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GTA? No Way, Eh?
LAist has a question for our readers:
What's not fun about jacking a car and driving around LA robbing, killing, and generally causing mayhem?
The answer? Nothing. Nothing is not fun about that. It's awesome!
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Our friends to the north (no, not Fresno), don't see it the same way for some reason. The Canadian government has issued a warning to parents that "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" is, among other things, "vile and violent". Vile and violent? Now hold on just one second.
This kind of rhetoric implies that Canada feels like the U.S. has exported some kind of evil force intended to subvert core Canadian values (like monarchy and maple syrup), and turn Canadian children into doo-rag wearin', gat-totin' street thugs (in other words, American children).
But countries that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Canada has foisted more than it's share of cultural poison on us: Alanis Morrisette, Bryan Adams, William Shatner, and Degrassi High, for instance, all of which could very well be classified as "vile and violent" if we were the sort of country to be picky about the pop culture we consume.
Fortunately for Canada, we're not. We enjoy their white-bread schlock as a nice side course to our main diet of slickly-produced, high-production value American entertainment. We never utter a word of complaint as Peter Jennings read us the news, Alex Trebek lords it over us dumb Americans, or we see Vancouver playing New York in the movies.
So, lighten up Canada. Buy "GTA," and like it.
Otherwise, we might get mad and ask for our movie industry back.
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