Grand Theft Auto

Let me start this off by saying I'm not a gamer. I can barely navigate my way through a game of Mario Cart. Because of this, I am disconnect from the media and able to look at it more objectively.

Grand Theft Auto is a wildly popular game played by men and to a lesser account, women, of all ages. My 60 year old uncle got it for his birthday a couple of years ago. Last Thanksgiving I was playing and he advised me to kill the prostitutes because they have all the money. I was hugely surprised to hear him tell me to kill prostitutes! I don't think I got far enough in the game to even do that.

Grand Theft Auto is a very controversial in conservative circles. People are quick to defend it saying it doesn't make kids go out and steal cars and rob people. The effects, as are most media effects, manifest themselves much more subtly. I believe Ruddock's cultivation theory, which "interprets media violence as demonstrations of social power" (67), is a great explanation of media effects in society. The violence in internalized and manifested in behavior. Violence in GTA is not expressed outwardly, but rather in the way people view the world. That the culture we live in accepts violence against women as a natural and inevitable is proof of this.



The images we see in GTA of women are shallow and objectified. As discussed in the group presentation, the entire function of women in the newest game is to be dated, in order to have sex, or as prostitutes. What does this mean for the boys and men who play this game?


I was at my friend's apartment while they were playing and I took a go at it. I was driving around (hitting fire hydrants because I can't steer) and I saw a prostitute on the street so I pulled over and taking my uncles advice, proceeded to beat the prostitute. While I was doing this I felt absolutely horrible! I couldn't believe people actually did this in the game on the regular. The experience actually still somewhat haunts me. Ironically, she had no money and her pimps shot me dead after the beating.

People who play this game often and passionately must not care that women are actually forced into prostitution and are often beaten, robbed, or killed. So it's ignorant to say that people are not influenced by video games such as these. Again, the game doesn't drive people to steal cars and beat women but it makes the issues acceptable within society.