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Skullman1392's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
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| [November 2, 2010 07:43:05 PM]
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This time I played the game, it was very focused on theft. CJ and Ryder sneak into the house of a sleeping white man (who, from his sleep-talk, appears to be a 'Nam veteran) in order to steal guns from him. Then, the two of them are prompted by Officer Tenpenny and his racial-friendly cop buddies (really, a black cop, a white cop, and a Latino cop? really?) go to a stopped train and, after killing rival gang members (big surprise there), steal the ammunition that the train is carrying. First off, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the game is building stereotypes: all black people are gang members, most Latinos are as well, and they all hate and kill each other at every chance they get. However, the stereotypes do not include the police officers, who appear to be the complete opposite of a stereotype; they come in all colors, defying the assumed stereotype that the police would be racist white men. Despite the blatant stereotypes the game features, an idea of the social contract theory exists. CJ has been born a black man in a bad neighborhood. Therefore, by his birth, he has to act under the social contract of his neighborhood: join a gang to increase your chances of living, or be killed. Whether he likes it or not, CJ has to steal from people to stay in good standings with his gang. He never signed a physical contract, but he is still bound by the rules of his community: kill or be killed. All the horrible things they do are, in the words of the wise Ryder, “everyday shit, homie.” All the characters are stuck in the social contract whether they like it or not.
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| [November 1, 2010 08:57:36 PM]
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woops :/
I accidently made a new log, but don't know how to delete it. Sorry.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Nov 1st, 2010 at 21:00:12.
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| [November 1, 2010 08:56:08 PM]
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As I played the game today the gang became more important. CJ had to buy new clothes to represent his gang. He had to go to the gym to bulk up and look tough in front of other gang members. He had to get a gun to participate in gang activities; then go out with his gang to perform various drive-bys on rival gang members. CJ has to go with the flow once again; he has no say in the matter. Everything he does has this slightly utilitarian aspect to it, though. Kill rival gang members for the greater good of CJ’s gang. Perhaps even more apparent: kill a couple drug dealers to make the community better. Wasn’t it stated near the beginning of the game that CJ’s neighborhood has gone bad? Don’t CJ and his gang buddies want to make it better? So if a few people must die along the way to make Ganton and the surrounding area a better place, so be it. The greatest good for the greatest amount of people (the people of the community) outweighs the good of the few (the people who will be killed). There are definitely some utilitarian themes hidden under the surface of GTA: San Andreas.
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| [October 28, 2010 06:05:57 PM]
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a game filled with gangs, drugs, and violence. I find it funny that CJ, the main character and the person you play as, is so utterly passive in everything he does concerning missions. Anything he is told to do, whether it’s tagging buildings or killing rival gang members, he goes along with without any questions. While it is impossible to advance in the game without completing the tasks he has been ordered to do, it is implied that if CJ were to refuse to do something that Ryder or Sweet tells him to do, his own personal safety would be in danger. In a way, this is a reflection of ethical egoism. CJ will do whatever it takes to not only stay safe, but to gain respect and climb the ranks, with the goal of ending up the top dog in town. It does not matter what happens to others around him; hitting and /or killing a random guy walking down the street does not even faze him—until he gets chased down by a police officer. Only then, when he is at risk, do his actions begin to matter. What’s worse is that this isn’t a movie you are watching; this is a video game, where you control CJ. CJ is you. Any actions you make, decisions you face, or obstacles you come up against are not CJ’s, but yours. You play through CJ, but if you purposely run over a hooker, CJ did it, but he did it because you made him do it. You did it. You killed that hooker. But so what? You didn’t get harmed. You continue driving down the road like nothing even happened. This game emphasizes that you only need to watch out for you and you alone. Do whatever you want, as long as your actions don’t affect you negatively. If that isn’t ethical egoism at work then slap a big red nose on me and call me BoBo the clown.
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