Sunday 24 July, 2011

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is about a former gang banger arriving back to Liberty City from the East Coast after 5 years. He received a message about his mother’s death. Once arriving at the airport, he takes a taxi home. Enroute to his house, he is stopped by the Los Santos Police Department (LSPD), whom frame him with a police officer’s murder (Officer Pindleberry). He was notified by the police officers that they will let him know when they need anything from him; he is released. This portion of the game shows an extreme amount of information on how the police is depicted as corrupt. This shows a young player that the police cannot be trusted.
After being dumped in a different gang area, he is forced to ride home on a bike, while being shot at by rival gang members. When he arrives home, he is asked to gain his respect from other gang bangers to tag (graffiti) the rival gang neighborhood (Ballers Area). This game portrays a lot of vulgar language, with constant comments from game characters. A lot of emphasis is on how to get respect in the “hood”. I was unable to pass the 3rd mission to “tag”, 100 areas, will try to accomplish this task really soon.
Carl (the main character) has to make a decision whether he wants to stay clean, or rejoin the gang. He attends his mother’s funeral and decides to rejoin the gang, after seeing how violent the area has gotten over the last 5 years. The actions taken show me that his values are different from most males at his age group. He values his neighborhood and his gang family. This beginning tells me about a common phrase, “you can take the gangster out of the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the gangster”. Carl has left for the better, and returns to his old lifestyle, of devious and violent behavior.

"The actions taken show me that his values are different from most males at his age group."

In that sense, he doesn't return to his old lifestyle because he enjoys it, but rather because he values his family and loyalty that much more. This makes some sense because it's not like there are any other alternatives for him, after all the cops are corrupt.. Do you get the sense that Carl wants to be a gangbanger from the game? Does it make any difference?