By Staff Writer Matt K.
Jack Thompson isn’t real. I don’t mean he doesn’t exist. I’ve never seen him in person to verify his existence, but unless technology has reached the level of the movie S1m0ne and all who supposedly been in person with him are good actors, I’m sure he exists. I’m also willing to believe that the biological, statistical, and unbiased verifiable facts about his personal and professional life are, for the most part, accurate. What isn’t real, however, is “Jack Thompson.” The boisterous, belligerent hate/fear monger who decries the video game industry and video game playing community, all under the name “Jack Thompson, isn’t real.
It’s all an act. An elaborate ruse designed to rise above all the monotonous detritus of activists who believe that their opinions are infallible and should be lifted up above all others. There are innumerable protest organizations, politicians taking a stand against “morally objectionable” topics, and legal counsel trying to implement their interpretations of the law that an ordinary lawyer from Florida just wouldn’t stand out in the quagmire. In order to be noticed, he has to be outrageous. I’m sure plenty of people have applied, and been rejected, for assistant State Attorney under Janet Reno, but who ran against her as prosecutor, tried to get her to claim to be a homosexual or advocate “homosexual agendas,” and then tried to sue her because she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly? There are countless protestors against music with explicit lyrics, but who compared himself to Batman by declaring a crusade against artists such as NWA and 2 Live Crew and advised others to distance themselves from such groups and people, subtly threatening to wreck the reputation of anyone who didn’t heed his “suggestions?” Plenty of politicians seek to bring the adult content of video games to light, but who takes it to the extreme by personally attacking game makers, advocates, and players, attacking the ratings system designed to inform people of the content, and making hysterical and often hypocritical statements that have long been tracked in the news and in writing? All this Jack Thompson has done while maintaining that his cause is righteous, taking any opportunity to make himself seen and heard, yet he is unwilling to accept any consequences for making himself such a public figure, bringing lawsuits and cease and desist notices against anyone who, at best, makes comments against him or, at worst, parody and mock him. This is all an act.
Anyone in touch with the comedy scene of the 1970’s and early 1980’s or has seen the Jim Carrey movie Man on the Moon know of Andy Kaufman. He was an unconventional comedian who bucked the comedic conventions. Instead of simply telling jokes for punch-line effect, Kaufman sought to fool the audience by pretending to be anything but funny. He would pretend to be serious and controversial, creating an act that was designed to go on for the longest time without apparent comedic effect, much to the chagrin of the audience. However, at the last minute, Kaufman would give an incredible feat of humor or impersonation, that would win over the audience members, who had by this time realized they had been fooled. Kaufman would take his act one step further by staying “in character” in public; he would act eccentric and against convention to all but his family and closest friends. No one could ever take Kaufman seriously; some even believed that his death from a rare form of lung cancer in 1983 was the ultimate prank and expected him to reappear, alive and well, some 20 years later. To Kaufman, there was no limit to how far he was willing to go in order to put one over on the audience.
So is “Jack Thompson” nothing but a Kaufman-esque act designed to get a rise out of as many people as possible? If so, one would have to wonder to what purpose the prank serves. Jack Thompson has stated that stores should be responsible and not sell products marked as unsuitable to anyone under the proper age limit, but instead of concentrating on such outlets that fail to enforce the limit, he vehemently targets the developers and publishers, claiming that there is a moral aptitude that must be maintained, especially when it comes to objects that can fall in the hands of children. He claims to be a crusader. However, as much as Jack purports to serve the moral good by bringing to light the wickedness of the music and game industry, his constant decrying of the controversial products only serve to promote said products, especially to the underage games he claims to want to protect. To the game industry, he is the ultimate advertising. He is constantly bringing the developers to task for their creations, allying himself on the side of the legal and moral right. However, his antics often distance him from others in the legal profession, especially judges he lambastes who don’t rule in his favor and the like-minded organizations who disassociate from him when his outrageous comments and questionable tactics are scrutinized.
He has been found certifiably sane by several review boards, but madness can be described as the repetition of actions that lead to a set result with the belief that a different result will occur. Perhaps he enjoys the attention he gets, both good and bad, from all sides. Perhaps there’s a hidden agenda or purpose he intends to reveal at a later date. Perhaps it isn’t an act and everything he says and does can be taken at face value. No one but the real Jack Thompson can say, but who knows who that is? All we know is an eccentric lawyer who uses unorthodox and often counterproductive means to get attention, and as long as we validate his antics and react in knee-jerk fashion, he’ll continue to perform this act for us.
The best we can do is rise above the cycle. Ignore the act, place him back into the sea of faceless lawmakers and politicians seeking to make a name for themselves by spewing out skewed information and meaningless claptrap against anything that will get them attention. Don’t validate his act. Seek to make the gaming industry better, and let the clowns starving for your attention move on to some other circus. There was only one Andy Kaufman, and anyone else is a sad imitation.
