Ron Jeremy is a lover, not a fighter, and his latest rant against violence in the video game industry hammers that point home [shurely “nails it”? – Ed].
In an open letter on gaming site Kotaku, Jeremy says he simply does not see why folks get so hot and bothered about kids being exposed to porn, but are perfectly happy to let the little munchkins blow people’s heads off and slash them with machetes in front of a console.
“Violent video games are much worse for kids than porn,” tut-tuts Jeremy adding that he gets confused as to why people get so “aggravated” over adult video games like BoneTown – in which he stars – involving horny avatars having oodles of sex, but not actually killing anyone. Consensual sex between avatars, if you will.
“Sex is a natural, beautiful thing and a huge part of life,” said Jeremy. Although it may not be as huge for most people as it is for the porn star, admittedly.
“Medical and psychological experts agree that the act of intercourse and the associated hormones released actually improve happiness and well-being, but American culture shies away from celebrating or even mentioning it.”
“Sex is treated in most of mainstream media like a dirty, evil thing,” lamented Jeremy, noting that “other societies around the world are much more open about sex.”
“In contrast,” Jeremy explained, “there is nothing natural or beautiful about violence.” Unless we’re talking about some playful spanking, we assume.
Unlike having sex, says Jeremy, “the average person will likely not kill anyone in their lifetime, thank God.” And yet, he continues, “the American public glorifies violence on television and in video games.”
“In most of the popular video games out there today, your character runs around blowing people’s heads off or stabbing people to death as sprays of blood cover the screen. Would you really rather have your kids watching this than watching sex?” asks Jeremy, insisting that he is “not trying to knock the video game industry,” and that he’s just “standing up for the porn industry.”
Jeremy says there has “never been a correlation or a cause and effect of viewing porn and committing sexual deviant behavior,” but that studies have shown a link between watching violent scenes and ones thoughts and behavior becoming more violent.
And therein lays the irony, because, as Jeremy points out, “no one bats an eye at murdering an old woman in a video game, but covering up nipple is every parents group’s crusade.”
Shocking stuff indeed.
We’ll keep you all abreast of any further developments.
