Susannah Breslin has a post up today about the overwrought reactions of shock ‘n’ horror over the sex ‘n’ violence in just-released Grand Theft Auto IV.
After a video of the Ladies of Liberty City began circulating around, in which men drive around, pick up sex workers and/or drive over them, shoot prostitutes standing on street corners, and get some freaky-ass, legs-in-the-air, booty-shaking lap dances, everyone got all up in arms over it.
The girls at Feministing weren’t having it: “It is no question that GTA is merely reflective of the bigger misogyny embedded in capitalist patriarchy, but the question is why is a game that depicts such violence towards women so popular?” (Jesus Christ, if this is what degrees in gender studies hath wrought, polysyllabic bloggers still carping about the patriarchy, please fucking stop handing them out.)
Jack Thompson nearly had a heart attack over it. (To wit: “Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio. We now have vaccines for that virus… The ‘vaccine’ that must be administered by the United States government to deal with this virtual virus of violence and sexual depravity is criminal prosecutions of those who have conspired to do this.”)
And Rockstar got a helluva lot richer. (See: “Record Sales Expected For Grand Theft Auto IV.”)
Previously on BB:
* GTA IV world record attempt tonight, next door to BBtv