There's further controversy today about "Manhunt 2", an extremely violent video game from Take Two Interactive Software. The main tempest is that if you have hacked your Playstation Two in complicated ways, you can unblur some of the violent content that was blurred so the game could be sold in more stores.

But that's not what got me. What got me was the bit at the end of an article about this: "Meanwhile, the National Alliance on Mental Illness condemned the game, saying it perpetuates the stereotype that the mentally ill are violent."

No, not all mentally ill people are violent. Some are very peaceful and even cute and cuddly. But while it would be erroneous to say that all mentally ill people are capable of brutal murder sprees, it would be safe to say that all people capable of brutal murder sprees are mentally ill. Or am I totally off base here?

So even if the prisoners didn't escape from a mental hospital, but instead escaped from a prison or maybe a circus, their ensuing murder spree would pretty much classify them as having lost touch with reality and human decency which are hallmarks of mental illness.

Honestly, while it would be much more entertaining to see two clowns go on the rampage, I do not feel any change in my attitude towards the mentally ill because a couple of murderous video game characters escaped from a mental hospital instead of a circus. These murderers are generally sociopaths or psychopaths, and I don't care how politically incorrect it may be, no patient advocate group is going to convince me sociopaths or psychopaths are just fluffy bunnies who have gotten a bad rap from the media.

Basically, not all crazy people go on killing sprees, but people who go on killing sprees are crazy. So what is wrong with establishing the fact that these people are crazy from the outset in a game where you know they're going to commit acts that only a crazy person would commit?

On the other hand, if only a mentally ill person would committ such brutal murders, what does that say about the mental health of those who enjoy committing them vicariously via a video game?

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Techno Thoughts.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.