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When someone is found guilty of murder, there are two types of popular reactions from the public. The first is with disgust and hope that the convict gets what he deserves (in other words, the death penalty). The second is with fear and hope that the convict doesn’t get free. Yet if somehow people were able to kill someone without anyone else knowing, chances are everyone would do it.
Tsugumi Ohba, a self-proclaimed teacup collector who states he can “develop manga plots day and night while holding knees and sitting on a chair”, wrote the plot for a manga (Japanese comic) called Death Note. The manga is about a very intelligent but very bored third year (senior) high school student named Light Yagami whose fate allows him to stumble upon a death note that was dropped by an equally bored death god, or Shinigami. Out of curiosity, Light opens up the book only to read the English words, “This is a Death God’s notebook. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.” He laughs at the ridiculous words but decides to continue reading for mere entertainment. Out of further curiosity and boredom, he begins to fill the notebook with names as a “prank.” Five days later, readers can see that Light’s eyes have a new, twisted look. He seems nervous and jumpy. He stares at the death note with wonder.
Suddenly, a strange voice from behind rasps out, “You seem to like it.” Light is startled and turns around only to find a tall, creepy-looking Shinigami. The death god introduces himself as Ryuk, the previous owner of what is now Light’s death note. Once a human touches a death note, he or she will be able to see the death god it once belonged to. It seems Ryuk dropped the notebook purposely so that a human would pick it up. He watches what Light does with it for his own entertainment. To Ryuk’s great amusement, Light begins using the death note to kill people who he thinks deserve to die (mostly people convicted of murder). He goes even further by killing people who commit crimes not necessarily worthy of death, like flirting with a woman who isn’t interested.
This strange pattern of convicts suddenly dying does not go unnoticed by neither the police force nor the public. Some people believe that judgment is being imposed by a higher being known as “Kira.” Police forces think it is the work of a deranged person and they are determined to find out who it is. Eventually, Light’s victims become not only convicts, but also anyone who gets in his way. He becomes wickedly twisted in his obsession to gain power through the death note, justifying his dirty work by saying that he is doing everyone a favor by ridding the world of evil. One detective called “L”, who takes a huge liking to sweets and teacups and sits in a strange position holding his knees in order to concentrate, is determined to dedicate his life to finding “Kira”. He becomes Light’s archrival, as he is just as clever (most likely more so), and he even suspects Light almost instantly.
Because of the similarity between the two, readers have questioned if L’s actions are equal to what Tsugumi Ohba would do. However, in an interview conducted by The Star Online, Ohba says, “I did not put much deep thought into subjects like ‘life and death’ or ‘justice and evil’. I wrote the story hoping that it would be good entertainment.” In either case, Ohba has boggled the minds of readers and made them realize how easy it is for someone like Light Yagami, who was an innocent, brilliant high school student destined for greatness, to become a cold-blooded murderer.
Majority of young Death Note fans admit that, had they the power that lies behind a death note, they would use it. A user on wrongplanet.net conducted a survey titled “If you had a Death Note, would you use it and how.” Out of the voters, 26 percent of them voted they wouldn’t while the remaining 73 percent voted they would. Out of those who said they’d use it, 26 percent claimed they’d only use a death note on the “most extreme of criminals”, 13 percent would go after all criminals, 13 percent would also kill “lazy and worthless” people, 4 percent would use it on “any who stand in my way for material gain”, 13 percent would use it for self-defense only, and 4 percent would use a death note to threaten others with. Another user actually replied, “Why stop with criminals. Virtually unlimited access to mass murder can do so much more.” On answerbag.com, someone actually responded to a related question with: “Absolutely. In fact, I'm preparing a list in case it ever becomes available to me.” A similar reaction was found on animeforum.com, only the user said, “I've had a list for about 5 years now. I think it would fit perfectly into that Death Note. Despite the consequences, I think I deserve justice...” According to a question asked from answers.yahoo.com, most users agreed with someone who answered, “Yes I would. Where can I get one?” (The oldest of the questions found online was a year old, while others came from as close as December 2008.) Some people justify themselves by saying they’d get rid of oppressive dictators, and killing someone because of a disagreement in views is as “oppressive” and tyrannical as a person can get. Among the few who boldly professed they wouldn’t use a death note, the most popular reason was because of how mad it drove Light Yagami in the comic book. With all that put aside, though, it can be safely assumed that if one person had a death note, it wouldn’t matter whoever everyone else thinks “deserves” to die but only whoever the one with power wants to die. With unlimited power comes unlimited accessibility…
With how lightly people talk about murder, it shouldn’t be surprising that so many people would kill if they could get away with it. All over the globe there are people who actually look up to murderers. There are people who drool over Hannibal Lecter, a man who cooked human meat and fed it to ignorant victims, people who admire Jack the Ripper, whose “exploits have been the focus of innumerable films, television shows, books and newspaper features” after over a century, and even people who idolize Adolf Hitler (though these people are the looked down upon by even fellow murderer-lovers, as what Hitler did was focused on certain races and types of people). The media provides hundreds of murderers for people to look up to, like Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers, or, as proven last summer by the immense popularity of Batman The Dark Knight, Joker. Video games do nothing to help, as majority of games on the shelves involve killing. Among these games are Bioshock, a horror-genre game that includes more than enough twisted murderers, Grand Theft Auto, an action game in which the sole purpose is to rob and kill, Assassin’s Creed, a game whose name speaks for itself, Manhunt, in which the player has the role of a murderer who must kill people in “as gruesome a fashion as possible”, and many more.
The two most popular killers on Bioshock are Sander Cohen and Dr. Steinman, who are both infamously known for their obvious flaw of perfectionism. Sander Cohen is an artist, musician, and composer who forces students to play perfectly or else face a gruesome death. One of such instances is shown later in the game when a man known as Fitzpatrick struggles to play the piano. Cohen forces him to continue, and just after Fitzpatrick calls him a “sick [bleep]” and begs to be let out, the piano explodes. Many players refer to Cohen as a “genius” because of this scene. Dr. Steinman, who is less popular with the gamers than Cohen, is a doctor who stabs people mercilessly if he can’t get them “beautiful.” Gamers are most entertained by the creepiness that occurs when they can hear a nurse shouting, “Stop cutting!”
Assassin’s Creed is considered friendlier because it encourages player to go after only targets and not innocent bystanders. It does this effectively because whenever the player harms anyone who isn’t targeted, the main character’s stamina goes down. However, once the game is finished, the player is free to kill whomever he chooses. Many players actually find enjoyment in creating chaos by killing random people in the streets, and the game is very realistic with the fearful facial expressions and agonizing screams of the victims. Sometimes the player faces a group of hostile guards, and often the last survivor begs for his life. The player can choose either to spare the man’s life or slay him as his companions were slayed.
Arguments against the claim that video game violence affects real world violence usually use the logic that “it’s just a game.” Indeed, they are just games and they aren’t real, but the kind of games people enjoy typically reflect their interests. What reasons would gamers have to play Grand Theft Auto, which involves killing innocent pedestrians, families, prostitutes, cops, and, well, everyone? Virtually slaughtering pixels on a screen is not the same as taking the lives of real people, but the ideas aren’t much different. The one and only difference is that the latter doesn’t include guilt or prosecution.
--This essay is copyrighted to myself--
 Lady Ironarm · Mon Mar 30, 2009 @ 07:37am · 0 Comments |
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