Grand Theft Auto Formal Analysis
Grand Theft Auto is in my sense the perfect mirror for America. Its over the top display of crime, mischief, and daily chaos all seem to be satirical in a sense that their audience has seen this behavior before. The type of satire that calls for action but manages to do it in a way that gets people to its side. Grand Theft Auto V is the game specifically we will be looking at, and trying to answer the question, why does Grand Theft Auto get as much attention and critics as a mature video game because of its platform and its similarities to the America of today. We will do this by comparing the reality of America to its virtual counterpart Grand Theft Auto. As we will be talking in depth about Grand Theft Auto V there will be plenty of spoilers, so here is your warning to stop reading now.
First we should start of why it gets attention it does in the first place. Grand Theft Auto V and the entire collections of Grand Theft Auto’s are all games where the player is put into a world of crime, drugs, sex workers, business scandals, from the very get go. Celebrating the dark underworld that is in America today. For instance the very first mission in Grand Theft Auto V has you robbing a bank and killing anyone who gets in your way; eventually leading to your character to fake his death and return for selling out his friends. There are tons of jarring moments like this in GTA, but there are also moments that are more subtle. Like is you visit a location called “Groove Street” in the game (a location also featured in GTA San Andreas game) you’ll see active gang members roaming the streets, dealing drugs and engaging with prostitutes. Normally all these things are frowned upon or punished by the law (which in game are also punishable but not in a way that promotes bad behavior in the game) but GTA forces your hand in most cases.
Grand Theft Auto V takes place in a made up place called Los Santos (Only this city is named in the game but refers to other locations in previous ie. Vice City, Liberty citie, etc. but they all share the same country which is believed to be America), but it does not take a trained eye to see that Los Santos is just a blown up version of Los Angeles, California. Compton is a city just 30 minutes south of Los Angeles, and the area where Groove street is located seems to be reflecting just that. Compton is known for music artist, and gang culture alike. One of the most successful rappers from the area Kendrick Lamar goes in depth about the culture and the city he grew up in, its gang related culture. Again, normally people would try to avoid situations where they may be put in danger, but being in the riskier areas in the game tend to be the most rewarding. For instance, there is an early mission where Franklin and his friend Lamar are tasked with stealing cars in a well known cartel operated area. Successful completion of this mission grants you a motorcycle to use till the end of the game (no matter if it is destroyed, stolen, or left somewhere else you can always get it again at no charge). This is not to say that the places that are referenced in GTA are violent, but GTA puts you in violent situations you’d normally avoid.
Personally I think games like Grand Theft Auto are a necessary sweet release in gaming. Everyone has rules that they break we just pick and choose which ones based on the punishment that you’d receive. For instance, people are more likely to speed in reality than to murder someone, although in GTA the game cators itself around rules it exepcts you to break. There are plenty of Youtube videos or celebrities, cops, etc. playing the game and trying their best not to break any laws and for the most part even when not trying to but to no success. Usually one infraction leads to another and before you know it you have the US military on your back.
GTA allows this sort of mischief in a more comfortable way that makes it enjoyable. Personally I’ve always wanted to drive a breakneck speeds, escaping cops, while having a hooker in the passenger seat (not really, momma raised me well), and GTA lets you achieve this scenario with relative ease, and virtual no repercussions (actually the worst two things that could happen in game are failing a mission to where to just start the mission over again peak health and all or, death which is promptly mended by the Los Santos doctors, there is also the option to get arrested but most people opt for the ladder).
Critics has said that violent games like GTA are the reasoning for violent behavior regarding school shooting but, I’m not going to even cover this because its just wrong. GTA offers a perfect realise to the underworld of America by putting America in a satirical mirror, that gives players experiences they may have never had. How you may not feel the adrenaline rush from a simple traffic stop, GTA makes it so every moment can be an event. I’ll end with a common scenario in the game to show how “normal” situations turn into events worth remembering. You are walking down the street when a guy in a in a Lamborghini (Infernus is the actual name in GTA) gets out of his car and insults your clothes because you look poor. You get into a fight over this disagreement, you win this fight take his car as a reward. As you’re joy riding in your new winnings, you pass a cop who recognizes the car as stolen and attempts to pull you over. You pull over but before you get out of the vehicle, you look at the open road in front of you and you decide to go for it. Now you’re tearing it up down the highway with dozens of cops following you and even a helicopter hunting you down. You look in the passenger seat and see a couple grenades in the seat (just who did you rob anyway), so you decide to throw one in the road in one in the air. Explosions burst out from behind you and see the helicopter fall from the sky crushing the remaining cops cars underneath you. Suddenly you’re in the clear, you quickly duck off into a nearby clothing store where you change your look. You then go to the nearest mod shop to get rid of the car, and turn a decent profit from this and proceed to order a taxi home with an escort for fun for the rest of the night. You wake up Tuesday morning in your bed birds, singing, boss calling asking why you’re late, and no one is none the wiser. This story would’ve normally ended with the fist fight if it even go to that point, but with Grand Theft Auto it encourages the most theatrical performance it can give.
