Thug Life

In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andres the world itself is neither real, nor fiction, but hyperreal. The game starts in what is supposed to be the depiction of the 1990s in California, containing a mixture of authentic and fictitious state landmarks and neighborhoods. The controversy surrounding Grand Theft Autos: San Andreas was not only directed at the game’s violent content, but also the game’s depiction of race.

This criticism of GTA: San Andreas focused on its portrayal of African-American males as hyper-violent and criminal. The main character, Carl Johnson, is a black man who has left his home to escape the violence that is in his life and community. He returns to San Andreas to attend his mother’s funeral, and immediately upon returning to San Andreas, Carl is approached by the police, framed for a crime he did not commit, and warned that he had better stay out of trouble. The game’s storyline is based on Carl taking a trip to become a criminal kingpin. As he goes on his quest all of his mission require him to buy drugs, and to kill members in gangs by running over or shooting them. The entire videogame is based on violence and shows discriminatory stereotypes about African Americans.

The videogame depicts Carl to not only start as a black man who has escaped a crime, but also as one that when he returns he be put back into more trouble. African Americans are always depicted to having committing violent crimes, and even when it is not there fault they are the first ones to be blamed. African Americans are always the ones who are told to be drug dealers and are the cause of killings in gangs and streets, and yet again here they are. Even though it could be white Americans selling drugs, the creators of the game felt it would attract more people if African Americans were the ones being shot and being put in jail. The game shows that as Carl is doing his missions the hostages are the rich white people who have not done anything wrong and are innocent bystanders.