http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96925-ESRB-Rates-Mass-Effect-2-Big-Krogan-Sex
I know it's kind of a stretch, but I got the idea for something to write about from reading this article. I want to talk about desensitization. I know that for people who understand that word as something other than what happens to aging men or Tobey Maguire in Spiderman 2 (heh, nerd humor) you probably have a pretty varied stance because this concept is still somewhat theoretical more than anything. So for those who don't know, here's a quick lesson.
Desensitization is the concept of pushing so much extreme content such as violence, sex, awkward situations, etc. on a person that they become unmoved by that factor. A good scenario could be someone who watches a lot of horror movies. They're sitting at home, then the power goes off. Someone who doesn't or only watches a few horror films might freak out because they're afraid of the dark or they're paranoid, thinking someone cut the power. Someone who has become desensitized might react differently by.........well, not reacting at all. This can be good, but can also be bad in it's own right. It can be good by making someone not panic and allow them to think smart and resolve the situation clear minded, but it could also be bad by making someone not react fast enough to said situation. Another good scenario is the flinching game. You fake a punch at someone. They're either going to flinch or not flinch(that is the question) and the reason that they do this is because if they flinched, it's probably because they are afraid of it because they don't like being punched. If they don't, they've probably been hit a lot or been in the situation enough to know whether it's worth moving out of the way or not. Joe Normal may freak out at a fake out punch, but Jet Li probably won't just plain flinch if he even does anything. Yet again we land at good and bad. Good, you flinch and protect your precious good looks (snicker). Bad, you're probably going to curl up, leaving yourself open for worse if the guy decides to really hit you, as well as making you look like a chump. Good, you don't flinch and you look tough and you may even be clear headed enough to dodge or counter said punch. Bad, if you just plain don't flinch and make no big deal out of it, you're probably going to suffer the loss of a tooth and some precious childhood memories. Point is desensitization can be both beneficial and superficial depending on both the situation and the degree.
Anyways, the main reason I placed this article out there was the fact that the ESRB is and has been making a big deal out of the game Mass Effect's suggestive content. This content just so happens to be drugs, gambling, sex, and heavy violence just to name a few. Now, I'm not sure about the rest of you but at this point, most drugs, gambling, sex, and violence don't phase me very easily. If I have to put this in perspective, I watched 2 girls 1 cup and 1 finger, as well as the BME pain Olympics with at least one person present and the most I could do is laugh. I kinda just sat there and snickered while I had people around me turn away, leave the room, and in one case projectile vomit. I don't know exactly what this could say about me personally, but what I do know is that it takes a lot to freak me out, gross me out, or anything of the like and otherwise. The reason for this is the fact that I have always been fascinated by freaky stuff, blood/gore, supernatural chicanery, cantankerous situations, basically anything that cannot be explained rationally as well as the stuff that can but on a more psychological basis. Now, Because of this fascination, I have read, watched, and just plain dabbled in it for a long time. Because of this, I am no longer afraid of things that go bump in the night, even though I used to be. This allows for me to walk into dark rooms, corridors, and houses without so much as a moments hesitation. I also had a bad fear of heights until I started climbing trees, roofs, platforms, ect. and after long enough, heights don't bother me anymore. This means that I can easily go up high without mental problems, but it also means I will naturally be less careful because I'm so used to it.
Now, as pertaining to the article, I want to point out the title of the article above. If you don't know what a krogan is, Google it real quick and come back. Done? Yeah, now that title disturbs you a little bit doesn't it? Kinda makes the skin crawl huh? Well, it really didn't for me. Why? Because I have heard of, read of, and probably watched at some point, two beings that I found grossly unattractive doing the horizontal mambo, and I got the ews, oh my gods, and holy FUCK's out of my system. Now, I think that just because a video game wants to make a game rating more mature because of “Implied Sex” then I'm just stuck thinking that all these fuckers at the ESRB are doing are reading spreadsheets from game testers that say “3 counts of drug use, 2 sex scenes, etc.” and they plug it into a machine that spits out a rating. I played the first mass effect through I believe 3 times and undertook both the human on human Quote-Unquote “Romantic Encounter” as well as the human on asari-alien and the female-human on asari-alien. There wasn't so much as a “nip-slip” and after the minor language, obvious violence, and suggestive moral choices, I would have to give it a Teen rating rather then the M it got. I mean, it could have been so much badder, but everyone made a big deal about the facilitation of a sex scene that could involve a human of either gender getting a squeeze and a squirt from an alien in the game. You think that should nab them an M rating for something I have heard (a professional critic mind you) someone say it was borderline bestiality (oh wait, inter-species erotica) and that was grounds for a heavier restriction. Well, I'd like to point out a few other situations. How about the movie species? Human on alien action and some of them had a pg-13 rating. Hmm? How about the movie treasure planet? Remember the scene at the end where the the captain and the dog-thing had cross species babies? I was young when I saw that movie but I knew where babies came from and I could put two and two together pretty easily. So where's it's M rating?
When you're in the future and one race has discovered a new species of intelligent lifeforms, I'm pretty sure that there's some deranged fellow on both our world and their world that would like to frolic in the cornfield, and when their done feeding the kitty, they're probably going to roll over and then yet again proceed to park the Plymouth in the parking garage of love until one of them suffers some sort of stroke. In this case, I have been so desensitized to the concept that I could care less in such a situation and I think that the ESRB, FCC, and anyone else who passes such judgments over any content onto the public should consider. Those organizations shouldn't be run by prudes, they should be run by people who understand the concepts of the content they're rating better. If they have problems with the fact that a game has a situation in which the dude piston proceeds to active in the body shop, then people who have degrees, notoriety, and general knowledge of the concept of the vulcanizing of the whoopie stick should be at a minimum consulted rather then leaving it up to the soccer moms at the ESRB.
Also, just because I condone it, doesn't mean I'd be particularly fond of watching the Krogan service the clam.
