Bullies are oftentimes weak cowards whose low sense of self esteem needs to be boosted by picking on those even weaker than themselves. It probably gives them the only moments in their pathetic and worthless lives where they feel superior.
Most of the time they're associated with school and they eventually grow out of it, but indeed sometimes they can carry it with them and become police officers or rapists. Yes I was bullied by many compassionless wretches and a few in particular were quite nasty. (I wonder how many here have been bullied? Seems to happen a lot to the creative folk).
Should we thank bullies? Fuck no.
Are you kidding me? It was brought up that they helped us shape who we are. Well, OK, fine, your mileage may vary, but at least for me, I don't think I benefited. The bullies did, however, give me a wonderful gift: a seething, throbbing ball of pure hate and rage buried deep inside of me that would really love to be let loose and bash some fucking heads in. Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it! Yes, I get it, I saw the "Tapestry" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I understand that all the events of our life are intricately woven and you change one thing and it all falls apart, but even given that, I'm not sure I buy that being bullied was a good thing. You might think that being bullied gives you a better sense of compassion for others, makes you want to be the opposite. No, all I learned from it is how to hate, and how to hate with white hot intensity. I had compassion before and after it.
As far as the video game goes, I think I'd like to play it...maybe exorcise some of that hate. Is it distasteful? Maybe. So are a lot of other video games out there, to some people. But I feel that rather then encouraging kids to go to school and kill their bullies, it might actually prevent them from doing it. They can get on the ol' Playstation or Xbox and blow bullies away and get that sense of satisfaction that way and they won't need to really go to school with a baseball bat -- or worse, a gun -- and kill the miserable bastards who've been mistreating them.
Of course I could be wrong, playing the game might entice them to go and do it for real, but I don't think I am.
Yes I know the above was highly subjective and emotion-packed, forgive me, it was cathartic to write it, and I do think I made some good points. Oh, look, as I'm writing this, my MP3 playlist got to Pearl Jam's "Jeremy." Interesting.
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