Philosopher Seth Rogan once quipped, “If marijuana isn’t legalized in the next five years, I will loose all faith in humanity!!!”  The words of a cliché druggy, no?  Bud, Pot, Ganja, Mary Jane, Dope, Grass, Hash, Weed, the nicknames are seemingly endless, but we know it best as marijuana, or “the gateway drug” as parents and school resource officers tell us.  For those of you who don’t know, the reason marijuana is often called this name is because of how many of its users move on to other stronger and more deadly drugs.  But is “Mary Jane” the only “gateway” in our lives?  Could we consider things like gang-based video games or nasty TV shows as gateway’s to something worse also?  But more importantly, are they really that bad?  Well, I’m here to answer those questions and explain what gateways are, whether or not they really are all that bad and what we can and should do about them.

            In 1999, the highly popular but equally controversial television show, “Family Guy” premiered on Fox Television.  This comedy program soon became attacked by parents and politicians claiming a “lack of morals and family values”, in fact, other than the numerous watchdog groups started by priests, parents and politicians, there is actually a wikipedia page devoted entirely to the criticism of “Family Guy”.  (Which also makes research on this topic very easy)  The greatest attackers of “Family Guy” is the Parents Television Council (PTC), a group started by the republican run Media Research Center whose goal is, as stated by founder L. Brent Bozell III to “promote and restore responsibility and decency to the television industry”.  According to ratings on the PTC website, “Family Guy is rated red for sex. Although the show is intended to be a satire of the American family, it depends heavily on oblique sexual innuendo and sexual themes such as incest, bestiality and pedophilia. The premiere episode of the show’s 7th season centered on Brian’s new girlfriend, who has sex with everyone but Brian…”  They go on to claim issues with language and violence as well.  Another popular controversial entertainment powerhouse is the video game series “Grand Theft Auto”.  On October 20, 2003, Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede were shot by two other teenagers, William and Josh Buckner.  During police investigations, the Buckner’s claimed that Grand Theft Auto was the purpose and inspiration for their crime.  That same year in Fayette, Alabama, 17-year-old Devin Moore shot and killed three police officers in interrogation about a stolen car. Jack Thompson, a Florida lawyer, and Devin’s family claimed it was the graphic nature of Grand Theft Auto along with his constant playing time that caused Moore to commit the murders.  Three years later, Thompson appeared on the Glenn Beck Program and stated “There’s no doubt in my mind…that but for Devin Moore’s training on this cop killing simulator, he would not have been able to kill three cops in Fayette, Alabama who are now dead and in the ground. We are suing Take-Two, Sony, Wal-Mart, and for Game Stop having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No criminal record.”  The next year, Thompson brought another case before the courts, this time Cody Posey for having murdered his father, stepmother and stepsister.  He, like Devin, played the game profusely before the crime, and again Thompson claimed the games were to blame.  Court cases and politics set aside though, these games and television shows claimed to be the gateway to anything as small as crude public behavior to as large as murder and theft.  I guess it isn’t just pot that leads us into something bad.

            So we understand exactly what qualifies as a gateway.  Okay, I know what your thinking, after describing all that horrible stuff, is this kid really gonna tell us it isn’t bad?  (Makes circular motion) SIX.  Before you do that, think about it.  We all can agree that rudeness and crime and murder are bad things, but are video games, a mild relaxant drug and television shows the cause?  If we listen to people like Jack Thompson, the answer is an obvious yes.  But there is always a second side to every story, and incidentally enough, Mr. Thompson is no longer allowed to practice law due to his use of false information and withholding evidence in trial.  Shows like South Park and Family Guy are obviously gateways to rude behavior, and Grand Theft Auto, Bully and other similar games are obviously gateways to crime and violent behavior, if you watch them enough.  All these cases stated the actor had been watching or playing the game or television show in ridiculously high quantities.  More specifically, in the Posey case stated previously, Thompson left out the fact that Cody’s father had physically and sexually abused him, his stepmother and stepsister took advantage of him.  My point is that everything can be safe in moderation!  No legitimate medical report will tell you that one occurrence with marijuana will hurt your body; in fact it has been proven that marijuana is less deadly than alcohol, tobacco or repeated doses of caffeine!  That’s right, caffeine is a drug like all the others, and again, only safe in moderation, but you don’t see that under much heat nowadays do you?  Did these games, movies, television shows instruct, moreover, force, the user to play or watch all the time, to the point where they don’t care about anything else, or don’t want to?  Since that answer is a far obvious “no”, then the idea of anyone placing blame on anything “gateway” is ludicrous and hypocritical.  When we look at something from a biased or single-sided point of view, we never can really see what it is.  Most of the time this ends up making us jump to conclusions or look down on the beginnings of the thing but never the thing itself.  If you do look at the thing alone and in its prime, it isn’t that bad at all.

            So why do we have these biased views and hypocritical claims against so much?  Are we afraid of seeing everything in its fullest?  Or are we just too lazy?  The cause isn’t as important as the effect, which is devastating.  We have sunk into this false perception that it is okay to blame a video game or TV show for your child’s low grades, or my brother’s attitude, or the common criminal.  We can’t accept the fact that it is actually us who make the mistake, who takes that extra drug, who steals the car, who files the lawsuit.  The purpose or cause of the author is irrelevant, because it ultimately is us who chooses to watch the show and willingly take offence to it.  So now you may be wondering, “Wow kid, this is really depressing, what the hell can I do about it though?”  It’s easy.  Stop blaming others.  This doesn’t just go for weed or Seth MacFarlane, I mean everything.  Take responsibility for your actions and your children.  If you think that South Park or Grand Theft Auto are negative influences, talk to your children and tell them not to play or watch them!  There is a massive amount of child protective programs and blocks available for free by your cable provider, TV, computer and Xbox.  Don’t attack the actual makers or products, especially when you have so much power in your hands.  For all the non-parents in the room who can’t relate to what I’m talking about, just take responsibility, take control, and leave others alone.  If we all do these three simple things, the label “gateway” will disappear forever, and I guarantee that we will see more honor and accountability in you, your children and your children’s children. 

 

-By Charles Riley Wanless

 

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