Grand Theft Auto V
This morning, upon my arrival to JWA’s office, I walked over to Jordyn’s office to say good morning.
She greeted me with a question: “I know you’re a nerd… But, are you a gamer?”
Jordyn continued her line of questioning by asking me if I knew anything about the new Grand Theft Auto game that was just released. While I haven’t devotedly played video games in over ten years, I appreciate the world of gaming and have many friends—and two brothers—who certainly identify as gamers.
I have to admit, I’ve never played Grand Theft Auto, although I have distinct memories of watching my brothers play the first edition back when it was released in 1997. When I look back on watching Benjie and Joshua play this game, I vividly recall violence towards and objectivity of women. Unlike other games my brothers and I played, you couldn’t pick to play a female character in Grand Theft Auto. The only women in the game were scantily clad prostitutes and obnoxious, jabbering victims to the main character’s thefts of their cars.
When Jordyn encouraged me to write a blog post on the subject, I was a little hesitant. My feminist, anti-violence perspective arguably skews the little I know about the game. I started to wonder, what do other women have to say? What do other women gamers have to say? I’ve done a bit of research so I could learn more, and I hope you’ll read these articles and then come back here to tell me your opinion.
Helen Lewis of the Guardian challenges the makers of GTA is create something new, rather than continue with the excessive violence and misogyny they’ve already offered to their players.
NPR asks the female buyers of GTA why they play the game, with some interesting and unexpected responses about the writing, music, and escapism.
GTA5 earns $800 million on the day of its release –how? Perhaps more importantly, why?
And it would only be fair to include the website for the game itself, so you can see for yourself what all this is about.
With all of this in mind, what do YOU have to say? Do we have any gamers amongst our readers? Why do you love GTA, hate it, or love to hate it?
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