Funny old place, America. SPOnG spends quite a lot of time over there and for some reason, we only tend to meet nice American people. And yet most of them would seem to be crazed right-wing reactionary lunatics.
And it’s quite funny what winds them up. You’d think that starving half the planet to death and destabilising much of the world in pursuit of making its richest citizens richer would cause a certain amount of outcry but apparently not, that’s all fine.
What Americans really seem to hate is a computer game in which you try and blow mafia-linked womaniser JFK’s head off, playing as CIA stooge Lee Harvey Oswald.
Available right
here from Traffic Games, you are invited to take part in a virtual assassination of JFK, with those making the mark eligible for a prize of up to $100,000.
For reference, John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 amid the Vietnam War, an historic event deemed acceptable for recreation, and less than 20 years after the US let off the only atomic weapon ever aimed at people, with 140,000 civilian deaths recorded.
Of course, Traffic Games’ defence that is has created something educational to be enjoyed by the masses as part of an interactive documentary is as cynical a claim as it is disingenuous. But some of the feedback for elements of the US press has been astounding.
The Indystar newspaper advises reader to “…grit your teeth and prepare to take offence -- at the very least. Created by Traffic Games, a Glasgow, Scotland, tech firm, "JFK Reloaded" can be downloaded off the Internet for $9.99 -- thus making it probably more consumer-accessible than games from traditional outlets.”
You see, it’s everywhere!
“Players fire three shots at the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, from the perspective of Lee Harvey Oswald in the Texas School Book Depository. They score if their shots match the official version of events as reported by the Warren Commission. They lose if, say, they accidentally hit first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. "Blood effects" visuals are optional. By pressing a button, players can witness the effect of the bullet hitting the president's skull or body. Even the timing is ugly -- it was released Monday, the 41st anniversary of the assassination.”
Perhaps the right-wing in America is somewhat sensitive on the subject of assassination right now. SPOnG can’t understand why…