Keep and Bear Arms

Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Lyin'

by John B. Thompson, Attorney

John B. Thompson, Attorney
1172 South Dixie Highway, Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146-2750
Phone: 305-666-4366
Fax: 305-666-7275

October 4, 2000

Bruce E. Nussbaum
Senior Vice President and General Counsel GameWorks
600 North Brand Blvd., 5th Floor
Glendale, California 91203
VIA FAX to 818-254-4315
Steven Spielberg C/o Katherine Kendrick
General Counsel DreamWorks SKG
Universal City, California
VIA FAX to 818-733-6699

Re: GameWorks and the Molestation of Minors

Dear Mr. Nussbaum and Mr. Spielberg:

It is 34 months after the school shootings in Paducah. It is 17 months after the Littleton massacre. It is nearly a full month after the Federal Trade Commission report which blew the whistle on the entertainment industry's marketing of violent entertainment to children. Thus you have known, as has the rest of the nation, the central role that first-person shooter video games have played in school violence. And you couldn't care less.

I have just, minutes ago, returned after a visit with my eight-year-old son to the GameWorks not one mile from our home. What did we find? As we were walking in, two teenaged boys, surely no older than 14 years of age, were walking out. I asked them: "Did you have to be accompanied by an adult to go into GameWorks?" The one said: "No way. All we had to do is buy a $10 play card.

Sure enough, upon entering the South Miami, Florida, GameWorks, I asked the manager at the front desk: "Does a fifteen-year-old have to be accompanied by an adult to come in here and play all the games?" The manager said:

"As long as it is before ten p.m., any kid can come in here by himself and play any game without an adult, as long as he buys a ten dollar game play card."

"He can play any game, even the shooter games?" "Any game."

We then entered the fantasy world that you, Mr. Spielberg, created with your genius, so reminiscent of the playworld in Pinocchio in which boys are turned into donkeys.

On the second floor of this GameWorks are all the first-person shooter games from which you make money, as boys play them. I walked up to one boy playing Time Crisis II this afternoon. His Namco gun was recoiling with every burst of gunfire as he obliterated one virtual life after another. When the game stopped, I asked him: "How old are you?" He said: "I'm twelve." I asked:

"Did a parent or other adult have to bring you in here?" "No, I came in by myself."

Let me tell you something, Mr. Spielberg. Your statements through your lawyers and your corporate spokespeople about how a) you have nothing to do with GameWorks and b) adequate steps are taken to keep kids from playing these games are nothing but studied, purposeful mendacity. You, Mr. Spielberg, and your lawyers, are liars.

You are mentally molesting other persons' children, and you are doing it for money. And you are lying about what you are doing.

All of you, but particularly you, Mr. Spielberg, deserve to be exposed to all the world for what you are: someone who has betrayed the trust of a generation of parents.

It is ironic, as well as poignant beyond words, that hanging across Sunset Drive in South Miami, Florida, right outside the GameWorks right this minute, is a banner encouraging parents to "buy gun safety locks for your guns,"

to keep their children and others safe from gun violence.

Yet you, Mr. Spielberg, are training children to use those guns, any guns, in an arcade of violence not a football field away from that banner.

The banner is blood red. It is as red as any blood one can see in Saving Private Ryan. What blood will be on your hands, Mr. Spielberg, when the next shots ring out in a school in America?

Best,

Jack Thompson

Copies:
Certain Members of Congress
Vice President Albert A. Gore
Governor George W. Bush
Significant Others

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Written By:	Jack Thompson
	Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Lyin' by John B. Thompson, Attorney John B. Thompson, Attorney 1172 South Dixie Highway, Suite 111 Coral Gables, Florida 33146-2750 Phone: 305-666-4366 Fax: 305-666-7275 October 4, 2000 Bruce E. Nussbaum Senior Vice President and General Counsel GameWorks 600 North Brand Blvd., 5th Floor Glendale, California 91203 VIA FAX to 818-254-4315 Steven Spielberg C/o Katherine Kendrick General Counsel DreamWorks SKG Universal City, California VIA FAX to 818-733-6699 Re: GameWorks and the Molestation of Minors Dear Mr. Nussbaum and Mr. Spielberg: It is 34 months after the school shootings in Paducah. It is 17 months after the Littleton massacre. It is nearly a full month after the Federal Trade Commission report which blew the whistle on the entertainment industry's marketing of violent entertainment to children. Thus you have known, as has the rest of the nation, the central role that first-person shooter video games have played in school violence. And you couldn't care less. I have just, minutes ago, returned after a visit with my eight-year-old son to the GameWorks not one mile from our home. What did we find? As we were walking in, two teenaged boys, surely no older than 14 years of age, were walking out. I asked them: "Did you have to be accompanied by an adult to go into GameWorks?" The one said: "No way. All we had to do is buy a $10 play card. Sure enough, upon entering the South Miami, Florida, GameWorks, I asked the manager at the front desk: "Does a fifteen-year-old have to be accompanied by an adult to come in here and play all the games?" The manager said: "As long as it is before ten p.m., any kid can come in here by himself and play any game without an adult, as long as he buys a ten dollar game play card." "He can play any game, even the shooter games?" "Any game." We then entered the fantasy world that you, Mr. Spielberg, created with your genius, so reminiscent of the playworld in Pinocchio in which boys are turned into donkeys. On the second floor of this GameWorks are all the first-person shooter games from which you make money, as boys play them. I walked up to one boy playing Time Crisis II this afternoon. His Namco gun was recoiling with every burst of gunfire as he obliterated one virtual life after another. When the game stopped, I asked him: "How old are you?" He said: "I'm twelve." I asked: "Did a parent or other adult have to bring you in here?" "No, I came in by myself." Let me tell you something, Mr. Spielberg. Your statements through your lawyers and your corporate spokespeople about how a) you have nothing to do with GameWorks and b) adequate steps are taken to keep kids from playing these games are nothing but studied, purposeful mendacity. You, Mr. Spielberg, and your lawyers, are liars. You are mentally molesting other persons' children, and you are doing it for money. And you are lying about what you are doing. All of you, but particularly you, Mr. Spielberg, deserve to be exposed to all the world for what you are: someone who has betrayed the trust of a generation of parents. It is ironic, as well as poignant beyond words, that hanging across Sunset Drive in South Miami, Florida, right outside the GameWorks right this minute, is a banner encouraging parents to "buy gun safety locks for your guns," to keep their children and others safe from gun violence. Yet you, Mr. Spielberg, are training children to use those guns, any guns, in an arcade of violence not a football field away from that banner. The banner is blood red. It is as red as any blood one can see in Saving Private Ryan. What blood will be on your hands, Mr. Spielberg, when the next shots ring out in a school in America? Best, Jack Thompson Copies: Certain Members of Congress Vice President Albert A. Gore Governor George W. Bush Significant Others