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Lela9's Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2)
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| [October 5, 2008 05:54:50 PM]
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Since my last session playing the game I have completed another five missions. In doing so, I have gained respect from my gang and therefore more money and weapons. However, I still do not see how this game is anything but a perpetual cycle of stereotypes, gang violence, and crime. Some of the non-violent activities seem pointless, but do in fact have ulterior motives. For example, when you have to go to the gym it is so that you can build muscle and therefore win fights. When you go to get a new wardrobe it is so that you can blend in with your posse, in this case that means getting clothes that sport the green color that represents the characters' gang.
When I explored wardrobe options I was shocked to find out that you can wear nothing but your underwear in public and no one says anything about it, not even cops. This says a lot about the realistic elements in the game. If I were to go outside naked, I would be not only be reported my neighbors but arrested and put in jail were the cops to see me. I also noticed that I can commit a crime in front of a police officer and not get in trouble for it. My wanted status only goes up if I directly hurt a cop. This almost makes it seem if the cops are just another gang in the game; they certainly seem to act like any of the other gangs, minus the drive by shooting effect.
As I played the game I kept looking for anything that might be considered moral, by any ethical theory. However I was unsuccessful. Utilitarianism seemed to totter on the line between amoral and moral, simply because doing something like killing the crack dealers might bring more happiness than unhappiness but happiness is not quantifiable and therefore hard to measure. Also it was a good idea to stop crack dealing, but, then like everything else in the game, it was gone about in the worst possible way, by killing them.
The biggest problem I had with this game, however, was that the immoral objectives, the violence, and the vulgarity were all made to seem normal because nothing else was present. It reinforces stereotypes of blacks and Latinos in areas that are presumed to be concentrated with them. Impartiality is not even an issue in this game, because it is very clear that no one is of equal importance or value.
All in all I find this game quite immoral and a detriment to society. On a gaming level, it's unrealistic and repetitive, making it a not enjoyable game for me.
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| [October 4, 2008 05:33:26 PM]
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My first experience with the game really brought out a lot of key points made in our ethics class as well as in our book. This time, however, I was not to much impressed with the connections that were being made. The game seems to be nothing more than violence, crime, and becoming the best possible gang member you can without getting caught by the police. Since I am not very good at these kind of games, I often get caught by the police and am unable to complete my missions, and therefore have to start all over multiple times. The missions themselves seem rather pointless.
As I mentioned in my last blog, this game plays up to the stereotypes of society and therefore everything in the game seems normal for the characters to be doing based on those stereotypes.
My second mission had me get a haircut and then buy and eat food while my "brotha" stood up the joint. As we ran away we were shot at by the owner, something that would clearly not happen in real life. This was all rather pointless and when I crashed my car and died on the way to the hood I had to start over. So I began to experiment. Instead of buying food I tried to rob them and beat them up, thinking that that would gain me "respect points", however, this only made me lose my mission. Why is it that some bad things are acceptable to do and you benefit from doing them but others either go unpunished or unrewarded? Is their a double standard for violence in the real world as well?
The last of my missions before I finished my session was to spray paint 100 walls. First of all this is really boring and difficult to do because other gangs and cops are hanging around the site, and secondly it was stereotypically racist.
I can't imagine one thing in this game that teaches anything other violence, crime, racism, and hate. Why do we find these games amusing?
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| [October 3, 2008 07:00:40 PM]
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This was my first experience with any of the Grand Theft Auto games. I knew that there would be a decent amount of violence but participating in an ethics class really opens ones eyes to the ethical dilemmas put forward in these kinds of games. What immediately drew my attention was that you are not allowed to choose your character. Instead you are a violent black man from the ghetto who joins a gang in order to build a reputation and get money. I find this brings up controversial and provocative issues of racism and stereotypes of the black population. Everyone in this game is characterized and presented by the stereotypes real society has assigned them.
For example, the black people are "ghetto", in gangs, and inherently violent in that they are the ones committing drive by shootings; even their outfits fit the typical stereotypes. Mexicans are discriminated against even in the game as people shout out "stupid Mexican." Most of the girls are dressed as sexual objects rather than actual people and often referred to as b*tches.
I haven't played enough to know the objectives very clearly but the game described to me some of the actions and repercussions for those actions. As my character I have obtained a gun and can use it, I can pull people out of their cars and steal their vehicle, and I can punch anyone at anytime for no reason and in doing so kill them. Which it's interesting to note that the controller buttons allow you to jump, punch, open a car door/get on a bike, and shoot a gun, but none of the buttons have pacifistic actions. The repercussion for my actions is an increase in my wanted level. This means if I am caught, the police will either kill me or just give me a warning after taking my money as a bribe. If this doesn't speak to the stereotypes of the police force during the mafia and prohibition eras, I don't know what does. Not to mention that this presents a moral dilemma that is simply accepted in the game. This means I can steal a car, kill a person, and ruin public property without being punished. I'm interested in seeing how the game plays itself out with further practice.
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