Grand Theft Censorship

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is an open world action-adventure video game series published by Rockstar Games, and was first released in 1997. Since then, the game series has had numerous sequels and spin offs leading up to its most recent release of GTA 5 which came out in September of 2013. The video game series has had critical and commercial success, having shipped more than 250 million units, making it the fourth highest selling video game franchise of all time, right behind the Mario, Pokemon, and Tetris franchises.

           

The GTA franchise allows the player to take on the role of a criminal in a big US city. There, the player can either complete missions and tasks, or just roam around the giant and incredibly detailed open world city and do pretty much anything they want. I will specifically be addressing the most recent GTA game, GTA 5, since it the most up to date, expansive, and interactive game of the series.

           

GTA 5 takes place in a recreation of Los Angeles California. While most games have a direct and specific objective, the majority of GTA players decide to just roam around the city and cause mayhem wherever and however they feel like it. The game is rated M for Mature, and has been criticized by many to be extremely violent, have themes of drug use and crime, and be extremely sexualized with the use of strip clubs and prostitutes. While the game is meant to be sold and played by users 17 and older, there are many loopholes for children younger than this to have easy access to the game. GTA 5 broke industry sales records and became the fastest selling entertainment product in history, earning over $1 billion in its first three days.

           

According to Althusser’s ideological state apparatuses, GTA causes . Many people have criticized GTA for causing a rise in violent behavior among players outside the game. The game has taken this ideology and sparked up even more criticism by making police and the law the “enemy” in the game. This has sparked controversy between game developers and government officials. By having so many American youth playing the game, it has caused negative psychological disruption shown through their behaviors and actions. However, the GTA franchise has purposefully not used actual names, locations and brands in the game, even though it is clearly representative of real life.

           

Because GTA is an American video game, it has had the privilege of being able to choose whatever content to put in their game. By being so successful in both its game design, and its financial success, the GTA franchise has reached such a large audience and psychologically affected many of its younger players to be anti-government and adopt anarchy. Not only this, but the game doesn't explore the real-world consequences of these actions, and makes these horrific actions seem entertaining.

           

In conclusion, the GTA franchise has been extremely negative toward youth behavior and their perception of the government and the law. Because of the United States policy against censorship, People who are opposed to the ideology of the game have no way of combatting its widespread influence on today’s youth.