General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Anita Sarkeesian, Video Game Rape Culture, and Why Online Harassment Is Not a Joke (long screencap) [View all]hifiguy
(33,688 posts)they find aesthetically disagreeable are exploitation pimps. Do I agree with them to some greater degree when that epithet is applied to Hustler? I do. Where I decisively part company is the issue of whether media images should be regarded as images that reflect reality. Hustler presents itself as realistic when few things are further from the truth.
When I was a boy I loved the Three Stooges - I still love the Three Stooges. My mom explained to me that the Three Stooges weren't real and for that reason I couldn't whack obnoxious little Stevie Swanson next door on the head with a hammer and expect to hear the same "bong" as when Moe hit Curly. From that point forward I didn't have a lot of trouble distinguishing movie fantasy from reality.
Surrogate realities, be they films, video games or whatever, are not reality. Those who believe they are real are responsible for their own delusions. Video games are the ultimate unreality and people who believe they are real are mentally diseased.