14 DAY TRIAL // The Grand Theft Auto series has always been very close to controversy, whether it was about the violent acts depicted in the gameplay, the indecent story or the bad influence it had on children. Of course, anti-game activists like Jack Thompson have also had a big influence on the bad reputation that it had in the media, by blaming a lot of crimes onto the series.
The latest installment in the franchise developed by Rockstar, GTA: Chinatown Wars, has also had its fair share of controversy even before it was released. Upon hearing that the Nintendo DS exclusive would feature a drug dealing mini-game, a lot of people didn't take into consideration that it was rated for a mature audience, and blamed it for corrupting children.
Now, after the game's launch, you would think that the controversy has died down, but somebody forgot to tell that to the Roxboro Middle School principal, Brian Sharosky, who has pulled the latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine from the school library because it featured a cover with a woman holding a gun, as she appears in Chinatown Wars.
Of course, the decision caused uproar, as even the American Civil Liberties Union has intervened in order to stop this abusive decision. Christine Link, the executive director of the Ohio branch of the ACLU had this to say, “Literature should not be removed from a school library simply because one person may find it inappropriate... the school board should immediately order that the magazine be reinstated.”
Sadly, the school board has backed up the decision of the principal, so the case will most likely go to court, as, according to the legal director of the ACLU, Jeff Gamso, it was an act of discrimination. “The principal doesn't get to say, 'Whatever I say goes.' There's got to be some mechanism by which decisions are made and a process of review. Or maybe tomorrow it'll be 'Hamlet' - that's an iffy play.”
In the end, it is quite sad that people are still discriminating against video games and are now even bringing specialized magazines into the controversy loop.