In the wake of anti-videogame diatribes, Tom Standage at Wired offers up some historical precedents raging against nearly all (at the time) new entertainment, including the waltz, comic books, movies, and telephone. Here's one protector of culture ranting about the evils of this crazy new thing called the "novel":
The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?
- Reverend Enos Hitchcock, Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, 1790"
For comparison's sake, here's a related quote from the article regarding videogames:
The disturbing material in Grand Theft Auto and other games like it is stealing the innocence of our children and it's making the difficult job of being a parent even harder ... I believe that the ability of our children to access pornographic and outrageously violent material on video games rated for adults is spiraling out of control.
- US senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 2005
[via Boing Boing]
Posted by johndanseven at April 29, 2006 09:07 PM