Elon Musk gets mocked for saying violent games are bad

[Kane99]

I guess Elon Musk got the chance to play the new GTA VI, and he said that he couldn't keep playing it, as the first mission revolves around you shooting cops. He just couldn't do it. He of course was mocked for this all over X. He is known as a gamer, but can't handle a game like GTA? The article below even mentions he plays games like Elden Ring, and I remember he was into over watch, which isn't as violent as GTA, but it still has violence. His holdup seems to be with shooting police. But he has no issues shooting anyone else in the game? Makes you wonder. 

Anyway, do you think Elon is just being Elon? He just sounds like a hypocrite if he enjoys other violent video games. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-relentlessly-mocked-saying-154505375.html

[Shortie]

I find that Elon Musk tends to say things to get him into the spotlight for a little. It can be a while where we do not hear anything from him and then something like this happens and he suddenly ends up being the centre of attention regardless of whether he believes what he says or not. 

It works though and because of that, he will continue to do it. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

Musk is trying to act like he cares because he's in deep doodoo for his role in spreading hate on his platform and engaging in antisemitism. He's looking for a right wing talking point to deflect from himself and his social media and blame some other form of entertainment as the culprit for violence. He's attacking whomever/wherever to rally his peeps, his social media hate speech peeps. Video games are usually the go to in order to deflect from some other violent issues. Musk is that issue now and his promotion of hate on X. 

Another thing to point out is that Musk has no room to talk about violence while he tortured monkeys in his Neuralink experiments and allows widespread racial discrimination at Tesla, which both of these instances are being investigated. 

Musk is just trying to sound like the good guy now all of a sudden while he is currently on his Apology Tour, where he had to go kiss up to Israel after his remarks. I expect Musk to now go and incite more violence against woke and the LGBTQ community, now that he thinks he is gaining favor from the police, trying to sound like he is morally superior after company ads are ditching his toxic waste dump site. Everything about Musk now is a political calculation, with evil intent. 

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

Well, I don't like the thought of shooting cops either. But at the same time, I play Final Fantasy or other games and fight monsters. Cop aren't monsters.

I think his comment stands just fine on it's own, and it's petty and ridiculous and typical of social media to dig up anything he might have said or done in the past in order to drum up a smear campaign and paint him as a hypocrite. You could technically do this with every human being who puts himself out there in the public sphere.

[Ravenfreak]

Honestly he deserves to be mocked, it's a game it's not real. The hateful posts he allows on his platform are real, and do real damage to minorities. He's just jumping on this bandwagon to get more brownie points from the right who oppose violent video games, especially ones like GTA. He's probably a person who puts the blame on violent media for how certain people act when video games do not cause violence.

[Reality vs Adventure]

On 12/8/2023 at 10:10 PM, Dismal_Bliss said:

Well, I don't like the thought of shooting cops either. But at the same time, I play Final Fantasy or other games and fight monsters. Cop aren't monsters.

I think his comment stands just fine on it's own, and it's petty and ridiculous and typical of social media to dig up anything he might have said or done in the past in order to drum up a smear campaign and paint him as a hypocrite. You could technically do this with every human being who puts himself out there in the public sphere.

Why are you and Musk hooked on shooting cops in a video game pretending like it's political?  It's not the theme of the game. GTA is a crime game. Like mafia games or any other crime game. You shoot cops and anyone in your way. You are displaying sympathy towards politicalizing fascist talking points. I believe people in your disposition will no doubt accept banning games just like they ban books.

[Kennysplash]

He has a problem with shooting police, but not others in the game. Well it better be speculation and not true, whether police or anyone else it’s violent nonetheless. 
 

Besides I don’t understand, bad in what way? What is the basis for his view? What exactly makes it bad?

[Debashis]

Elon Musk's preference for certain video games does not necessarily make him a hypocrite. People have different personal boundaries and comfort levels when it comes to violence in media. It's possible that the depiction of shooting cops in GTA VI crossed a line for him, while he may still enjoy other games with violence against different characters or in different contexts.

[Dismal_Bliss]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:05 PM, Reality vs Adventure said:

Why are you and Musk hooked on shooting cops in a video game pretending like it's political? It's not the theme of the game. GTA is a crime game. Like mafia games or any other crime game. You shoot cops and anyone in your way.

I'm not into politics. I'm also not into shooting cops. You, me, or Musk should be able to express this freely without some wanker mocking us or calling us names. I understand the elements of the game predates the more recent negative attitudes towards law enforcement. 

I'm sure for Musk it was political. For me it was just a moral preference.

On 12/11/2023 at 9:05 PM, Reality vs Adventure said:

You are displaying sympathy towards politicalizing fascist talking points.

This statement has no meaning or relevance. Screw politics. Screw the talking heads. Both sides are lunatics that call the other side fascists so they cancel each other out, lol. 

On 12/11/2023 at 9:05 PM, Reality vs Adventure said:

I believe people in your disposition will no doubt accept banning games just like they ban books.

Nobody here is banning books, let alone games. But I appreciate you taking making huge assumptions about what my dispositions may or may not be, lol.

[Dismal_Bliss]

On 12/13/2023 at 11:44 AM, Debashis said:

Elon Musk's preference for certain video games does not necessarily make him a hypocrite. People have different personal boundaries and comfort levels when it comes to violence in media. It's possible that the depiction of shooting cops in GTA VI crossed a line for him, while he may still enjoy other games with violence against different characters or in different contexts.

Well said 👍

[Shagger]

On 12/28/2023 at 2:03 AM, Dismal_Bliss said:

I'm not into politics. I'm also not into shooting cops. You, me, or Musk should be able to express this freely without some wanker mocking us or calling us names. I understand the elements of the game predates the more recent negative attitudes towards law enforcement. 

I'm sure for Musk it was political. For me it was just a moral preference.

This statement has no meaning or relevance. Screw politics. Screw the talking heads. Both sides are lunatics that call the other side fascists so they cancel each other out, lol. 

Nobody here is banning books, let alone games. But I appreciate you taking making huge assumptions about what my dispositions may or may not be, lol.

 

On 12/13/2023 at 4:44 PM, Debashis said:

Elon Musk's preference for certain video games does not necessarily make him a hypocrite. People have different personal boundaries and comfort levels when it comes to violence in media. It's possible that the depiction of shooting cops in GTA VI crossed a line for him, while he may still enjoy other games with violence against different characters or in different contexts.

 

If you two are not comfortable with violence against police in a fictional fantasy, then that's fine, but I must be honest and it doesn't make sense to me to feel that way. I've talked at length about how blaming video games and other entertainment media for acts of violence and other social problems is hypocritical and counterproductive, so I won't go into great detail again and just summarize it.

 

Like it or not, we have violent instincts. We evolved from predators after all. Standing up to and challenging those with power, the "Alphas", in our social group is also something that evolved from our base instincts, so if anything I'd describe the opportunity to express those instincts in a harmless fantasy that video games like GTA offer as healthy. Humans have sentience, that gives us the capacity to fantasize. It's a good thing. Most of us can commit heinous acts in fantasy without any harm done because we understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Expressing fantasy though a video game is not much different that doing it though pure imagination. People who can't define the difference between fantasy and reality in a video game or in any other form of entertainment media have a problem with thier mind, it's that simple.

 

What makes what Elon sain hypocritical is the implication that video games are in some way responsible for violent behaviours or attitudes, which is clearly nonsense.  Elon knows this perfectly well, he only said it to manipulate an area of the public that want to believe that as it's convenient for them for it to be to true as it aligns with thier social/political bias. The man isn't stupid, he knew exactly what he was doing. Like @Dismal_Bliss said, for Musk it is politically motivated, not by passion or any actual moral stance. It's purely for clout. That alone is enough to call Elon a hypocrite, but @Reality vs Adventure quite rightly pointing out the acts of actual cruelty and mistreatment he's been guilty of and that also makes him a hypocrite. Hypocrisy deserves to be mocked and ridiculed because it's dishonest, disrespectful, stupid, manipulative and even potentially dangerous when it comes from somebody with the kind of power Elon Must has.

 

That's my opinion, now switching to Moderator Mode:

 

@Dismal_Bliss, unless I'm misreading this, you keep saying in your own way that you're not interested in the politics of this situation, but the fact of the matter is the politics are relevant here and can't be separated from this topic. You even admitted yourself that Elon Musk's motivations for his statements on social media were political, so like it or not that makes politics a very relevant part of this topic. I'm a moderator on this forum, a forum that has an entire separate sub forum for political discussions for a very good reason, reasons I know from my experience are very necessary. So why haven't I locked or moved this thread? Because, like deep down we both know, the polices can't be separated from this gaming related story. I made that judgment call when @Kane99 first posted this thread, and I still stand by that judgment. So my advice is, and it is nothing more than advice, if you want to continue to engage with this thread, don't just decide the politics of the topic aren't relevant just because you don't want them to be. I remember when the TV cop comedy show Brooklyn 99 aired it's final season in the wake of the BLM movement and didn't shy away from the controversy despite showing the police (mostly) as the good guys throughout it's previous seasons. Instead, they addressed it head on, and that was the right way to do it. Now @Dismal_Bliss , you're right, everyone has a right to thier own opinion and a right to express it, but everyone also has a right to challenge and question somebody else's opinion, that's what debate is. That's true of the free world, and it's true on this forum. You are also right about at least one other thing:

 

On 12/12/2023 at 2:05 AM, Reality vs Adventure said:

Why are you and Musk hooked on shooting cops in a video game pretending like it's political?  It's not the theme of the game. GTA is a crime game. Like mafia games or any other crime game. You shoot cops and anyone in your way. You are displaying sympathy towards politicalizing fascist talking points. I believe people in your disposition will no doubt accept banning games just like they ban books.

 

@Reality vs Adventure

 

You're starting to stray dangerously close to the line between challenging @Dismal_Bliss's opinion and making personal assumptions and attacks. Because this thread isn't on the political sub-forum, my tolerance for this is lower than it would be if it were. Because you can't have necessarily been expected to know that, there will be no action, but please reign it in a little and keep this appropriate. And that is NOT advice. This next part goes to you, @Dismal_Bliss and everyone else on this forum. If having your opinion challenged is too much for you to handle, you shouldn't express that opinion at all. Now @Reality vs Adventure, I actually agree with you here, I think Elon Muck is a hypocritical prick, but as a mod, I will never disallow people to challenge anyone's opinion even if I agree with it. All I ask is for people to keep it civil, and if they can't (And there is nothing wrong with admitting you can't keep a cool head with certain topics.), don't engage. That is all.

Edited February 26 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

3 hours ago, Shagger said:

You starting to stray dangerously close to the line between challenging @Dismal_Bliss's opinion and making a personal assumptions and attacks. Because this thread isn't on the political sub-forum, my tolerance for this is lower than it would be if it were. Because you can't have necessarily been expected to know that, there will be no action, but please reign it in a little and keep this appropriate. And that is NOT advice. This next part goes to you, @Dismal_Bliss and everyone else on this forum. If having your opinion challenged is too much for you to handle, you shouldn't express that opinion at all. Now @Reality vs Adventure, I actually agree with you here, I think Elon Muck is a hypocritical prick, but as a mod, I will never disallow people to challenge anyone's opinion even if I agree with it. All I ask is for people to keep it civil, and if they can't (And there is nothing wrong with admitting you can't keep a cool head with certain topics.), don't engage. That is all.

I understand. I actually like @Dismal_Bliss and I think he's an intelligent man and has great gaming insight. So I'm sorry @Dismal_Bliss I took it to a personal level which was unfair. As far as the topic goes, I will say it's also unfair for Musk to blame a game for police violence and try to inject a false theme in the game long before any release date, all due for one reason only, and that reason was exactly a political motivation by Musk. 

[Kennysplash]

On 12/12/2023 at 1:48 AM, Ravenfreak said:

Honestly he deserves to be mocked, it's a game it's not real. The hateful posts he allows on his platform are real, and do real damage to minorities. He's just jumping on this bandwagon to get more brownie points from the right who oppose violent video games, especially ones like GTA. He's probably a person who puts the blame on violent media for how certain people act when video games do not cause violence.

Exactly my thoughts, the fact that I shoot cops does not mean I would get a gun and start doing the same in reality. It’s a game, he just took it too far. The police are being shot at in movies, I wonder what he has to say to that. 

[Dismal_Bliss]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:56 PM, Shagger said:

unless I'm misreading this, you keep saying in your own way that you're not interested in the politics of this situation

This is true. I purposely turn a blind eye to politics. My reason for stating that I am not into politics was essentially to draw a distinction between myself and someone like Elon Musk, who does indeed make statements knowing it will have a political implication or response.

On 12/27/2023 at 10:56 PM, Shagger said:

This next part goes to you, @Dismal_Bliss and everyone else on this forum. If having your opinion challenged is too much for you to handle, you shouldn't express that opinion at all.

It's not, lol. But none of us like having words put in our mouths or when someone impugns bad motives about us. So when assumptions were made about my 'displaying sympathy' and my disposition that were incorrect, I was moved to set the record straight.

On 12/28/2023 at 3:09 AM, Reality vs Adventure said:

I'm sorry @Dismal_Bliss I took it to a personal level which was unfair.

I appreciate your apology.

I will say that I can also understand better now why people mocked him over this. My initial thoughts were that I feel bad for the guy, as he can probably never express any personal opinions without it causing a stir and maybe some headlines. But that's what you get when you put yourself in the public spotlight like he has.

[Reality vs Adventure]

23 hours ago, Dismal_Bliss said:

I appreciate your apology.

I will say that I can also understand better now why people mocked him over this. My initial thoughts were that I feel bad for the guy, as he can probably never express any personal opinions without it causing a stir and maybe some headlines. But that's what you get when you put yourself in the public spotlight like he has.

I'm glad you appreciate my apology, but I still don't think you understand that Musk puts himself in the spotlight for a reason. If you are Insinuating his actions are only innocent, knowing he has the biggest microphone in the world, is quite shady on your part. 

I don't think you really do appreciate my apology. Because instead of admitting Musk had a political purpose, you assume that he is just an innocent man, with a big voice on X, and everyone is out to get him on the spotlight. To feel bad for the guy for never being able to express himself...Well, he fucking has expressed himself and is losing advertisers over it for his antisemitism. I really don't think you can ever quite grasp who Musk really is. 

And we are back to square One.