The Virginia Tech massacre gave a certain attorney from Florida yet another opportunity to eject his nonsense into the world. Am I the only one who is sick of the attention he receives?
J.T. has mental issues. You don’t have to be an amazing judge of character to know that. Just by looking at his writing style or his behavior in court it’s clear that the inside of J.T.’s mind would be too extreme even for a Psychonauts level. So why do we listen to this guy?
By continuously tuning into The J.T. Show (even if it’s with a mix of fascination and outrage), gamers are actually complicit in encouraging this attorney’s narcissistic and self-aggrandizing tendencies. It’s time to tune out. It was actually time to tune out years ago, but better late than never.
Dear gaming public, gaming press and industry representatives:
- When J.T. sends out an abusive letter to “selected media outlets”, ignore him.
- When J.T. writes another press release referring to his own glorious actions in third person, ignore him.
- When J.T. mentally masturbates online, ignore him.
- When J.T. publicly smears an industry spokesperson only to challenge him to a college debate on unequal terms, ignore him.
- When J.T. appears on television, ignore him, and direct any criticism towards the news channels that put him on the air as a so-called expert.
There will never be a genuine debate about video game violence until we pull the rug from under this hack’s feet.
Note: I once wrote about J.T. back in 2005 when he was under investigation by the Florida Bar. This is the second time I’ve written about him. There won’t be a third.
The gaming community isn’t the group providing “J.T.” with his pulpit, though, so what good does us ignoring him do? I don’t think us covering our ears and saying “la la la la, I can’t hear you” is going to do any good when just over there in the other room MSNBC is phoning him up asking him to be a member of this nights gallery of Entertaining Sources for tonight’s big story.
I don’t imagine that counter-trolling, and firing childish remarks back at him (which happens too often) would do any good — probably the opposite — but a well-measured and adult-in-tone public response from the gaming community to lay bare the complete insanity behind this guys motives is the only way that he’ll be discredited.
Networks eat him up because he’s off the wall and adament about “child’s games” of all things, and dumb politicians like him because he can be their semi-public hired hand to make it look like they’re fighting the good fight for the safety of children. From certain perspectives (eg ours) it’s completely ridiculous, but I think “J.T’s” schtik was serving him really well until people who know he’s full of shit started calling him on it. I mean, I don’t think he was digging his his own grave at all, until people in high places perked up, and started handing him shovels… if you will.
… Analogy failure, but you know what I’m trying to say.
Jake
April 26th, 2007
I know what you mean. However, I wasn’t just talking about TV appearances but also (and especially) about what happens online. I mean the stories involving Penny Arcade, Kotaku, Jason dela Rocca, GamePolitics, and basically every other J.T. story that directly involves the gaming community. All that attention just flatters his ego and makes him even more determined.
When he’s on TV, certainly other commentators should oppose him. And mainstream op-eds should definitely debunk his BS. Paul Levison or Henry Jenkins stepping in: awesome! But I think other than that, the gaming community gets way too caught up in being outraged by J.T.’s nonsensical points.
That’s why, when it comes to his TV appearances, I’m saying people shouldn’t only ignore him, but call out the networks on hosting him in the first place. The blog headlines always say “J.T. said such-and-such on Fox!!! Yes really!!!” but shouldn’t the headline be “Fox put J.T. on the air again, what the crap”?
Marek
April 26th, 2007
I don’t think he’s just a nutter, he clearly knows how to pull strings. It’s an act; like Jake says networks eat him up, he’s probably very easy to get on the phone for immediate reactions, etc.
I think his recent exchange with Jason Della Rocca is revealing:
http://www.realitypanic.com/archives/301
More interested in money than debate. I wondered how he was funding himself. Were I Jason, I’d accept on condition that the venue be at GDC Austin
David Hayward
April 26th, 2007
I’ve actually ignored Jackass Tremendous most of his career, but I’d like to point-out that the only way to completely shut him up would, during a live interview, to play a very non-violent game in front of him and then flash him with a violent scene from a movie that was released when he was, say, 18. Harvest Moon would do just fine.
It’s his kids I feel sad for, though. I mean, do they play games behind his back with their friends or suppress their urges? Poor them, seriously.
Kroms
April 26th, 2007
I totally agree with Jake: if we ignore Thompson or bash the networks for inviting him, that will only worsen the image of the game community in the general public eye. The only thing to do is what Jason Della Rocca did : not answering to provocation and giving counter arguments to Thompson’s claims. We can wait for Thompson to do the thing that will definitely burn him in the media : it’s not like he’s a very sophisticated person, he’s more and more saying things that cast discredit over his views, so let’s take advantage of this.
Vimes
April 26th, 2007
No one said anything about bashing. Is it okay for a network to not do its due diligence and invite someone like Thompson onto their shows? He’s appeared unopposed on TV at least twice in the past weeks. When he shared airtime with Paul Levison, the moderator gave Thompson at least twice as much time as well as the last word. The networks have a responsibility.
So what good did Jason Della Rocca’s stance do? What did it tell us about Thompson that we didn’t already know? That he’s interested in money doesn’t come as a surprise. Sure, what Della Rocca did was better than taking his bait completely and arguing with him point-by-point — I agree with you on that. But the entire exchange was also entirely unnecessary.
My main point is that Thompson appears to love attention — that’s what I mean with his mental issues, not that he’s dumb. The less we give it to him, especially in the places where he can do the least amounts of damage, the better it is.
Marek
April 27th, 2007
I think I get your point : nearly everything Thompson says about games is false, so I understand we shouldn’t give Thompson so much attention as turn him into a relevant party of the debate. But at the back of mind, I still doubt that the guy wouldn’t grab the attention of the media if the gaming community were to ignore him… and in this case, he’d fill all the space and no one would be there to go against him. And that would be worse that the current situation.
Vimes
April 28th, 2007
No matter *what* you do, there’ll always be Jack Thompsons around who’ll hold anything or anyone, but themselves, responsible for the mistakes that happen. It’s oh so much easier to point a finger and say “That did it” instead of trying to understand what’s really going on. Ignore him, battle him; I don’t think it makes much of a difference.
Erwin
April 28th, 2007
Off topic:
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture of the troll was this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Gnomes-Wil-Huygen/dp/0810909650
I loved that book as a kid.
Melanie
April 28th, 2007
Errr…sorry for this. I miswrote something:
I wrote: the only way to completely shut him up …
What I meant to write was:
“And with people universally reacting to him when he talks, I’m getting so desperate to believe that the only way to completely shut him up … ”
Because the “In-your-face” reaction would shame him. But I’m more of a dreamer than a realist when it comes to this sort of thing. Sorry for double-posting.
Kroms
May 4th, 2007
I fully agree with Jake on this issue. Coincidentally, here is an editorial I published today on my own site regarding coverage of the V-Tech game.
http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/051807_v-tech_response_1.x
I think my attitude towards Thompson coverage can probably be largely inferred from it, though it is a slightly different situation. I do not object to straight coverage of Thompson, as long as it is done in a professional, informative, and non-sensational manner. I believe gamers should be informed about all issues that deal with harming the reputation of the industry. If the gaming press stops covering him, then it’s just CNN and MSNBC, and what good does that do us? All of the wrong people are hearing his shit, and the informed people are less likely to.
Chris Remo
May 18th, 2007
Yeah, I actually had to think of Jack Thompson when I read your op-ed on Shack. I see your point, and I agree with you in the context of the V-Tech piece, but I would still argue that 80% of Jack Thompson related news actually isn’t news. I think it only has news value when Thompson does something that actually affects something else, or causes others to respond, or becomes a mainstream issue.
However, Thompson jerking around with someone over a possible debate isn’t really news (unless a debate actually happens), nor are the email ‘blasts’ or open letters that Thompson sends around to the press. A lot of those emails that Thompson sends around are even posted verbatim, and I wonder why. For instance, I don’t get why something like “Jack Thompson Attacks Wendy’s Over Wii!!” is worth covering by anyone. Nothing actually happened, Wendy’s didn’t say anything, no one else made the connection between Wendy’s, the Wii and Manhunt… and it was a total non-story, as far as I can tell. It might have been a story if he’d threatened to sue, which he didn’t. It was just a man (with very little public credibility) sending a petition letter.
I guess my beef is really with the countless news posts within the gaming community that have a tone along the lines of “lollol look what this nutter just said” but actually aren’t worth anyone’s time.
(Just to be clear, none of the above is in response to any Shack coverage. I actually don’t recall what you guys did or did not cover.)
Marek
May 19th, 2007