The world of Grand Theft Auto has always had a rather cynical and satirical view on topics like politics and corporate advertising. It's mainly played for laughs, making light of how blatantly transparent and fake these things are.
In fact, it seems the satirical nature of the world of Grand Theft Auto is actually a representation of how the three main characters and even the Grand Theft Auto Online protagonist view the world, with the world of GTA actually being much closer to reality with the addition of real-life brands and people. They specifically point towards the three protagonists of GTAV as three people who would see the world in this parodic way. It's not a situation where the protagonists are the only ones who can see through some kind of literal illusion, but more that the cynical views these characters hold are being represented to the player through the parody.
Some examples of how GTAV parodies real-world brands are very apparent with its "fictional" products. Pißwasser (literally “p*ss water” in German),is the stand-in for multiple watered-down and mass-produced beers of the real world. There's also the in-game social media website called Liveinvader (obviously based off of Facebook), which is a pretty clear parody of how social media websites harvest users' data. Lastly, visiting some brand websites on the in-game Internet leads to plenty of shallow corporate talk that's peppered with blatant parody.
“LifeInvader CEO Jay Norris bears somewhat of a resemblance to a certain social media mogul, I wonder who?”
The satire on display in GTA V also extends to politicians and politics as a whole. In a universe where some players hijack planes in mid-air and can hold up a gas station with a minigun, the day-to-day operations of this world would have to be just as wild. As such, GTAV paints liberals and conservatives to the ultimate extreme of the stereotypes surrounding their views. It goes far into the absurd, but that's what gives the satire its comedy. Michael De Santa is one of the first characters players meet in GTA V. He's an ex-criminal who is attempting to settle down with his family in the California-esque fictional city of Los Santos. Michael is incredibly disenfranchised with "normal" life, as his past life as a robber sapped away any thrills he could get from normality. It's showcased through his dialogue with other characters and his interactions with the world that he is very aware of how surface level and fake many things in life can be. Michael's cynical view of the world is fairly clear to the player. It may feel unnecessary for development studio Rockstar to further put this point across by having the players see the world in a similar way. However, perhaps by depicting the brands in such an on-the-nose and satirical way, Rockstar is actually trying to get the player to agree with Michael's viewpoint, which in turn would have the effect of endearing players to the character.
Other than Michael, the other two protagonists, Franklin and Trevor are also seeing the world in a similar light, for reasons that liken to Michael’s. Franklin recognises the impossible standards of the American Dream for someone of his race and economic class, whilst Trevor's hatred of modern society distorts his worldview.
Michael, Franklin, Trevor.
For many years, the GTA franchise has infuriated many who did not appreciate the irony and satire displayed in the games. It has notoriously drawn the ire of American attorney, Jack Thompson. As an attorney, Thompson focused his legal efforts against what he perceived as obscenity in modern culture. Thompson gained recognition as an anti-video game activist, criticizing the content of video games and their alleged effects on children. He rallied relentlessly against the sale of violent video games, claiming that many mass shootings and violent crimes were attributed to the perpetrators taking inspiration from such games. He not only brought lawsuits against Take-Two (parent company of Rockstar Games) for producing and distributing GTA games, he was also famously litigious against fan favourites like Bully and the DOOM series. Instead of backing down and halting the release of their games after the first few lawsuits, Rockstar Games doubled down. Needless to say, the gaming community hated Jack Thompson for his efforts in trying to remove their means of enjoyment, unwilling to take this one sitting down. When Rockstar Games released GTA IV, the first mission was to kill a lawyer with the inititals “J.T.”
The GTA franchise has been at the brunt of many controversies surrounding its content. Most notably, the “By The Book” mission in GTA V is one of, if not the most controversial missions in the history of the franchise. Players bounce back and forth between Trevor and Michael during a hit job. Trevor has been tasked by the FIB to torture a man to get the identity, location, and description of the assassination target; Michael is tasked with carrying out the kill.
“Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game," said Freedom from Torture chief executive Keith Best, according to a report in The Guardian.
"Torture is a reality, not a game — glamourising it in popular culture undoes the work of organisations like Freedom from Torture and survivor activists to campaign against it.”
"This adds insult to injury for survivors who are left physically and mentally scarred by torture in the real world," he continued.
"If Rockstar North’s message is a satirical critique of the practice of torture, it’s lost on us.”
The scene is gruesome, no doubt about it. It's not fun at all, and I doubt many people actually enjoy it. Far from glamorizing torture, the scene makes you uncomfortable. The torture victim is perfectly willing to talk before he's tortured, but you are ordered to do it anyway and Trevor happily obliges. So you torture this man for no reason at all, in spite of the fact that he would gladly tell you anything without being tortured to begin with. Under torture he does spill information, but you realize quite quickly that he would have talked sooner and probably given better information if you hadn't tortured him.
Then the FIB agent tells you/Trevor to kill him. You set him free instead, but not before telling him to go spread his "message" as a "torture advocate."
"The media and the government would have us believe that torture is some necessary thing. We need it to get information, to assert ourselves," Trevor says. "Did we get any information out of you?"
"I would have told you everything!" the man replies.
"Exactly!" says Trevor. "Torture's for the torturer. Or the guy giving the order to the torturer. You torture for the good times! We should all admit that. It's useless as a means of getting information."
This is obviously commentary on the US government's of torture. Black humor, to be sure, but with a point. The fact that one way you can torture in the game is via water-boarding drives this home even more. "I thought I was dead," the man gasps after the water-boarding.
It's not fun to play, and it's not fun to watch. It makes you squirm (or, it ought to). Some people will probably counter this by saying: "Why are people focusing on torture when you spend so much of the game killing people? Isn't killing people worse?"
The point is that killing people in a video game is almost always a means to overcoming an obstacle of some sort, whether that's a shoot-out on Grove Street or the assassination of a tycoon (or just driving down the sidewalk because streets are for chumps).
The torture in GTA V isn't fun as gameplay, has no mechanical similarity to the rest of the game, and is ultimately carried out for no reason and no gain. And all of that is intentional. It's satire both in terms of narrative and game mechanics.
Even with so much controversy surrounding the GTA series, a sixth installment is slated to be released in 2025, with hype levels at an all-time high. If the gaming community was fazed or offended by GTA’s content, they certainly are not showing it.
The GTA franchise has made a name for itself by providing players with compelling storylines and intriguing characters, all while being a parody of the real world as well as society in general. Seeing the world as such a blatant satire brings some understanding to how someone like Michael De Santa could become so disenfranchised with the world. While I can understand why such content might make people upset, I'd say that's precisely the point.
Written by: Ryan Tan (22S75)
Edited by: Widyayuki Triyono (22S6D), Reyess Peh Qi Xun (22A15)
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