Jack Thompson Burnout: Can We Stop Now?

I have no idea what the solution is. Waiting for Jack to consign himself to the pits of absolute irrelevance sounds good, but who decides when he's hit bottom? If he is disbarred, as many observers expect is inevitable, will we find ourselves free of him?

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I'm going to bump this to oblivion. Don't try to stop me, Joe.

People will never stop talking about him as long as we keep writing articles asking when people will stop talking about him.

I like to think that one man's base voyeurism might be another's fascinating psychological study.

Seriously, though, a question: suppose you could pick any person to write an article about who's arguing some variant of the position that violent games can be dangerous, without having to worry about marketability, political relevance, etc. Whom would you pick? If I want to take on a thoughtful, cogent position, whose would you recommend?

Bongo Bill, you need to use Jack Thompson's name in a post about Jack Thompson. I think it's in the Escapist's by-laws somewhere.

So, to make up your error, here is a reinterpretation of your post:

"Jack Thompson JT Jacky T. Jack Thompson Thompson, Jack Jackie Boy Jack O'Thompson Thompson Jack Tommy Jack Jack Jack Jack JT JT JT."

I have no problem with ol' Jack being the poster boy for the "evils of gaming" - he's clearly an idiot and a moron, and the more people associate "censorship = raving lunatic", but better the world will be, IMO.

VanishedOne, please refer to the post below yours.

anyGould, you left out the "Thompson."

Right, i hadnt sacrificed a single thought for this wanker untill i stumbled upon this thread on my usual late night forum rounds. Fun reading as these Escapist articles always are though.

So i shouldnt read about Jack Thompson then ? i agree and you know i dont even bother because in my humble opinion Jack Thompson is a person who has seen too many episodes of <enter some american lawyer shows name here> and he wants his 15 minutes of fame that is probably guaranteed in the constitution by now but at the end he just wants to score with some M.I.L.F.

Whenever i see news ( if one can actually call them news ) about Jack Thompson, i usually ignore it for the simple fact that the man is scum of the earth in its purest form and this is the reaction he probably wants to generate in audiences around the globe. I simply made an exception this time since it was the Escapist after all and the article hit the nail in the head as always :)

It's like the Britney and Lindsay things. Stop making stories and it goes away. Stop making stories about him.
And NO, I'm not going to bother with his name. It just gives him more attention.

I agree with some of the things said both in the article and in the comments - media writes about Jack because people read it, and people like to laugh and point at the stories that are there. I actually think there's another point in here, too.

Someone needs to make sure it's documented how completely bizarrely then man acts. It gives people something to point to when the anti-game people trot him or his lawsuits/interviews out. Making sure to let people know this man, claiming such outrageous things about games, is not to be trusted is important to the livelihood of the industry.

Oh man, I actually plan on going to the Video Game Expo, partly to see Lorne Lanning. But Jack Thompson is going to be there? Man...

Anyway, like Repo Man, I don't read Jack Thompson articles anymore. I only read this because, well, it's The Escapist, and the quote made me think "What? Something might happen where we don't hear about him ever again?". Instead, I find out he may very well be at a gaming convention that I'm attending.

There is far too little JACK EVERLOVING THOMPSON FOREVER in this thread. Jack Thompson and I are out of here.

brilliant. piece. of. writing.

i actually do care about the subject but the use of metaphors and freshly stylized writing.

truley the escapist is not just another website about videogames.

Jack is whitewashing in my opinion. I think he is being paid mega bucks by someone to play the fall guy that tries to make games look evil. After him who would try to do something similar just with more reserve and debate? No one since he/she will just be labeled as a JT clone no matter how relevant the argument.

So keep writing about the fool so that we can always point at anyone else trying the same thing and LOL at them without reserve or thought about moral right or wrong.

Thompson is to use a FF9 reference here Queen Brahne she's loud, annoying, has some sort of power but is ultimately a joke. Last thing anyone wants is Kuja the slick powerful, smart and witty central villain to take center stage.

In short I'd rather have Thompson give these people a bad name then some lawyer who actually can put strong arguement across without resulting to name calling is all.

Personally, though I find Jack "the Whack" Thompson's opinions odious and reprehensible I also find that his antics make me reach for the popcorn and shush those nearby. This is better entertainment than most theatres offer these days.

Let him hate on, so long as he keeps going so ridiculously over-the-top that even the mainstream media can figure out he's got some rabid bats in his belfry.

Raisinettes, anyone?

-- Steve

I think you should have a script where each post gets at least one "Thompson" from the moment a "Thompson" is mentionned in the title.
Can this be done?

And Maly, we don't read your articles because we love Jack. It's because we love YOU. <3

*wet kisses*

EDIT: Initially, my "smiley" in that post was supposed to look like a heart, but after a second thought, it seems to have more to do with something phalic. Considering the words it follows, I hope you won't misinterpret this symbol of true love. x_x

Jack Thompson has been in the news recently? I must have missed this under my rock.

And feel free to stop writing about him anytime. I find him to be complete trash and I doubt he's ever going to accomplish much, not when people with brains look back on his track record...

I think most of us would be quite happy to move on to other things, if you'd just let us. Which makes it all quite simple: Want us to stop talking about Jack? Stop reading about him.

With all due respect, this is absolute rubbish.

First of all, you people have the power of agenda setting on your side. It may not be pretty, but go ahead and take some license in what seems newsworthy. Not all papers cover the same tripe. The New York Times ignores the stuff that People covers. Let some other "news" sites cover Jack Thompson.

Second of all, even those of us who seem to be reading about him with you here aren't necessarily doing so. Yes, you will see me registering on your pageviews/requests as I pull links to all your (and Kotaku's, and Joystiq's, and Game Politics's, etc.) articles. Yes, I skim everything I have time to skim, assessing what is actually relevant before I read. And no, I am not interested in reading the stuff about Jack Thompson — except the posts about whether we can stop talking about him, hoping that they will end with a pledge to stop writing about him. You let me down on this one.

Seriously, he has moved from mildly threatening through loveably zany and into irrelevant. Don't lay this on us. Please write about things that matter to the development of gaming as an industry, a medium, and a culture, and quit pandering to an audience that can get amusingly sensationalistic junkfood elsewhere.

JasonT:
Seriously, he has moved from mildly threatening through loveably zany and into irrelevant. Don't lay this on us. Please write about things that matter to the development of gaming as an industry, a medium, and a culture, and quit pandering to an audience that can get amusingly sensationalistic junkfood elsewhere.

I think that's the point.

Look at Game Politics for example. (Yes, I'll name names!)

Every single day they have a post about Jack Thompson. It's gone BEYOND news to being a carnival.

Game Politics is (apparently) a well respected website for news, and if they're reporting on this maniac every day then other, bigger news sites are going to think that Jack Thompson is important.

I'm not saying stop reporting about him altogether, but determine what is newsworthy.

Thompson Thompson Jacky Thompson JT

Ok, hopefully I punched my card. Anyway, I hate to say it, but there are some reasoned, cogent arguments out there for censoring, or limiting access to violent videogames. I want these arguments to go away, for people to stop thinking about them and to instead look at something shiny over there. I don't care if videogames cause pancreatic cancer in mice, I want access and varied product.

'ol Jack is one of the best things to happen to the videogame industry. If you are going to have a champion out there dedicated to wiping out your product, make sure he is wearing a trash bag as a kilt and screaming random trivia while pushing a shopping cart full of aluminum cans. Lets put him on the front of every game box.

Of course there are good arguments in a bit of control over what really ends in retail, or how it is sorted. But things get so mixed up, put on such extremes, emphasized to the point where it gets whiter than white, or blacker than black, and all common sense fails.

As for Malygris' point, I can't agree with it.
Forums will never be as important as the headnews of a well respected website. So you can always moan that site members post a Jack Thompson thread on a weekly basis, they're often seen to mirror what the site - they belong to - does.

Look here. Escapist had a couple of news about that twat of Jack Thompson. Do we, as members, post that many new threads about Jack Thompson?

A bit of superb logic now:
Google returns 71,300,000 entries for "video game" (use of the brackets). Huh, the first entry is a link related to Manhunt 2's violence.
The same strict research for "jack thompson" gives 1,660,000 entries.

This means Jack Thompson represents roughly 2.3% in comparison to what "video game" represent on the very respected googlemetrics.

2.3% is too much.

Jack Thompson.

Hmm. So many mentions of his name and yet, he still hasn't sent us a letter threatening to sue. (No Derek Smart is he.) How about a Photoshop challenge?

...Sweet zombie Jesus.

You are so right.

Zeus won't be pleased... that said, we first need a good batch of Jack Thompson pictures.
I think we also need to find the video game's equivalent of the Black Knight.

We sort of need someone absolutely ridiculous promoting anti-game bullstuff, because it makes us look more credible, so there's a lot of focus on him. If one side is a nutcase, doesn't that make the other look smarter?

"Know your enemy" When he becomes wholly irrelevant and stops influencing people, then he will be. There is crap media, and thoughtless sensationalism, I wouldn't worry about it.

I think this will really hit home for a lot of viewers. I concur, of course, with the content, but as long as the industry needs such a willing scapegoat* who's obviously so far past the line of logic that he certainly can't have any points which may actually mean anything people will pay him attention. Right?

EDIT: *Jack Thompson

I think Mad old Jack has gone from being the worst thing to happen to the video game industry to being among the best things to happen to the video game industry. Radical anti-video game politics will always be associated with him, and as such, will be discredited by default. It works well for us.

On a side note, Jack Thompson.

We now bring you a rebuttal from Jack Thompson.*

"Jack Thompson is ecstatic about this latest libelous and completely unfounded attack on Jack Thompson. Jack Thompson considers this the greatest gift Jack Thompson could have been given. You may rest assured that Jack Thompson will soon deliver an incredibly masterful and god-like filing showing how completely kangaroo-like your behavior is, and Jack Thompson will not rest until Jack Thompson has been properly compensated for the damage to Jack Thompson's reputation and practice from this libelous libel against Jack Thompson."

* This satirical reply is in no way associated with Jack Thompson. Jack Thompson. Jack Thompson. (Inaudible muttering...)

I bet Jack Thompson secretly loves GTA...

Deathbird:
I bet Jack Thompson secretly loves GTA...

Course he does, it gives him attention.

Thing is, I think the further he moves towards complete self destruction (and he seems pretty damn close already, the less anyone will report on him, as really most people writing articles are writing them because he actually could pose some threat to the industry.

As he moves ever nearer making Bonzo the clown look like a more creditable lawyer, the fewer and fewer column inches he'll get, but probably the more gleeful forum posts he'll spawn.

I guiltily admit to really enjoying hating him and all he stands for, and venting regularly when he shows up on sites tho.