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Tuesday 20 January, 2009
As my final game log is meant to summarize Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I figured I would stop trying to figure out how to play well, and instead focus on the ethical issues within the game. I realized I had spent too much time getting frustrated over failing miserably at missions rather than focusing on my surroundings, character interactions and specific game choices. Therefore, in this final entry, I will describe some of what I discovered during forty-five minutes of simply walking around and stealing cars in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Previously, as I watched my friends play GTA: 4, nine times out of ten, their first stop was to pick up a prostitute. Therefore, this was my first decision of the game. I barely had any money or health, but I wanted to see what would happen. As the prostitute got into my car, I drove into an alleyway where the car then began to shake. Now, I don't know who goes to prostitutes for medical attention, but surprisingly, my health increased dramatically. GTA rewards players for behaving immorally, and it seems that there is no way to survive in the game without hiring hookers. I was not at all surprised that GTA's depiction of prostitutes was tasteless and degrading towards women, but, I'm not sure what you would expect.
After the prostitute left, I figured I'd leave too and find a nicer car. The logistics of stealing a car are most definitely immoral. Not only are you committing grand theft auto, but most of the time, you are also assaulting the current driver. You beat him, drag him out of the car, and take off without any police to stop you. GTA is definitely a game that values violence, and each and every character in the game thrives on it. If you are not willing to be violent, you will be bored playing GTA. Nothing will happen to you, except death by drive-by shooting. All of the missions require you to be violent to complete them, and if you are not willing to defend yourself against violence, you will die. The only resolution in this game is violence, so therefore, all ethical choices amount to violence. In conclusion, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas = Violence.
Speaking of all this violence going on, a cop car passed me without stopping as I was beating the driver to death and stealing his car. Let's discuss the police for a moment in this game. In my last post, I made a comment about the police that seemed immature and spiteful, calling police in general "jerks." This was in the context in which the police call the character "n*gger" and another character "dirty Mexican." I have been around actual police officers when they have used this language; however, there are more police men and women that only want to serve and protect, rather than go on a power trip with the gun, the badge and the car. GTA seems forgetful of these men and women who actually deserve our respect and admiration. Any cop, whether or not they were the former or latter as described, would stop and prevent an assault and theft. The cops in GTA are not difficult to fool or escape from, and therefore, violence prevails above all in San Andreas. Although GTA's portrayal of cops as corrupt may be partially correct in certain cases, it is also extremely irresponsible.
Lastly, I focused on the character himself. As far as I am aware from the scope of my game play, CJ is a young African-American who has been in trouble with the law, and is "owned" by the police as they send him to do dirty work "for" the city. His mom was also killed by rival gang members, and he is also involved in gang activity. Although I would like to say that this isn't a stereotype, because there are people of every race and ethnicity involved in gangs and corrupt politics, I would have to say that GTA's portrayal of CJ as a languid, emotionless person makes it evident that the game developers devised him from a degrading stereotype of African Americans in the "hood."
Overall, I can see the entertainment value in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. However, these problems, such as sex workers, corrupt cops, gang shootings, violent neighborhoods, and brutality in general are actual, real life problems that plague our world. Is it necessary to lessen the severity of these issues to create entertainment value? Therefore, I don't think I will play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas again. I find it more productive to study these real issues and contribute to the solution for all of them. Video games should be left to the fantasy world, as the real world issues that confront us all are already hard enough to deal with in reality.
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