Grand Theft Auto IV Nixes Senator's Island
U.S. task force leader's home ground... gone
Here are a few facts to mull over this drab Monday. Senator Andrew Lanza is the Republican Senator representing Staten Island’s 24th New York State Senate District.
The latest outing in the hugely successful gaming franchise that is Grand Theft Auto - GTA IV is set in a city that bears more than a striking resemblance to New York City. This fact alone has already been enough to generate much outrage among civic officials - you can read about that right here.
But there's one borough of the Big Apple that isn't screaming in self-righteous indignation about how it is being used as a virtual model for mass violence. That borough is Staten Island - Senator Andrew Lanza's political home turf.
Two more facts you should know about the good Senator: firstly, he's the chairman of the Senate Task Force on Youth Violence and the Entertainment Industry. Commenting on his own appointment in April, the senator said, "The emotions and behaviours of our young children is far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and video games. It is imperative that we find a way to prevent these virtual realities from continuing to fuel and to teach the violent behaviour which is corrupting or youth."
Finally, and just because you couldn't make it up, here's what the senator's biography says about his current residence, "Senator Lanza... reside(s) in the town of Great Kills."
Now, we are certainly not suggesting the lack of a Staten Island-a-like in GTA IV and the fact that the chairman of a Federal committee into violence in video gaming represents Staten Island are in any way connected.
But the fact that he lives in 'Great Kills' - the fact that a place called 'Great Kills' actually exists... now that's just plain strange.
The latest outing in the hugely successful gaming franchise that is Grand Theft Auto - GTA IV is set in a city that bears more than a striking resemblance to New York City. This fact alone has already been enough to generate much outrage among civic officials - you can read about that right here.
But there's one borough of the Big Apple that isn't screaming in self-righteous indignation about how it is being used as a virtual model for mass violence. That borough is Staten Island - Senator Andrew Lanza's political home turf.
Two more facts you should know about the good Senator: firstly, he's the chairman of the Senate Task Force on Youth Violence and the Entertainment Industry. Commenting on his own appointment in April, the senator said, "The emotions and behaviours of our young children is far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and video games. It is imperative that we find a way to prevent these virtual realities from continuing to fuel and to teach the violent behaviour which is corrupting or youth."
Finally, and just because you couldn't make it up, here's what the senator's biography says about his current residence, "Senator Lanza... reside(s) in the town of Great Kills."
Now, we are certainly not suggesting the lack of a Staten Island-a-like in GTA IV and the fact that the chairman of a Federal committee into violence in video gaming represents Staten Island are in any way connected.
But the fact that he lives in 'Great Kills' - the fact that a place called 'Great Kills' actually exists... now that's just plain strange.
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Comments
YenRug 14 May 2007 12:54
1/5
"The emotions and behaviours of our young children is far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and video games. It is imperative that we find a way to prevent these virtual realities from continuing to fuel and to teach the violent behaviour which is corrupting or youth."
Whilst, all too conveniently, ignoring that the current crime rate statistics in the US indicate that youth-led crime is the lowest it's been in decades....
TimSpong 14 May 2007 13:12
2/5
YenRug wrote:
"The emotions and behaviours of our young children is far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and video games. It is imperative that we find a way to prevent these virtual realities from continuing to fuel and to teach the violent behaviour which is corrupting or youth."
Whilst, all too conveniently, ignoring that the current crime rate statistics in the US indicate that youth-led crime is the lowest it's been in decades....
But that wouldn't have made a good sound-bite. Also, imagine the conversation with Dubya, "What me? Head up the committee? Me? Nah thanks mate. Crime's down, the citizens should actually not be that worried about it. What, eh? If they didn't then they'd start worrying about Iraqastan and the economy? Gotcha!"
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Jim from Brooklyn 24 May 2007 07:41
3/5
To clarify for the non-New Yorkers out there: most of the names of bodies of water, and certain neighborhoods, in the New York City area are from the Dutch language, as a remnant of the old New Amsterdam colony. In Dutch, the word "kill" means "river," which leads to the names of neighborhoods such as Fishkill, Peekskill, and Great Kill, and bodies of water around New York harbour called Bronx Kill, Arthur Kill, and, my personal favorite, the Kill Van Kull.
TimSpong 24 May 2007 10:12
4/5
Jim from Brooklyn wrote:
To clarify for the non-New Yorkers out there: most of the names of bodies of water, and certain neighborhoods, in the New York City area are from the Dutch language, as a remnant of the old New Amsterdam colony. In Dutch, the word "kill" means "river," which leads to the names of neighborhoods such as Fishkill, Peekskill, and Great Kill, and bodies of water around New York harbour called Bronx Kill, Arthur Kill, and, my personal favorite, the Kill Van Kull.
Fantastic... thanks Jim. So, what's your take on Senator Lanza's crusading stance on video games? What's the violence level like in NYC with all those video games sending people crazy?
config 24 May 2007 13:15
5/5
Are you sure it's from Dutch? I can't find any "kill" in Dutch dictionaries.
Much of northern England has assimilated Norse, Danish and Dutch terms into its vocabulary (damn invading Vikings!) and therefore the names of many location bear these terms.
An good example is the the term "beck", which is from either the Danish "bæk" and Dutch "beek" - I'm not sure which. Anyway, this has led to a lot of locations bearing "beck" as a suffix; Holbeck, Wykebeck, Killingbeck (actually named after a famous "kill").
Similarly, we got the word "mere" (as in "lake") from the same word in Dutch.
However, we don't have an "kills" (nearest I can think are "gill" suffixed names). The nearest assimilation I could find is from the Saxon word "kil" which describes the drying of corn, and where we got the term "kiln" (Still sometimes termed "kil")
Much of northern England has assimilated Norse, Danish and Dutch terms into its vocabulary (damn invading Vikings!) and therefore the names of many location bear these terms.
An good example is the the term "beck", which is from either the Danish "bæk" and Dutch "beek" - I'm not sure which. Anyway, this has led to a lot of locations bearing "beck" as a suffix; Holbeck, Wykebeck, Killingbeck (actually named after a famous "kill").
Similarly, we got the word "mere" (as in "lake") from the same word in Dutch.
However, we don't have an "kills" (nearest I can think are "gill" suffixed names). The nearest assimilation I could find is from the Saxon word "kil" which describes the drying of corn, and where we got the term "kiln" (Still sometimes termed "kil")