Re:Eh... so what? (Score 1)

brilliant work, with only one minor comment: you think that the creators of the media (TV, games, etc.) don't know you exist? while they may not know you or pander to you personally, they are certainly aware that you exist. you are part of a target market. the creators don't know the specifics about you, but if you're buying the game/watching the show, you have certain other things in common with other players/viewers. in the case of GTA, you're probably either interested in a crime-genre game that's put together extremely well, or "just playing it to see what the hype is about." in either role (or possibly others, depending on the game/show) you are not an unknown factor to the people who are making these things. they're (in a sense) made for you, the consumer, the person who is going to buy/watch the game/show.

I certainly agree with your point about how the decisions we make are our own (if we can't be accountable for ourselves, who else will?) but when it comes down to it, the reason that the games/shows are the way they are is because of a market trend somewhere. we want to assume the role of a thug in southwest california. it may not be such a specific desire, but we have a curiosity about these things. it's not something a lot of people are willing to go out and see about. (when was the last time you went on a violent crime spree to see what it was like?)

someone somewhere said to themselves "wouldn't it be cool if I could run around, jack cars, give hookers money, sleep with them, shoot them, then reclaim my money, all in a place where that kind of thing carries no consequence beyond getting 'busted' and having to start over?" that person can't claim to have made an accurate representation of reality, but its close enough for your average consumer, plus its a lot of fun, dammit.

now the creator wants to distribute his product. why? to make money, to disseminate thoughts and ideas, to see others enjoying something he worked hard on, the list goes on. (we're not limiting the marketed creation to merely GTA at this point; this applies to everything ever created and then displayed in some manner) point being, the person who created whatever you're enjoying was not creating it in a social vacuum. they were well aware that, even if what they were doing was intended to be personal, there are probably others out there that would enjoy it on some level. when we're talking about video games and TV shows, the people that create them and distribute them had better be damn sure that there are a whole lot of "others" out there just itching to drop some cash and spend some time.

I think we can all agree that some video games and TV shows are violent on some level. they wouldn't be if we didn't want to watch it. (trust me, no one makes a TV show that no one wants to watch) the problem we seem to have is distinguishing between conscious and unconscious action, but it seems pretty clear to me that blaming the video game companies and TV show producers for products that society wants (or even demands) is a silly thing to do. we need to reclaim our actions and start taking responsibility for what we do. time was, spilling hot coffee (no pun intended) in your lap was considered a stupid thing to do, but if it happened, you learned, you spent a week without sex, and you tried not to do it again. now, you can sue a multi-national corporation for not telling you that the hot coffee you ordered was indeed, as requested, "hot." where does it stop? where is the line that, when crossed, means that all actions you take are not your own? IMO, this is the real question. when are we as a society going to realize that the easier it is to blame others for our problems, the worse our problems are going to get