Jack Thompson Gets Called Out, Now Says He Was Kidding

from the oh-you-have-a-sense-of-humor? dept

Everybody's favorite video-game-violence activist/lawyer Jack Thompson -- he who likes to blame Grand Theft Auto and the like for crimes -- last week said he'd donate $10,000 to charity if somebody would create a game for him. Strangely, Thompson's request was for a violent game in which the father of a child beaten to death "by a 14-year-old gamer" goes on a rampage for revenge, killing the publisher of the video game, video game merchants, and so on. Not surprisingly, some programmers took him up on his offer, creating a GTA mod where "Banman" -- designed to be a Thompson alter ego -- plays the part of the vengeful father, calling it "Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator". Thompson, of course, says his offer was "satire" and won't pay out -- so the people behind a popular online-gaming comic strip are donating $10,000 of their own to charity (in Thompson's name, natch). Thompson says his effort (creatively titled "A Modest Video Game Proposal," so it must have been satire) "was intended to highlight the patent hypocrisy and recklessness exhibited by the video game industry's willingness to target cops, women, homosexuals, and other groups." It's hard to understand why Thompson feels his point has been proven, and other anti-violence creators are beginning to scratch their heads at his tactics and distance themselves from him too.
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  1. identicon
    kevin, 17 Oct 2005 @ 2:41pm

    not the developers

    the penny arcade boys donated the $. The developers didn't. penny arcade didnt develop the mod.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Carlo, 17 Oct 2005 @ 3:21pm

    Re: not the developers

    Ah, thanks for the clarification.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    ted, 17 Oct 2005 @ 3:52pm

    What a B*tch

    So he offers up $10,000 to charity and doesn't rebuke his offer until someone calls him on it. Wow, no one should ever listen to this man again. Oh wait! we dont.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    dorpus, 17 Oct 2005 @ 4:49pm

    What about games where 14-year-olds kill their par

    Wouldn't it be a great way to test the industry claim that video games do not stimulate violence?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Giles, 18 Oct 2005 @ 4:58am

    A Modest Proposal

    I can understand why he might have thought the title of his plan would make people realise it was satire; the original Modest Proposal was an essay by Jonathan Swift arguing that the children of poor irish people should be fattened for the table of the rich. Wikipedia writes:
    This is widely believed to be the greatest example of sustained irony in the history of the English language.
    That said, not everyone's heard of the essay.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    jonny, 18 Oct 2005 @ 6:32am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    I've read that essay, and I think that most people who've read both realize that the difference is that Thompson's offer wasn't satire--that is to say, if it was an attempt at satire, it was a failure. Thompson ought to be ashamed of himself, and Tycho and Gabe should be carried out to the streets on the shoulders of a cheering crowd and given a ticker-tape parade.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Carlo, 18 Oct 2005 @ 7:59am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    I'm aware of the original work. The point was that just evoking the title in the name of his piece doesn't make it effective satire.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    tim, 19 Oct 2005 @ 12:55am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    In Defamation of Character, you play as Jack Thompson. Banman is the hypnosis-induced cardboard-box-wearing psyche sliver of Jack.

    Also, the mod came out a week before Jack ever made a proposal. It's too much work to just Make Happen in a couple days.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Lee, 19 Oct 2005 @ 9:40am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    Do you think all those charities that might have benefited from Jack Thompson's "satire" thought it was funny, or enlightning?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Lee, 19 Oct 2005 @ 9:46am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    "Also, the mod came out a week before Jack ever made a proposal. It's too much work to just Make Happen in a couple days."

    I'm not sure if this is true, but so what? It still met all of his criteria for him to donate to charity. Why are you defending a man that played a shell-game with charity?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Zach The Dark, 14 Mar 2007 @ 10:38am

    Its amazing how after all the crap he pulled in over 20 years, he still can hold his job as an attorney. It must really be nice to be able to make an offered donation to a company if "his requirements are met", but then after a large number of people make his demand a reality, he gets to pull his ass out and say "just kidding". I really do hope that the Florida Bar removes him of every right as an attorney, especially after trying to shut down Penny Arcade by making false accusations and pissing and moaning like a three year old.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    dre, 9 Apr 2007 @ 1:46pm

    what is this man doin........ he don't need to be doin this shit

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    tr, 2 May 2008 @ 8:05am

    u are gay

    link to this | view in thread ]


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