Steve Burns: Grand Theft Auto vs. Grand Theft Oil

Peace activists in Wisconsin are celebrating a rare victory over U.S. Army recruiters, after the management of Milwaukee’s Summerfest asked recruiters to shut down a high-tech videogame, the “Virtual Army Experience”, that allowed children as young as 13 – or possibly younger – to fire a truck-mounted machine gun at images of people projected on a screen. Now, in a compromise between Summerfest and the Army, the game is back up, its images of dark-skinned “terrorists” replaced with “inanimate targets.”

Soon after the initial decision, the hate emails started coming into our office (usually a sign that we’ve had a productive day) most likely from listeners of right-wing Milwaukee radio talker Charlie Sykes, who devoted several hours of yesterday’s show to attacking Summerfest’s decision.

Of course, there was the old standby, “Why don’t you move to Cuba?”, always a favorite here at the WNPJ office, but another angry emailer, Tom G, asked: “What is your organization doing about Summerfest allowing Kids to play the virtual game Grand Theft Auto?” in reference to another exhibit at Summerfest, an ultra-violent video game which allows a player to adopt the persona of a gun-wielding car hijacker.

To which I responded: “Excellent point, Tom G!” Summerfest is no place for the promotion of violence, whether it's being done by a private-sector videogame company or by the U.S. military. In fact, I followed up on Tom G’s suggestion by phoning Summerfest management this morning (414 273-2680) to:

1) Thank them for pushing back against out-of-control recruiters
2) Ask them to improve on a good first step by banning all violence-promoting videogames from the Fest.

I was greeted with the good news that both violent games have been banned, a stance I hope Summerfest management maintains for all future Summerfests.

But Tom G’s question also got me thinking about the similarities between Grand Theft Auto and the Virtual Army Experience, leading me to take the struggle for peace and justice into bold new territory: video game reviews.

Here’s how the two games stack up:

Realism:
A friend who admits to spending way too much time playing the online version of “Virtual Army Experience” tells me that there’s a glaring omission from the game: no civilians. Every character on your computer screen is either a “good guy” (U.S. Soldier) or a “bad guy” (Arab Terrorist). No worries about being traumatized by the accidental shooting of civilians at an Army checkpoint, an all-too-common occurrence in Iraq. Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, is replete with characters who are neither criminals nor police. Cops n’ Robbers shootouts on GTA frequently result in the deaths of “civilian” bystanders – something that has brought the game much criticism. On realism, I score it GTA 1, Army 0

Firepower:
Here, there’s really no contest. Aside from the belt-fed 50 caliber machine gun that Army recruiters were encouraging Milwaukee’s 12-year-olds to take for a spin, there’s the Army’s ability to call in “shock and awe” air strikes – a tactic rarely used by convenience-store stickup men. (Taking a step back into the real world for a moment, the Washington Post, in a report on the “surge” in the use of missiles by the military, reports that the U.S. military, between late March and early May, fired more than 200 Hellfire missiles into the crowded Baghdad slum of Sadr City.) On the ability to bring death to the target (or even anyone near the target), it’s clearly Army 1, GTA 0

Loot:
Again, no contest. Compare the list price of that stolen Lincoln Navigator (about $60,000) with the billions of Iraq’s currency reserves “lost” by U.S. officials charged with the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, or the billions in oil revenues that will be flowing to the U.S. oil companies awarded “no-bid” contracts by the Iraqi oil ministry with, we are assured, no interference from U.S officials. Stealing a car just can’t compare with stealing a country, so score this one Army 1, GTA 0.

In short, when it comes to electronic encouragement for violent behavior aimed at our youth, the Army wins. Grand Theft Auto can’t compete with Grand Theft Oil.