When playing Grand Theft V, what I became most aware of was that Franklin, one of the main characters, is forced back into a life of crime by those that are supposed to encourage him to get out. In the intro scenes, he is harassed and searched by three officers—one black, one, latino, and one white—but it is the black officer that steals his money, questions his innocence, and antagonizes him the most, even going as far as to accuse him of a crime and drop him off in a rival neighborhood. Also taking place in this scene, the white officer calls Franklin’s taxi driver a “greaseball bastard.” Thus, from these opening scenes, it is apparent that the game is relying on tropes and stereotypes to characterize its characters. Los Santos, while a fictional location, seems to be based on Los Angeles or any other neighborhood in which people of color live in poverty. Criminal activity is often correlated with poverty, so it is no surprised that the game takes place in some of the more poor areas of the city. For various reasons, these areas are populated by people of color and this is definitely reflected in the game. In addition to this Franklin, “the lone player-controlled Black character,” lives a life in which he has never met his father and has lost his mother because of a drug overdose, “[bringing] to life the dominant narrative of Contemporary Black families” (Leornard 130).

The black men that Franklin interacts with in his neighborhood are also gang members. They all appear to be straight and, with the exception of one woman, male. This one woman, dressed in a short skirt and crop top, walks away from an ensuing argument to see her partner. Her clothing, language, and way she is being represented seems to be built off of stereotypes regarding black women. Not only this, but so does the entire game. Franklin is sent on missions with Ryder, another member of his gang, and is first sent to get a haircut. He is then asked to distract the employee of a pizza restaurant, so that Ryder can rob him. The employee in this interaction is a white man who immediately responds to the robbery by drawing his own weapon. This seems to again, reinforce stereotypes of black criminality and white victimhood, “[creating] a world of “demons” and “angels” in which black and brown people are the demons and white people (and police officers) are the angels. This is inherently damaging given the game’s target audience.

Based on the many tropes that are used throughout the game, I am almost certain that the game is played by mostly middle-class white Americans. Best said by David J. Leonard, the game is a place “where White kids can fulfill their insatiable desires to become Black, [and] to experience the danger of “ghetto life” (Leonard 130). It allows them to play the role of a black person without ever taking on some of the responsibilities and consequences. (502 words)

Leonard, David J. “Grand Theft Auto V : Post-Racial Fantasies and Ferguson Realities” in From The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class, and Culture Online. Edited by Safiya Umoka Noble and Brendesha M. Tynes. New York, Peter Lang, 2016.