The Governator is a Hypocranator

In the words of one of my bestest internet friends Christopher Ng (The Chort) "You change!". In this case it would be "You change Arnold Schwarchenegger! You change!".

Arnold is the star of many a classic action film that I grew up watching. His million bad guy killing sprees and cheesy one liners are ingrained in my youth.

"Let off some steam, Bennett."

Arnold just killed a chain mail vested, out of shape, kidnapper/old army buddy gone bad with a pipe through the torso and steam came pouring out of the pipe! How bad ass is that? Really freaking bad ass, that's how bad ass! Forty minutes ago my best friend in 5th grade was pausing the VHS and kissing the screen during the one obligatory 80's nude scene. Fifteen years ago that was my favorite movie and Arnold could do no wrong. I grew up watching Terminator, Predator and the above mentioned Commando. To a lesser extent Arnold's early and late 90's work was worth watching too. Terminator 2 being the exception of course, as it is still one of my favorite movies of all time and one of the only sequels that was better than its original.

So what happened? The action hero of the 80's and 90's, who made his career on killing bad dudes, got elected as governor of California. Great people in California are kind of crazy and who doesn't love an immigrant living the American dream story. If Predator is any litmus test, anyone from a great 80's action movies can be a governor. Start putting together campaign contributions Carl Weathers! All fine and good, well not really, but hell what do I care California is really far away.

One topic that does hit home however is violent video game laws. The governator has plans to appeal a court decision that would allow minors to purchase violent and graphic games. Apparently Arnold has acute amnesia. The man built his career and ultimate election on a hill of violent movies and even violent movie video game tie ins. Regardless of the 1st Amendment implications, the governator is trying to slap the hand of the video game industry with his right, while holding the hand of Hollywood with his left. This is not an article about violence in video games, how parents should raise their kids or even censorship and its merits or lack there of. It is about the double standard. Hollywood's fascination with torture porn flicks (Saw and others) goes unnoticed while California and other states ratchet up the pressure on the video game industry and retailers.

Violent video games are a scape goat and politicians who try to string them up are just catering to the media and a media perceived sense of the greater good. Parent's don't let your children view any media (books, games, tv, etc) that you deem inappropriate, its your job not the governments. At the end of the day I enjoy a good violent movie or video game and I will still scream out "get to da choppa" on bike rides, but the Governator has lost the little respect I never even had for him. I know this isn't as dire a topic as Mehtul's and ultimately Kent's most recent writings, but its another topic that is on my radar and I thought I should share.