Imagine a world... Where cold-blooded killers walk among you... Weapons are bountiful and plenty... And you
can just drive around like a total maniac! No, this isn't Rockstar Games'
groundbreaking video game series Grand
Theft Auto I just described, it's goddamn Lebanon, and believe it or not,
one of these can be crazier than the other, and it's not the one you're thinking of.
The games have an ESRB rating of M for Mature and are infamously adult-oriented, depicting graphic violence, using strong language, as well as involving elements such as alcohol and drugs. Not surprisingly, the games and publisher, Rockstar Games, have been the targets of heavy criticism and controversy for years. Former lawyer Jack Thompson is probably the most famous critic of the games, comparing them to murder simulators designed to turn kids into vicious killers.
But Thompson's argument doesn't really work in Lebanon anyway, since we're so open and accepting of the fact that we are indeed ruthless psychopaths. We don't have sudden unexpected school shootings, or weird serial killers who kidnap young women and dress them up as Princess Jasmine from classic Disney film Aladdin then shoot them in the face while creepily singing A Whole New World. Fuck no. We shoot one another in broad daylight, rig carbombs, chop a guy's dick off, whatever man, no problem.
Perhaps it's something we're a bit more touchy about... Hmm, touchy... Touchy... Of course, the sex stuff! There are a lot of risqué activities for the player to partake in in this game. For example, the player can visit a strip club, and get a lapdance from a topless stripper, with pixelicious CGI tits. Or if you like living on the edge, you could drive around and do business with a lady of the night who can offer you various "services", for a fee that is. Yeah, it's probably the sex stuff.
Personally, I respect the developers' right to artistic expression, but I think
these features are unnecessary, not because they're inappropriate, but because
they're not really fun or even sexy. I mean, if you're playing the game and you
get horny all of a sudden and think "Ooh I know! I'll stop by the local virtual
strip club!", well you're in for some disappointment my friend, because
all you'll get is a 3D rendering of a sexy woman lifelessly simulating the
motion of a lapdance. Amusing perhaps, but pretty much a waste of time.
But regardless of why the game has been banned, I'm still baffled by a lot of things about all this. First of all, remember when I said earlier "Rockstar Games re-released the latest edition in the series, Grand Theft Auto V"? That's right: RE-released. GTA V came out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17th 2013. That's more than a year ago! The game has been available for purchase in Lebanon on last-gen consoles for more than a year, so why exactly wasn't it banned back then?
"Ah, but you see, the new version has all that dirty stuff added!" you must be thinking. Nope, not quite. The only significant changes made for this re-release of the game are technical ones, like improved graphics and the introduction of a first-person mode. Pretty much everything else has been there all along since the initial release last September. So what's the deal then? Is improved framerate going to corrupt our fragile youth or what?
Secondly, even if physical copies of the game are banned, there are both legal and illegal means for people to acquire it digitally. PC users can pirate it off the web for no cost whatsoever, or if they're feeling generous, opt to legitimately purchase it from a digital distributor like Steam. PS4 and Xbox One users can also legally purchase the game from each console's digital marketplace, the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store, respectively. Uh... Thx thx thx dawle?
Finally, the act of suppressing information in the digital age is a pretty tricky thing to pull off, and it's no different with a video game, in fact it's probably even more difficult. Even if the game itself were banned, people could still easily look it up on YouTube and find millions of videos of other people playing it: these are called Let's Plays. Or you could find cut scenes from the game, or even look for videos of specific things like if you search for "GTA V strip club" for example. You'll see it, you'll see it all, no game necessary!
I don't know for sure why the game was banned, or why this particular GTA game was banned despite previous games having pretty much the same tone and elements involved, but what I do know is that this is a really weird move. It seems to me like this is more about making a public statement about moral values rather than actually protecting the public from any real threat.
But fear not, for I have a solution that will make everyone happy: lift the ban and ban another game instead! We don't all agree on the sex stuff, right? But what we do all agree on is that ISIS are bad, right? Well then, say hello to Grand Theft Auto: Salil Al Sawarem, an ISIS produced video game, which is actually a modded version of a previous game in the GTA series, where you get to walk around as an actual terrorist, not a dude in a city, but an actual terrorist in the desert, shooting up cops and soldiers, and blowing up their vehicles as well.
According to ISIS the purpose of the game is to "raise the morale of the mujahedin and to train children and youth how to battle the West and to strike terror into the hearts of those who oppose the Islamic State.” This thing is Jack Thompson's wet dream: it's literally a terrorism simulator!
So the question now is:
Lebanon, what do you really want to ban: Boobs or ISIS?
or ISIS?
The choice is yours...
On November 18th, Rockstar Games re-released the latest game in the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto V (that's Roman numeral five) for
next-gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One. Soon enough, two blogs, Gino's Blog and Blog Baladi,
reported that the game had been banned in Lebanon. The official PlayStation
Middle East account later confirmed that the game has in fact been banned
throughout the whole Middle East,
not just Lebanon.
 |
| Grand Theft Auto V |
So GTA V is definitely banned in
Lebanon, but the question remains: why? There has been no official statement as
far as I know, but it's not hard to come up with something; this is GTA after
all. For those who don't know, the premise of the GTA games is that you the player are put in control of a criminal, and
as this criminal, you have the ability to gun down civilians, go on a rampage
in a stolen vehicle and generally cause all kinds of mayhem in a virtual city.
The games have an ESRB rating of M for Mature and are infamously adult-oriented, depicting graphic violence, using strong language, as well as involving elements such as alcohol and drugs. Not surprisingly, the games and publisher, Rockstar Games, have been the targets of heavy criticism and controversy for years. Former lawyer Jack Thompson is probably the most famous critic of the games, comparing them to murder simulators designed to turn kids into vicious killers.
The whole "video games are corrupting our youth" argument is much wider than the Thompson vs GTA battle. For example, after the infamous Columbine High School Massacre, many were quick to point fingers at the video game Doom as a motivator for the shooting. However, the moral panic soon faded as people came to their senses, and numerous studies have since shown that video games do not in fact turn kids into ruthless psychopaths.
 |
| Thug life |
But Thompson's argument doesn't really work in Lebanon anyway, since we're so open and accepting of the fact that we are indeed ruthless psychopaths. We don't have sudden unexpected school shootings, or weird serial killers who kidnap young women and dress them up as Princess Jasmine from classic Disney film Aladdin then shoot them in the face while creepily singing A Whole New World. Fuck no. We shoot one another in broad daylight, rig carbombs, chop a guy's dick off, whatever man, no problem.
Perhaps it's something we're a bit more touchy about... Hmm, touchy... Touchy... Of course, the sex stuff! There are a lot of risqué activities for the player to partake in in this game. For example, the player can visit a strip club, and get a lapdance from a topless stripper, with pixelicious CGI tits. Or if you like living on the edge, you could drive around and do business with a lady of the night who can offer you various "services", for a fee that is. Yeah, it's probably the sex stuff.
 |
| Yeah baby, shake what your virtual mama gave ya |
But regardless of why the game has been banned, I'm still baffled by a lot of things about all this. First of all, remember when I said earlier "Rockstar Games re-released the latest edition in the series, Grand Theft Auto V"? That's right: RE-released. GTA V came out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17th 2013. That's more than a year ago! The game has been available for purchase in Lebanon on last-gen consoles for more than a year, so why exactly wasn't it banned back then?
"Ah, but you see, the new version has all that dirty stuff added!" you must be thinking. Nope, not quite. The only significant changes made for this re-release of the game are technical ones, like improved graphics and the introduction of a first-person mode. Pretty much everything else has been there all along since the initial release last September. So what's the deal then? Is improved framerate going to corrupt our fragile youth or what?
 |
| LOOK AWAY KIDS! |
Secondly, even if physical copies of the game are banned, there are both legal and illegal means for people to acquire it digitally. PC users can pirate it off the web for no cost whatsoever, or if they're feeling generous, opt to legitimately purchase it from a digital distributor like Steam. PS4 and Xbox One users can also legally purchase the game from each console's digital marketplace, the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store, respectively. Uh... Thx thx thx dawle?
Finally, the act of suppressing information in the digital age is a pretty tricky thing to pull off, and it's no different with a video game, in fact it's probably even more difficult. Even if the game itself were banned, people could still easily look it up on YouTube and find millions of videos of other people playing it: these are called Let's Plays. Or you could find cut scenes from the game, or even look for videos of specific things like if you search for "GTA V strip club" for example. You'll see it, you'll see it all, no game necessary!
I don't know for sure why the game was banned, or why this particular GTA game was banned despite previous games having pretty much the same tone and elements involved, but what I do know is that this is a really weird move. It seems to me like this is more about making a public statement about moral values rather than actually protecting the public from any real threat.
But fear not, for I have a solution that will make everyone happy: lift the ban and ban another game instead! We don't all agree on the sex stuff, right? But what we do all agree on is that ISIS are bad, right? Well then, say hello to Grand Theft Auto: Salil Al Sawarem, an ISIS produced video game, which is actually a modded version of a previous game in the GTA series, where you get to walk around as an actual terrorist, not a dude in a city, but an actual terrorist in the desert, shooting up cops and soldiers, and blowing up their vehicles as well.
According to ISIS the purpose of the game is to "raise the morale of the mujahedin and to train children and youth how to battle the West and to strike terror into the hearts of those who oppose the Islamic State.” This thing is Jack Thompson's wet dream: it's literally a terrorism simulator!
So the question now is:
Lebanon, what do you really want to ban: Boobs or ISIS?
Boobs?
The choice is yours...
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