In a shocking turn of events, Fairfax columnist and conservative ‘maverick’ Miranda Devine penned an opinion piece over the weekend calling for the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games in Australia.
Triggering the editorial was Sega’s light-gun shooter House of the Dead: Overkill, its tongue-in-cheek yet gratuitously disturbing parody of the horror genre causing Devine to argue that “it’s clear Overkill should never have been awarded an MA15+ rating, according to the office’s own guidelines, under which state classifiers are supposed to take into account ‘the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults’.”
Devine points the finger at conservative lobby groups whose “good intentions have backfired spectacularly. Instead of protecting children, they have exposed them to unsuitable games shoehorned into the MA15+ category because the alternative is an outright ban, and the ire of anti-censorship activists.”
It’s interesting to see someone from the conservative side of the political spectrum come out and agree that the current classification system is not working. And to do it using the very same argument the games industry has been using in its lobbying for the system to be changed is eye-opening.
Indeed, as unlikely as it may appear, perhaps this is precisely the kind of support the industry needs to convince conservative politicians to enact the necessary changes.
Colour me amazed.
A Wii shock to the system for parents [Sydney Morning Herald]
Thomas Hambleton
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 8:26 PMYou guys do realise the possible backlash of this is a more stringent enforcement of MA rating… meaning more games not making the cut.
StudiodeKadent
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 8:57 PMWhy is it ‘surprising’ that a self-proclaimed Conservative backs R18+ games?
Not all Conservatives are pro-censorship psychotics. ‘Conservative’ is a broad classification and there are lots of differences amongst individuals in that group.
Not only that, but please remember that Steve Conroy, Michael Atkinson and the like are all members of the Australian Labor Party, allegedly the ‘non-Conservative’ faction within Australian politics. The Kevin Rudd government is more socially conservative (in the American sense of the term) than John Howard’s government was.
Additionally, many Australian political commentators frequently labelled “Conservative” are in reality Classical Liberals (or Libertarians). Whilst Devine clearly is not one of these, it is important to note that a clean “Liberals Versus Conservatives” divide does not apply to Australian politics (nor does it apply to US politics).
I believe the idea of a “Conservative” supporting R18+ ratings for games is only “confusing” to people that are inaccurately applying the US political classifications to Australian politics.
First, Australian “Conservatives” are usually less socially and economically “Conservative” than the US Conservatives (i.e. Australian Conservatives tend to support a stronger role for the government in the economy and a smaller role for the government in people’s noneconomic lives). Australian “Conservatism” is very British, Oakeshottean-style Conservatism with a strong focus on practicality. It is less religious (on average) than US Conservatism.
Additionally, Australian “Liberals” (i.e. the Australian left, not the Liberal Party of Australia) are usually far more socially conservative than the US “Liberals.” These are broad generalizations, true, but it means you cannot simply import the US labels and use them without clarification.
Finally, Devine’s argument for an R18+ rating is made on the basis of CONSERVATIVE principles. First, she argues for pragmatic policy rather than idealistic, ‘in principle’ policy. This is very, very much the British, Oakeshottean approach to Conservatism. Additionally, her moral disgust at the game (which is clearly a parody!), indicates she subscribes to some sort of religiously-based ethics, similar to the US Conservative approach.
So in short, arguing for an R18+ rating in Australia on the basis of “Pragmatism; To Stamp Out Filth!” IS a conservative argument, by both the US and British-Australian definitions of the term.
Personally, whilst I concede the validity of the argument (i.e. that an R18+ rating WOULD be better for preventing children from accessing inappropriate material), I prefer to use the Classical Liberal justification for R18+ ratings: individual adult human beings have an inalienable right to access any content they wish (assuming it was not created via the violation of another person’s rights (such as kiddie porn)), irrespective of how offensive ‘society’ may find said content.
url404
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 9:18 PMFor the sake of completeness, I feel inclined to point out that this is not the first time Miranda Devine has come out in favour of an R18+ rating for video games:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/28/1075088086486.html
FTA:
“In 2002 federal and state attorneys-general refused to allow an R-rating in order to protect children. But, ironically, the decision may have had the opposite effect, with grisly games like Manhunt, which might otherwise have been restricted to adults, being allowed an MA15+ rating that many parents regard benignly because of their experiences with movies.”
Of course I remember this because I felt all weird on my insides for agreeing with a Miranda Devine piece. That has now happened twice.
Womble
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 9:48 PMFunkyJ writes:
“She’s vapid and tautological in her arguments, can’t write a word without spilling her bias over the page, and a proven liar and plagiarist.”
Wow, someone woke up on the angry side of the bed, didn’t he.
Vapid? Tautological? Heh!
As for bias, well, duh? All journalists are biased. I don’t see you complaining about the pro-Labor, soft-left bias of the ABC and SBS. It goes with the territory. Devine merely writes according to her personal and political beliefs.
As are you, by the sound of it. This is more of a political argument than anything, with people using the issue of gaming to smear someone they politically disagree with.
When you start calling people “bitches” and “liars”, you might want to start examining your own motivations. I suspect they’re strongly political, and not at all kind.
ArghZombies
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 9:02 AMI call ‘conspiracy’!
Ninty, Sorny and HyperGlobalMegaNet are laughing to the bank because of our lack or R rating! KEEP the R rating away means games are release with minor (if any) cuts at MA15 and are available to a much larger audience
As soon as R rating comes in, legislation will follow to limit the purchasing to people at age and games like RE5, DeadSpace and Fallout3 wont get the sales representative of the awesomeness of those games
FRIENDLYUNIT
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 12:42 PMWell I’m not surprised.
That’s what the lack of the 18+ rating literally means: all the things that should be R18+ are being incorrectly classified.
(classification FAIL)
It’s bad for everyone. What actually I’m surprised about is the fact that “us gamers” are asking for it and not more people like Ms Devine!
@ Matthew Dive
There’s my vote in it for one. Or rather my not-vote for those blocking it.