An Open Message to “Dr” Phil McGraw
This one is slightly more serious.
Dr Phil,
You have a lot to answer for.
You went on national television a day after a tragedy took place at Virginia Tech and, unjustifiably, diagnosed the gunman. You had no idea what the motivation for his actions were and yet you made assumptions about what led him to commit these atrocities. That in itself is ethically reprehensible. This isn’t your little made-for-tv family arguments. In doing so, you lent yourself to the side of Jack Thompson and the like who shamelessly place the blame for these epically tragic events on the gaming industry, and showed true disregard for less easy-on-the-ears reasons for the killing.
It is unacceptable and slanderous to place the blame of a murderous rampage on writers, artists, and programmers, given the entire lack of evidence for any link between video games and this senseless violence. You owe it to every person who has ever taken something you’ve said to heart to recant your statements and apologize to the companies and people you labeled as accomplices to this heinous act. Otherwise, your credibility is now matched with that of Jack Thompson - the guy just publicly attacked noted philanthropist Bill Gates about a video game neither he nor his company have had any connection with, throwing hate after money without a hint of research or reason.
Are you to stoop to the level of that ambulance chaser?
Regards,
Gavin Golden
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Tags: celebrities, college, games, guns, mental illness, pop psychology, pseudo-science