The film: A thriller about a near-perfect bank heist that quickly devolves into a tense three-way standoff between the robbers, a police negotiator and a fixer hired by the bank's president.
The game: Grand Theft Auto, or rather a game-phobic parent's horrifying idea of Grand Theft Auto.
The scene: Bank robber Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) takes some food to a child hostage, only to find out - to his horror - that the game the kid's been playing is a hyperviolent murder sim that teaches kids that robbery and murder are OK.
Why it's stupid: Director Spike Lee's main beef here seems to be with negative black stereotypes being sold to kids through violent pop culture, but it's also pretty clear that he sees games as an extension of that. Whether that's arguable or not, the movie's "game" is a pretty crude example of the car-crime genre (you "lose points" if you get shot or lose your ride?), and it's way more gruesome than most real games we've seen, GTA included. What's more, Russell might act clueless and horrified when he picks up the PSP, but that's him playing the game, and he's playing like a pro. Seriously, how many 15-second game sessions have you seen that begin with "How's this game work?" and end with a gory, flawlessly performed execution? We're going to guess "none," unless there was money involved and you were hustling someone.
Anyway, can you imagine what would happen if a PSP game were to actually include the "N"-word in a flashing onscreen instruction to the player? You wouldn't be reading this article right now - you'd be arguing on forums about what kind of wood its makers would get nailed to when the angry mob eventually stopped kicking them.
On that note, a word of warning: the following video may not be safe for work.














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