As avid video gamers, we’re used to all the nonsense and the propoganda surrounding our favourite hobby, so whenever an unfounded acusation rears its ugly head, we are perfectly content to look away and ignore all the tomfoolery, right? Well, that would be the smart thing to do.

On March 6th, CBC (The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) ran a special entitled Tog Gun on one of its flagship programs, The Fifth Estate. The program covered the unfortunate events surrounding the death of Brandon Crisp, a 15-year old boy who one day ran away from home  after his parents took away his Xbox 360 and was found dead a few weeks later at the base of a tree.

I can only begin to imagine what it must feel like to have to bury your own child, and one so young at that. My condolences go out to Brandon’s friends and family, and I hope that they can amass the courage to move on with their lives.

With that said, I want to make it clear that my gripe with this issue does not lie with the parents, but with the CBC, The Fifth Estate, and their shoddy documentary they seem to believe passes as professional journalism. Throughout the entire episode, Gillian Findlay, the journalist behind this debacle, continuously displays her complete and utter lack of understanding of the material by repeatedly making statements that are  untrue,  or at best, unfounded.

You can watch the entire documentary here, if you feel so inclined.

I would also like to point out that if you skip forward to 16:30, you’ll be able to watch the segment that inspired today’s strip; it’s rather sad just how closely the strip mimics the real thing.