Highlights of Congress over-reacting to media.

Kinda fitting with the recent theme of Brad's video on 80's cartoons, as well as the most recent Radiodrome episode about the Video Nasties (up on the Jackalope archive, Brad hasn't posted it on the site yet) I saw this video on Youtube today, and I think it did a great job of showing just how silly things get whenever or elected officials decide to stick their noses into "objectionable material" in music, TV, video games, etc.



I remember the 1993 hearings on violent video games. As a kid with no interest in politics, that was the first time I had ever watched C-SPAN, and my first real exposure with the people who make our laws. And I just remember my 11-year-old self staring in disbelief at just how out of touch the people that run our country were. A general low opinion of all politicians (on both sides, there's a pretty even mix of R's and D's in the clips) that I maintain to this day.

Later on I was also a Marilyn Manson fan in middle school (Not my proudest time, I know), and remember not just all the Christian protests over Antichrist Superstar, but the whole thing with the kid who supposedly killed himself because of hte music. Even then I also understood that if you're depressed or suicidal, you're probably going to be drawn to songs with those kinds of themes. Just like how D&D is going to attract people who might have a hard time differentiating fantasy from reality. It doesn't mean all fans of those things fit that stereotype, nor will they take a perfectly well adjusted kid and convince them to commit suicide.