Sometimes video games are worse than porn
April 21st, 2008So I’m reading Chuck Klostermann’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I came to the realization that it’s not just The Sims, it’s all video games. Video games are not only a waste of time, but the end result is nothing accomplished and an empty feeling afterwards.
I’ve defended porn on many occasions. I keep hearing people say porn is degrading to women. That’s utter bull. There are so many variations of porn that to single out one group being degraded is to close your eyes to all the rest.
If you’re anywhere near my age, you’ll remember the Eurythemics song Sweet Dreams are Made of This. If you’re younger, you may have heard the Marilyn Manson cover of that song. It’s about porn. “Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to be used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused.”
Someone gets used and abused. It’s not always the woman, so that whole argument is bogus. Unlike video games though, porn always has a happy ending. If you got one not to your liking, you must have accidentally grabbed someone else’s fantasy instead of the one you wanted.
So, here I am in my late 30s and I can’t do the guitar solos I used to do when I was 19. Why? Because I’m always preoccupied doing something else. I work 40 hours a week, have a wife and kid, try to spend quality time with both of them, work out regularly, keep a blog, read, keep up with the news, politics, and what’s going on with the Green Bay Packers, listen to music, play video games, practice guitar, and once a week try a new thing to cook. Something has to give.
I don’t even own a t.v. anymore so I can’t blame the idiot box for my wasted hours. So video games will have to go.
I just won a game today. It felt great when the tide turned and I started winning my battles. Then as it came near the end and it was clear I was going to win the war, it became anti-climatic and not even fun any more.
Sure, porn gets boring the second time you watched it, but at least it didn’t limit your world like video games do. Yes, when you play a video game, the rules are limited to the rules the writers give you. You cannot think outside the box. You have to follow their rules and play in their world. Talk about limiting creativity.
So no more. The rest of ‘08, I won’t play another video game. Then maybe I could spend more time on the guitar and conquer those guitar solos I wrote when I was 19.
we had no game systems in our house ever until a year ago when the husband insisted on a wii. i’ve seen my son’s creativity take a drastic dip and it saddens me. i can’t get my husband to back me up in enforcing stricter limitations on the gaming though. our boy still voluntarily puts down the controller to go run around outside though so that’s good but i am fighting the battle alone. grrrr.
Can I have all your old games then?
I’m gonna have to step in here and defend videogames. At the end of the day, when all the work is done and I just need to shut down my mind before bedtime, some Sim time is just what the doctor ordered. But as for people who arrange their lives around World of Warcraft…you’ve got a point, there.
I agree with SME. I don’t play them myself (much). I’m a fan of the basic games like Tetris or mind numbing crap like Mario Brothers. And I have to admit that Wii boxing is actually pretty physically draining.
I think it’s all in matters of degree. Just like there are genres of porn that are violent, degrading, and promote dangerous views of women as ‘willing victims’ who want men to toss them around, there are also games that are overly violent, and promote unhealthy or antisocial behavior. HOWEVER… These are not bad in and of themselves. Each takes a particular kind of person who cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality to bring the violence and harm into the real world.
Laura - I am with you on this one!
This will sound cliché but hear me out - Porn is not the problem - it is the perceptions of the (mostly) male audience that are the potential problem, as things are left to the individual to determine their reaction. That being said, the reaction isn’t so much logically thought through as it is arrived at (more or less) automatically (via ingrained, learned social behavior patterns). And that being said, although it’s not up to our government to enforce through censorship, it is a potential problem when porn producers create “degrading” porn (albeit with well-paid willing actors and actresses) - then less mature, open-minded viewers might discern that the degrading perspective toward women is actually acceptable. That is a potential flaw common to all art. But I, who has been known to amass monolithic piles of pornucopia, view it as a gift of the inherent beauty of women, while I fear most wankers relish in the power trip of having a defenseless (i.e. naked) woman in front of them to perform their will. Therein lies the problem - empowerment. If we instilled in our young men and women the ability to discern themselves as valuable, worthwhile, strong people, we’d have a lot fewer instances of violent crime in general, and specifically those of a cowardly sexual nature.
Lime - Ah, so you know how frustrating it can be.
Courtney - Someone already got dibs.
SME - I’ve avoided WoW like the zombie plague. I knew if I got into it, you’d never hear from me again.
Laura - There’s a lot of porn that degrades men. A friend of a friend was a Dominitrix, and made a lot of money degrading men. I guess like the Eurythemics said, there are a lot of people out there who like to be abused.
But yeah, my fave game of all-time were Legend of Zelda, Techmo Bowl, and Super Mario Bros.
Badman - I think my brain is going to explode.
Badman - Ok, I’ll be serious. Statistically, if you want to cut crime, bring back parents. For some strange reason, over 75% of people in prison are missing their fathers.
I’m willing to bet that the men who watch the porn that degrades women are from single-mother households. I’m also willing to bet that the people who favor “healthier” porn have loving parents.
The problem I have with both videogames and porn is not the morality of them at all. It’s just, I’m limited in time in this world, and both sap so much free time, and afterwards leave you feeling empty. If I could take back the time I wasted on videogames and porn and put them onto a piano, I’d probably be the level of a concert pianist. That’s my rant.
“A friend of a friend was a Dominitrix, and made a lot of money degrading men.”
There was a fellow student who was a Dominitrix and she did her final WOmen’s Studies project on her experiences. She found that while it’s true that some men like to be “dominated” for pleasure, it’s different than true dominance because they know it’s an act. They put their business suit back on, walk out the door, and continue on with their life - not having to LIVE with the reality of being dominated by others unless they make the choice to allow it. That is actually a form of power, in itself.
hmm I must comment on this… I love World of Warcraft… awesome game! It can consume you if your not careful though… I am careful
But the Zombieslayer is right, its an empty existance.. and I can’t help but feel the emptiness of my sweet lvl 70 Mage as she rides around on her flying dragon… I mean who wouldn’t want to play this game… but she has no depth, no feeling, no imagination or drive of her own.. so it can never really be satisfying, just a beautiful distraction.
ps. I finally posted
I aint got a clue what yor talking about, but I will opine on porn.
Porn doesn’t degrade anyone, thats horse ca-ca
porn has made many folks male and female rich.
and who watches porn just once?
I mean hell I watch it in 10 minute segments!
I just finished the book. It’s great. I laughed from the first paragraph on, but being a critical deconstructionist I found myself finding too many flaws in his theories. Then I sat back and enjoyed the ride. Great book. Good points.
Laura - And so is porn domination - an act. They get paid $2200 an hour to be dominated. Horrible, horrible profession. I’m so glad I don’t make that kind of money.
Clothosfate - Dropped by.
Sage - The problem I have with porn is it’s too good. I’d be looking for porn and suddenly, a few hours passed. Same problem with games. I should have been studying or doing something productive.
JACC - Yeah, so far it’s awesome. Very funny, although I can’t stand Billy Joel.
quoting: “I don’t even own a t.v. anymore so I can’t blame the idiot box for my wasted hours. So video games will have to go.” — yeah, you don’t own a TV because you left it in Chico and I looted your house after you left.
Oh wait, you helped me load the van… yeah.
-r
PS: Not ‘Savaage’ (Sounds like a classic Star Trek name, non?) “Savage” no double ‘a’.
I only have my video games to help me fall asleep.
The same reason, more-or-less that I have liquor. heh
Plus, pokémon are cute!
-=-
Savage - So, how’s our old tv going?