A Treatise on Visual Novels and America

Believe it or not, I had a revelation while watching a Bond film. Beyond the many strange cavalier jokes and impossible plotlines, I noticed something that I had not noticed before, while my eyes were glued to the special edition DVD of Goldeneye.

James Bond movies are pretty sexual.

And I know you are probably laughing by now. Anyone would. It's accepted in American culture. James Bond is a womanizing misogynist, and the whole world loves him for it. Enough to where even when he changes actors, the world seems to follow- no matter how many ?Casino Royale?s we have to face. In a James Bond movie, James runs around pretty much bedding any woman not stapled to the floor, and he does so in debonair fashion.

So why, when we talk about Video Games, do people get their panties in a wad about sexuality? The more pertinent question is, is it so strange to see sexuality in video games where it is so open in movies, music, and popular culture?

There are some obvious reasons these games are stifled. One may be the fact that we have lovely lawyers who need to be disbarred who chase proverbial ambulances and look for reasons to sue the gaming industry. Another reason may simply be that America is far too ingrained in Christian values and ethics to accept anything that resembles heresy. A third reason may be that many of these games that push borders tend to be Japanese and based with Anime, which is much like trying to give someone a gift by wrapping it in issues of ?Nintendo Power? first- it comes in a package that looks evil to the untrained eye.

Anime seems to be the predominant reason this kind of reaction is given to these games. Unfortunately, where there are perfectly normal and enjoyable Anime series for people who will look, popular culture is inundated with series such as ?Naruto? which grind at the brain. It is almost a given that every new episode of ?Bleach? or ?InuYasha? drives a stake into Japanese Animation culture, because it makes it look juvenile and crude. That's certainly not the case, but it's somewhat hard to tell someone that who has to deal with repetitive drivel on their televisions. Frankly, I don't blame them.

But still, it seems a little bit unfair. Perfectly wonderful games (primarily tagged as ?Visual Novels?) are released every day in Japan that are ignored by America because we tend to shield ourselves from what we find ?perverted?. Rather, we are perfectly fine with middle school level jokes on television about Penises, but when it comes to a story of consensual love with more racy content, we get in our bunkers and fire without discretion at the creators, as if Japan is trying to unload some sort of retaliation on us for the Hiroshima bomb.

Don't believe me? Check today's local movies in your theaters. Currently, at the small joint near me, we have the PG rated ?Deck the Halls?- complete with rapid succession sex jokes. And, the all too popular National Lampoon has a new Van Wilder out (why they have done this to the world I have no idea), complete with 11-inch penis jokes and a storyline stolen straight from 70's college movies. ?Let's Go to Prison? is also in theaters. No doubt the scriptwriters have thrown in more anal sex jokes than a twelve year old could possibly imagine. And if you don't think ?Turistas? has some ?accidental? nudity in it, you're either drunk or just stupid.

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