Banning PUBG won’t help. Regulate children’s gaming habits instead.
In 2000, Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku released Batoru Rowaiaru—Battle Royale—a dystopian thriller in which youngsters are forced to fight to death by government forces. Years later, a South Korean firm picked up the film’s plot to develop a PC game, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds—PUBG to millions of fans worldwide. But the game really took off when the mobile version was released on March 19, 2018. Exactly a year later, India is caught in the crossfire between authorities seeking to clamp down on the “violent game” and gaming enthusiasts who stress on a regulatory mechanism rather than an outright ban.
Last week, police in Gujarat’s Rajkot city arrested 16 people in two separate cases for playing PUBG in public places. Since then the game has been banned in Gujarat—apparently, the government feels the game can drag the youth towards terrorist activities. The Bombay High Court is hearing a PIL seeking a ban on the game. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights too has sought a response from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on a similar petition. As a debate rages over the game and its ill effects on children, Mumbai police said two people were run over by a train on Saturday when they were playing PUBG on a railway track in Hingoli district of Maharashtra.
This story is from the April 01, 2019 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 01, 2019 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Propaganda Files
A recent spate of Hindi films distorts facts and creates imaginary villains. Century-old propaganda cinema has always relied on this tactic
Will Hindutva Survive After 2024?
The idealogy of Hindutva faces a challenge in staying relevant
A Terrific Tragicomedy
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tender and extravagant sketch of apocalypse
Trapped in a Template
In the upcoming election, more than the Congress, the future of the Gandhi family is at stake
IDEOLOGY
Public opinion will never be devoid of ideology: but we shall destroy ourselves without philosophical courage
The Many Kerala Stories
How Kerala responded to the propaganda film The Kerala Story
Movies and a Mirage
Previously portrayed as a peaceful paradise, post-1990s Kashmir in Bollywood has become politicised
Lights, Cinema, Politics
FOR eight months before the 1983 state elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, a modified green Chevrolet van would travel non-stop, except for the occasional pit stops and food breaks, across the state.
Cut, Copy, Paste
Representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism
The Spectre of Eisenstein
Cinema’s real potency to harness the power of enchantment might want to militate against its use as a servile, conformist propaganda vehicle