joy. It is those people society fears.

The game's action takes place in a fictional drug-infested city in the 1980s, with a central gangster character who has just completed a 15-year prison sentence and who clears all obstacles (even humans) from his path with a variety of weapons.

"Loaded with mayhem, bloodshed and oppor-tunities for violence, the central character is rewarded during the game for mowing down pedestrians and violently assaulting women."

While playing the game, you are not merely a spectator as with a video or film. You are an active perpetrator of a realistic evil on a screen.

"When playing such games, you are an active participant," says sociologist and priest Fr Charles Tabone, who believes the game should be banned outright. With a film you are just a passive watcher, though even there you can be emotionally involved in no uncertain way. Even though the game is rated "18" there is no guarantee it will not get into the hands of children, Fr Tabone stresses.

Then comes the more telling comment: "But parents seem to be more concerned with the effects of sex than the potential repercussions of violent games." Fr Tabone is right of course.