I just hung up on Morgan Freeman.  He called right in the middle of dinner and at our house, dinner is family time.  Friday evening I hung up on Martin Sheen.  I’m sure many other A-List celebrities have been calling of late, but I’ve hung up before they could introduce themselves and implore me to vote one way or another. The campaign phone calls have been relentless, like ants in the pantry in the middle of summer! I am not a tremendously “political” person but I cannot remember a more vicious and completely demoralizing election since I was old enough to vote. Who’s in charge of this pop stand?  I demand to see the manager!

 

 

With today’s release of EA’s controversial new version of Medal of Honor, set in Afghanistan, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, who’s upset at what and why did this story get so much traction in the months leading up the product launch. 

At a casual glance, you might think “guns, violence and mayhem in video games” are once again being used as easy media fodder. Been there, done that, if you don’t like it don’t buy it. Get a life.  But let’s not let ourselves off so easily.  The root of the issue seems to be EA’s decision to allow gamers to play as the Taliban, rather than the usual non-descript “insurgents” or “terrorists.”  With the US and key allies firmly entrenched in a long and vicious war in Afghanistan, with the daily list of casualties getting longer, not shorter, how could EA not spark controversy with such a game? One would think a giant like EA would be neither flippant nor careless in the face of such potential commotion and one assumes that they are no stranger to controversy or moral arguments on all sides of game-related issues.   

 

I’ve spent the better part of the last three hours reading online reports too numerous to count detailing the latest DreamWorks Animation earnings report.  I know less now than I knew before I started.  I’m not an analyst and I don’t play one on TV, but I’ve been known to work a spreadsheet or two in my day and push comes to shove, I can spell Charles Schwab.  So, it seems to me that since DreamWorks made money last quarter, which normally is considered a good thing, everyone should be happy right?  Guess again.

Disney chairman Rich Ross’ first year at the helm has been a busy one.  There’s a telling article by Michael Bodey in today’s online edition of The Australian that caught my attention.  There are a couple comments Ross made during his recent trip to Australia that are of particular interest. One involves what he did say and one involves what he didn’t say.