Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Supreme Court Says No to Fahrenheit 360-PS3-WII

In case you haven't heard, the Supreme Court struck down a California law passed in 2005 that made selling "violent videogames" to minors under 18 illegal.

Via FindLaw, "The majority opinion focused on the ban's violation of First Amendment rights. Justice Scalia, writing the majority opinion, explained that violent video games are not illegal and protected under the First Amendment, just like other literary and media outlets like books and movies."

The article continues "In fact, Justice Scalia also cited to a variety of children's books that depicted violence, including Grimm's Fairy Tales. He described how the fairy tale of Snow White included descriptions of how the 'wicked queen is made to dance in red hot slippers 'til she fell dead on the floor.' And, that Hansel and Gretel killed their kidnapper by baking her in an oven. And, that Cinderella's evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves."

It is true that there are plenty of mediums of entertainment that are saturated with violence: books, television, cinema - nothing is immune.


For those of you who don't get the title, it's a reference to Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451.


No, I don't think it's tacky to compare videogames to the literature that was being suppressed in the text. But yes, if I feel I need to explain the title, then I should probably rework it.


Shrugs.

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