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Sunday 8 August, 2010
I can’t say that I’m surprised that an overwhelming majority of students hate this game. School shootings are among the most sensitive of subjects, and the act of turning them into a game has the power to make one uneasy. I wish to ask the question, why is it, exactly, that this game makes us so uncomfortable?
It is overly simplistic to believe that just because a game presents a certain scenario, that the game celebrates it. We can watch documentaries about genocide and war and not feel overwhelmingly disturbed because we know that the purpose of a documentary is to inform the viewer. A game is different, however, because we are not a distant audience, watching the events in the third person – in SCMRPG, we are put into the roles of the killers. The question of whether or not the game supports school shootings becomes very blurred because of this.
If the creator changed the names of the shooters and the location, would the game upset as many people? I believe that the major reason many people find this game distasteful is because it’s based on a real event, rather than, for example, a similar but fictional event. The main ethical question this game raises is whether or not the game’s creators should be allowed to make a game based on a real tragedy, and what degree of sympathy the game should inspire towards the villains.
The game would have been more successful in getting the player to sympathize with Eric and Dylan if it had showed more of their day-to-day life dealing with bullies and their status as outcasts. Instead, it shows us the shooting as an isolated event. Without knowing much about the years of abuse that built up to them snapping, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to understand why they did it.
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