‘Grand Theft Auto’ inspires violence? Try the smiley face
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 9:45 am
- 2 Comments
Today’s national water cooler topic: “Grand Theft Auto IV” and whether the video game’s depictions of violence inspire acts of real violence. While attorneys, researchers, gamers and industry types take a whack at that question, one artifact of pop culture is now undeniably linked to violence: the smiley face.
In a story that’s played out on KSTP-TV, “Good Morning America,” New York tabloids and around the world over the last few days, some private eyes now believe the 2002 death of Christopher Jenkins in Minneapolis was the work of serial murderers dubbed the Smiley Face Gang, blamed for 40 or more drownings of college-age men in Midwest and some Eastern states. In a dozen of the cases, a smiley face graffito was found near the bodies.
One person who can’t be responsible, at least for Jenkins’ death on Halloween 2002: Luke Helder, the University of Wisconsin-Stout student who by then had been picked up for planting 16 pipe bombs earlier that year in mailboxes in several states, their locations tracing a smiley face across the Midwest.
2 Comments
Comment posted April 30, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
I’m skeptical This just doesn’t seem to make sense to me. First, smiley faces are one of the most ubiquitous graffiti images other than Hi! defacing our public spaces. Second, the two cops are guessing on where the bodies entered the river. This uncertaintly could easily lead to observational bias whereby the two cops see a couple smiley faces, see a possible connection, and then convince themselves that each place they find a smiley face is a crime scene. Occam’s Razor would point to a simpler explanation.
Show me a spot on an urban riverfront and I bet I can find a smiley face within 500 yard every time. Remember that not all the cases have had a smiley face discovered so this isn’t open and shut.
See my blog post for a more in depth look at why I think this is premature and the local media is playing it up for a ratings bump.
Comment posted April 30, 2008 @ 11:48 am
I'm skeptical This just doesn't seem to make sense to me. First, smiley faces are one of the most ubiquitous graffiti images other than Hi! defacing our public spaces. Second, the two cops are guessing on where the bodies entered the river. This uncertaintly could easily lead to observational bias whereby the two cops see a couple smiley faces, see a possible connection, and then convince themselves that each place they find a smiley face is a crime scene. Occam's Razor would point to a simpler explanation.
Show me a spot on an urban riverfront and I bet I can find a smiley face within 500 yard every time. Remember that not all the cases have had a smiley face discovered so this isn't open and shut.
See my blog post for a more in depth look at why I think this is premature and the local media is playing it up for a ratings bump.
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