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Apr 18th, 2012 at 22:24:53 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) |
After playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I can honestly say that the game is unlike any other that I have ever played. Hearing about the game and actually playing it are two totally different concepts. When my friends had tried to explain the concept of the Grand Theft Auto series to me in the past, it seemed simple; one runs around the world reeking havoc through the merciless slaying of innocents and gangsters alike while stealing whatever vehicle one desires. However, after actually playing and living the content of the game I realized the severity of the game’s interwoven themes. Among the many themes and concepts the game possesses, I was particularly intrigued by the game’s portrayal of violence.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas definitely took an interesting twist through it’s depictions of violence, mainly because when I was examining the dialogue the characters had along with the missions that I had to complete in the game’s story mode, I felt that violence was being promoted. In other words, I felt as though the content that was being relayed to me, was encouraging me to commit as much mayhem and chaos as possible because, in the end, there were no consequences. If police showed up or if any other NPC tried to stop my “rampage,” I could simply just equip my AK47 and kill as many people as I wanted until I was satisfied with no formidable opposition. This “promotion” of violence became apparent to me shortly after playing both the missions at the pizza parlor and the mission to obtain guns from Emmet.
Shortly after a failed robbery attempt on the cashier at the pizza parlor, I (playing as the character of Carl) was escaping with my equally unsuccessful partner in crime being that the cashier had now obtained a shotgun and had begun to fire upon my follow gang member and myself. Now, while I could have easily escaped in the “get-away” vehicle without causing any harm to anyone, I decided to run the pizza parlor cashier over in order to acquire his seemingly attractive firearm. This particular scene demonstrated the game’s encouragement of violence through the inclusion of an incentive. Meaning that if I committed murder, not only would I representing my gang but I would also be acquiring a very powerful firearm that I could later use in my future missions and if I had driven off, my reputation as a “badass” would have been damaged and I would have remained gun-less. Although the scene at Emmett’s gun shop wasn’t exactly the same, equal promotions of violence are portrayed.
When I was at Emmett’s shop, shortly after my inquiry for firearms had concluded, I was asked by my fellow gang member to perform an exposition of my accuracy skills through the usage of my firearm. The reason I chose to examine this particular scene in the game was because after every successful shot I made, Emmet made comments that dictated acceptance and praise such as, “I’m so proud of you.” Needless to say, not only does this quote from Emmet demonstrate the acceptance of violence but it also promotes the gamer to continue on his or her violent path because if he or she does so, they will continue to receive praise for it.
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Apr 17th, 2012 at 21:45:30 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) |
Even as beginner or “noob” to the series of Grand Theft Auto, after playing for my first 30 minutes of San Andreas I was able to grasp the concept of the game very quickly and its unethical content there in. While no game is perfect in the sense that the content it contains will be filtered of any kind of material that may be controversial to players, San Andreas raises that bar of controversy through its usage of character dialogue and actions displayed by the virtual protagonists. Even in the very opening scenes of the videogame before actual gameplay took place and most of the character background was developed through cinematics, issues regarding race and stereotypes became apparent. For example, in the opening cinematic where the main protagonist, Carl, is pulled over by cops; the rhetoric that is used is very racist and stereotypical in nature particularly referring to the African American male. Tenpenny, the officer that appeared to be in charge at the time when Carl was pulled over, addresses Carl by “boy” rather than addressing him by name. Although the word “boy” itself is not a racist one by any means, because of the context that it is used in (being that Carl is an African American male) and the tone which the officer used to relay the word, the whole scenario provokes the player to imply that the way in which Tenpenny was using the word, was racist in context. Tenpenny’s stereotypical vernacular continues further when he frisks Carl taking a large sum of money from him and directly indicating that the money is “drug money.” This “assumption” that the money that was taken from Carl was drug money, whether that statement was true or not, is unethical in nature because the officer is automatically assuming the money was obtained through illegal means rather than asking Carl or investigating the true origin of the money. Analyzing the scene further, as Carl is driven away in the back of the patrol car, officer Tenpenny along with his equally racist comrades attempt to pin the death of a fellow police officer that happened shortly before Carl was pulled over in an attempt to gain some form of information or knowledge from Carl. Needless to say, Tenpenny continues his seemingly never-ending racist rhetoric by telling Carl, “You work fast nigga.”
Due to the very racist and stereotypical content the game contains, I believe that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas promotes stereotypical values and therefore reinforces stereotypes in general. Through the inclusion of racist vocabulary, particularly that revolving around the African American male, the game is solidifying and promoting stereotypes. I believe that through the usage of this rhetoric the game is promoting the African American male stereotype because by including these words and racist remarks in the videogame, the developers of the game are essentially creating a socially acceptable environment in where these words can be used. Furthermore, by exposing the player to this kind of vocabulary and racist content the player could potentially transcribe the racist content out of the virtual world and into his or her everyday life.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Apr 17th, 2012 at 21:46:00.
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