games

This has been a constant source of social strife for, as far as I can tell, all of human existence. Whenever a new medium for story telling is developed moral scolds scream from the rooftops that it will destroy society, ruin the sexual morality of women, and turn men in to murderous beasts. It really doesn't matter what it is; Tik-tok, video games, television, radio, movies, rap music, opera, stage plays, novels; A certain faction of society always claims that fiction will somehow destroy the morality of the people and turn everyone in to debased hedonistic monsters who know neither right nor wrong. And they're always wrong. It always turns out to be an unfounded combination of a reactionary hatred of youth and the accusing party projecting it's own inability to distinguish between fiction and reality on others. My observation is that the people who condemn play and imagination most loudly are themselves incapable of either. To them any interest in or enjoyment of a story demonstrates real and enthusiastic support of the concepts in the story and the actions of the characters. They don't seem to be able to grasp the idea that people could read about (or play) a character doing something bad and recognize that the story is fictitious. Whether it's moral watchdogs screaming that FPS games will turn kids in to school shooters or religious freaks screaming that D&D players will sell their souls to satan they're very consistently wrong.

It's basically people screaming "THE CURTAINS ARE BLUE" at the top of their lungs, but instead of being unable or unwilling to see nuance and metaphor in storytelling, they're unable or unwilling to accept the idea that when people play games they are aware of the distinction between fiction and reality.

These two paragraphs go together. And it's discussing how people viewed and discussed Undertale, not pokemans.