Hot Coffee for Teacher

David Weigel | August 9, 2006

Without Joe Lieberman in the Senate, who can lead the charge against the latest video game abomination?

Rockstar, the maker of best-selling video game series "Grant Theft Auto" said on Wednesday it would launch in October "Bully", a game with themes of school fighting that has anti-violence critics up in arms.

The game's main character is 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins, who must defend himself against school bullies at a fictional U.S. boarding school called Bullworth Academy, while dealing with characters ranging from nerds and jocks to authoritarian prefects.

Bullworth Academy? Is the final boss Warren Beatty?

Surely, someone will have to challenge Rockstar on its irresponsible game-making. No one wants to repeat the waves of anti-bully assault and murder that followed the release of My Bodyguard, or the frenzied math-learning that came after Stand and Deliver.

Comments

|8.9.06 @ 12:20PM|#

"Surely, someone will have to challenge Rockstar on its irresponsible game-making. No one wants to repeat the waves of anti-bully assault and murder that followed the release of My Bodyguard, or the frenzied math-learning that came after Stand and Deliver."

Ah yes, I remember that. Bullies everywhere running for cover and crying to their mommies.

|8.9.06 @ 12:21PM|#

"or the frenzied math-learning that came after Stand and Deliver"

You know, I was having a decent day until you mentioned that movie.

I don't know if anyone in my generation got through the 7th grade without being subject to that film...

|8.9.06 @ 12:29PM|#

or the frenzied math-learning that came after Stand and Deliver

In lame hispanic accent:
"What is 'Kal-Koo-Los' " ??

I had to watch that movie twice in HS -- that line has stuck in my head and terrorized me ever since.

|8.9.06 @ 12:30PM|#

So, worst case scenario, some bullies get thumped on. I'm not sure there's a downside. Of course, I was raised by a father who had the now-outmoded idea that beating the snot out of a bully was doing the world a favor.

|8.9.06 @ 12:42PM|#

Is that Jayn from Firefly??

yes i think it is.

My Bodyguard i remmeber most for a particularly creepy poem that the main character reads in class about a coffin following him...anyone know the poem and the author?

Jim Lesczynski|8.9.06 @ 12:47PM|#

I for one am disappointed. I assumed the "Bully" game would be played from the point of view of the bully, and you get points for beating up nerds. That would have been way funnier.

|8.9.06 @ 12:48PM|#

My Bodyguard was Matt Dillon's greatest. role. EVER!

As for the game -- whats the outrage all about? If the kid is supposed to defend himself from bullies, then isn't this a positive message about standing up for themselves to kids playing the game?

|8.9.06 @ 12:50PM|#

ChicagoTom-No. Because to a certain set of the population, one must never use violence, even to fight back. To do so would imply a level of self-ownership and responsibility they are not comfortable with.

|8.9.06 @ 12:59PM|#

I predict that if this game ends up with mass appeal we will see many more Columbines. Of course, I am referring to the flower.

In this game, do you get to pick the color of the trenchcoat you wear? Gray, Dark Gray, Grey, Dark Grey, and Black.

dhex|8.9.06 @ 1:04PM|#

are there really that many people who think kids shouldn't defend themselves?

i mean, my hs and middle school had zero-tolerance policies but it wasn't like "turn the other cheek" type stuff. i never minded getting suspended myself, but my mom sure did, which was far worse than fighting.

|8.9.06 @ 1:07PM|#

Dhex-yes, there are. That's the meme among educators and social worker-types.

|8.9.06 @ 1:21PM|#

i mean, my hs and middle school had zero-tolerance policies but it wasn't like "turn the other cheek" type stuff. i never minded getting suspended myself, but my mom sure did, which was far worse than fighting.

In my HS, it didn't matter who started or whatnot -- anyone involved in a fight whether the aggressor or the victim got suspended (But I think the length of the suspension varied depending on mitigating cirumstances)

Luckily, my mother had a "don't you dare start a fight -- but if someone starts with you and you don't defend yourself, don't bother coming home" attitude. I have never started a fight, but I was suspended numberous times for defending myself and fighting (even if I could have walked away), and luckily my mother stood by me whenever I got suspended for it.

I think though, part of the whole non-violence belief stems from a fear of escalation and weapon violence. It seems like these days people aren't satisfied by just kicking each others asses and settling it. It used to be that if you lost or won a fight, that was the end of it. Very rarely did I ever see the same guys fight more than once in HS. These days it seems more likely that someone who takes a licking via fisticuffs will raise the stakes and come back with a knife or gun or something.

When I have kids I want them to defend themselves, but I also want them to avoid a fight if they can. You never know when someone is gonna snap during or after an altercation.

|8.9.06 @ 1:31PM|#

speaking of hot coffee i finnaly got into bed with michelle but to be honest i was more intersted in driving her monster truck then her panties...and she is one finicky bitch...i still have not found a resturant she would like.

|8.9.06 @ 1:44PM|#

Adam Baldwin was the bodyguard in My Bodyguard, and I believe that was his first film role. In later years, he was not only Jayne from Firefly but Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket. He should go into the Kickass Mutha Hall of Fame for those two roles alone.

|8.9.06 @ 1:58PM|#

They could have just adapted Three O'Clock High. Since it's a fantasy, this game should have an opportunity to nail the hot teacher, then go home with several of the prettiest girls in school. Parent's are going to flip anyway, so they might as well go all the way.

|8.9.06 @ 2:01PM|#

parent's groups

|8.9.06 @ 2:02PM|#

Nobody has brought up the brutal orgy of ping-pong Rockstar's last game provoked?

|8.9.06 @ 3:07PM|#

Take Michelle to the bar down near the dojo. She's a lush.

|8.9.06 @ 3:11PM|#

are there really that many people who think kids shouldn't defend themselves?

Hell, there's a lot of people who think adults shouldn't defend themselves.

Collectivists in general tend to believe that the right of self defense should be abrogated to The Collective.

|8.9.06 @ 4:18PM|#

In my HS, it didn't matter who started or whatnot -- anyone involved in a fight whether the aggressor or the victim got suspended

So like the NHL there is no real incentive to turn the other cheek. If you're both getting suspended you might as well get your licks in.

|8.9.06 @ 4:34PM|#

I'm sure Hillary Clinton can take up the slack on this one.

Larry A|8.9.06 @ 6:29PM|#

are there really that many people who think kids shouldn't defend themselves?

This is a central concept of the anti-gun/anti-self-defense movement. In Britain today if someone bursts into your home with the intention of duct taping you and yours to chairs and torturing you for ATM information and you successfully resist, you can end up in more trouble than he does.

I think though, part of the whole non-violence belief stems from a fear of escalation and weapon violence.

I think it's deeper than that.

When I was in school most kids routinely carried pocket knives. I started when I was in the third grade, and my Cub Scout knife was part of my uniform. I still carry one; they're handy.

When I was in high school (1965) kids used to routinely carry rifles and shotguns in their cars, particularly during hunting season. Or into the school itself if they were on the rifle team or drill team.

Today there's a pathological fear of anything that might make the sheep uppity.

IMO the main opposition to this game is not the violence involved, but the premise that using force can successfully counter the actions of a bully.

Larry A|8.9.06 @ 6:40PM|#

Rockstar, the maker of best-selling video game series "Grant Theft Auto"

They have games about stealing government money?
BaDaBoom.

|8.9.06 @ 6:47PM|#

In this game, do you get to pick the color of the trenchcoat you wear? Gray, Dark Gray, Grey, Dark Grey, and Black.

If you want gray you have to buy the expansion pack. The game itself makes you choose between raven, obsidian, charcoal and ebony.

These days High Schools don't even bother with suspension. They just call the cops in and let them sort it out. Happened more than once at my school.

Kevin Carson|8.10.06 @ 2:04AM|#

I believe Hillary's been encroaching on Lieberman's niche market (moral scold and pimp for the financial services industry) for some years now.

Todd Frye|8.10.06 @ 8:09AM|#

What about the midnight poetry-reading fad that erupted after Dead Poets Society?

Bleh. Just thinking about that stupid movie may turn ME into an alcoholic. "O Captain, my Captain," forsooth.