"Scandalous" Video Game?

In all honesty, this story should be marked for the 'most ridiculous' pile, but it's worth discussing. The makers of the Grand Theft Auto games have come out with a new role-playing game entitled Bully.

Set in a boarding school, the main character has a series of missions to navigate and obstacles to overcome, including cliques, fights and teenage romance. Sounds harmless, right?

Here's where it gets interesting...and where the "scandal" begins, lol. Seems that the main character (who is male, btw) has the option to...gasp...kiss another boy! Almost on cue, fundies are coming unglued over what's being deemed as the latest in a string of attempts at indoctrinating the youth of this country into becoming gay.

*Insert dramatic eye rolling here*

Sidestepping the obvious absurdity of that whole overblown conclusion, let's take a look at a couple of other facts about this game. First, the game was given a teen (T) rating. If parents are doing their jobs, this game shouldn't get into the hands of a child who's too young for sexual scenes of any description. Second, where was the uproar over the hidden sex scene (entitled Hot Coffee) that was included in the game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? Could it be that it was more acceptable because it involved a hetero couple?

It's truly amazing to me that a hetero sex scene raises eyebrows while a scene involving two men kissing gets the title, "scandalous." As with anything else, though, if you don't like it or don't think it's appropriate for your kids...Don't buy it...and don't tell me what I should or shouldn't buy.