I hate to do it but let’s talk about Jack Thompson for just a moment. He’s been relatively quite since our last encounter but with Bully on the horizon he’s popped up again. His recent appearance on G4 has everyone talking about him and that is exactly how Jack wants it. The man is a media whore and by putting him on television you’re just giving him what he wants. Not only that but G4 decided to put him on television with two people who are incapable of going toe to toe with him. Whatever you want to say about Jack, the guy is a lawyer and he knows how to handle himself in these sorts of debates. We all think Jack is nuts but Adam is the only person on that tape who comes off as being crazy. The guy can’t even preach to the choir for God’s sake. Mark seems like a decent guy and he stays calm but I don’t think he did any preparation for this. You can’t go up against someone like Jack and just “wing it”. Jack keeps is cool and essentially runs the show. G4 should have just given Jack his own half hour program. Maybe only schedule twelve re-runs of X-Play and then just slip in the Jack Thompson show.
So how do you fight Jack? Well first off all you don’t fight him directly. He’s like the fucking Candy Man. Mention his name and you give him power. Arguing with him is a waste of time. Jack or someone like him will always be there beating their chest and begging for air time. You’ll never change his mind. What you can change is the validity of his arguments and we don’t do that during a televised debate. We do it through our actions as a community. Last year we took some of the money that came in for Child’s Play and we helped to fund a project called HOPE. What is HOPE? Well, here is their mission statement:
HOPE gives chronically ill children the opportunity to escape stresses inherent in their conditions by providing distraction through gaming and comfort via peer contact. Through our virtual world we are able to ameliorate depression, reduce perceived pain, and improve the quality of our patients’ lives.
Arguing on TV with someone like Jack Thompson seems kind of stupid now don’t you think?
All we have to do, is not be who he says we are.
-Gabe out
