Banned in Many Countries: A Controversial Game
As a longtime gaming enthusiast, I’ve played through my fair share of boundary-pushing titles over the years. But few have lodged in my memory as indelibly as Rockstar Games’ 2006 release Bully. Known as Canis Canem Edit in Europe, this incendiary open world adventure meant to parody toxic schoolyard power dynamics. Yet in doing so without pulls punches, it likewise angered moral arbiters worldwide due to scenes depicting violence, sexual themes, racism, sexism and more among its underage cast. Banned in Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, Bully tests even staunch defenders of free speech like myself who appreciate gaming’s counterculture edge yet draw lines when it comes to endorsing the behaviors on display among Bullworth Academy’s twisted student body.
Love it or hate it, Bully pulls no punches. As conflicted new transfer student Jimmy Hopkins, players are thrust into the super-charged social dynamics between Bullworth Academy’s jocks, preppies, nerds, greasers and other cliques all jockeying for dominance. Rockstar pioneered open world exploration through series like Grand Theft Auto by then, incentivizing maximum free agency through accessible weapons, fast vehicles and urban playgrounds. Now they brought that ethos to the schoolyard, handing players an arsenal of stink bombs, fire crackers, potatoes launchers and more to wage psychological warfare on susceptible classmates. Jimmy likewise possesses fists, feet and eventual weapons like slingshots, bottle rockets, bricks and baseball bats to bash any perceived threats. All while teachers watch helplessly on the sidelines, as if to indict the failures of supposedly responsible adults to intercede against harassment.
Cultural critics worldwide quickly took Rockstar to task on exactly these grounds, arguing Jimmy’s antics crossed lines by depicting violence against both students and authority figures. Unlike the criminal anti-heroes of Grand Theft Auto roaming through exaggerated fictional cities inspired by Miami to New York, Bully traffics in battles with and pranks against children and school officials no matter how satirical its lens. Leading countries like Brazil, Australia and New Zealand to prohibit sales entirely.
Their concerns hold weight from an ethical perspective. Jimmy’s methods for ascending Bullworth’s reputation ladder tend toward the underhanded and illegal:
- A mission titled “The Big Prank” sees players knocking out on-duty cops through fist fights or weapon attacks so Jimmy can spray paint public property and egg passersby.
- Chemistry class features a lab section requiring Jimmy douse stray crabs with acid as the teacher obliviously prattles on about the ecosystem.
- Guaranteed laughs for adolescent boys perhaps, but spraying panicked cliques like Nerds with phallic-shaped spud guns pushed boundaries even by 2006 standards.
- Romantic side plots likewise allow Jimmy to kiss various underage boys and girls after helping them with requests, veil references to sexual activity barely hidden behind cheeky innuendo.
Advocacy groups rallied public pressure against the “E10+” rating Bully initially garnered in America, arguing such content risked normalizing harassment and violence committed by minors. Studies by the American Psychological Association report correlations between exposure to violent media and temporary increases in aggressive cognition. Though direct links proving games trigger real world behavioral changes remain inconclusive. Either way, countries like Brazil harbour cultural attitudes emphasizing family values over free expression, leading to zero tolerance policies against perceived obscenity. Collectivist cultures similarly emphasize social responsibility over individuation more accepted in America’s fierce defence of consumer choice arguments.
Yet having played through Bully across various platforms now, I both understand the outrage while also believing reactionary bans prove short-sighted. Because rather than endorsing misconduct outright, Bully leverages irony and hyperbole to satirize the now infamous “jocks versus nerds’ stereotypes omnipresent in school settings. By underscoring administrative negligence, the game likewise hints at wider cultural complicity in overlooking toxic behaviors from both students and supposedly responsible role models alike. Could solutions come through healthier dialogue, as Bully almost implies, rather than continual finger pointing?
As a quick survey of gameplay statistics underscores, countries banning Bully often face endemic educational issues along similar lines:
| Country | Bully Banned? | Student Bullying Rates |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Yes | 27% grades 6-10 experienced bullying |
| Brazil | Yes | Over 50% of Brazilian students endure regular bullying |
| USA | No | 20% of students bullied on school property |
The debate around video games and violence likewise rages on even in the scientific community. Groups like the American Psychological Association claim studies demonstrate increased short term aggression from violent gameplay. But as Villanova University media researcher Patrick Markey counters, “Basically every major scientific society has put together a commission or released a statement saying media violence either has no effect or a very tiny effect on aggression.”
Ultimately no definitive right or wrong answers emerge here, underscoring the need for thoughtful dialogue when evaluating provocative cultural works rather than reactionary censure. Because while Bully purposefully pushes boundaries past most fans’ comfort levels through its embrace of vice and defiance, I’d argue copies still deserve a place on library shelves rather than outright bans.
glasses may frame scenes of wanton mischief as pure entertainment. But discussing the real dynamics enabling harassment and misconduct seems the only path toward actual change. Does prohibiting content addressing legitimate societal issues actually help troubled youth still facing them daily in locker rooms worldwide?
As a gamer myself, I still wrestle with the implications of embracing Bully’s carnival of excess among cruel children devoid of adult guidance. Its tongue-in-cheek humor sparks laughs while touching on issues no laughing matter. Yet suppressing voices, however provocative their medium, rarely resolves underlying conflicts. And Bully still stands among the most subversive satires of both youth culture and my own beloved pastime I’ve ever encountered.
So I propose we lift bans while opening hearts and minds to actually hear what this purposefully disagreeable game implies through its irony laced provocations. Necessary boundaries guarding human dignity always exist. But perhaps solutions come through engaging darkness rather than hiding from that which disturbs in hopes it somehow disappears as a result. This holds true both in real schoolyards and virtual spaces alike.
Over to you – what’s your take? I’m listening.