Discussing
Why is Grand Theft Auto’s misogyny still getting a pass?

Satire can only really be a satire if it's understood to be a satire... by the audience. But let's face it, there are always going to be people that fail to see or understand the satire in any given work. This is how works like TheOnion.com and LarkNews.com occasionally get taken seriously.

It's tough to see where the responsibility lies with works like this. Is it the creator's fault or the people who interpret the game incorrectly? On one hand, I can see how the creator has responsibility here, on the other hand, given how all forms of satire can be misinterpreted by their audiences, perhaps the responsibility lies in the people doing the consuming.

Given the current state of misogyny in videogames, I think the creators certainly bear a lot of responsibility. In other words Rockstar isn't clueless about the fact that their target audience is 18-30 something men--the last people in the world who need to play a game that satirizes sexism in America.

When someone speaks up about the sad state of female characters in videogames and is met with death threats, we know this is a far reaching problem (http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/31/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games-why-it-matters). I say this as a game critic who very much appreciates and sees a lot of potential in the medium: videogames seem to be married to misogyny more deeply than any other medium (save for comics maybe).

All that to say, this is not a healthy or wise context for satire that seeks to expose how sexist our culture is. That is why I pointed out that satire can be dangerous. Additionally, I would say that if GTA5 was meant to be satire, it is really lazy satire.

We certainly bear responsibility as consumers and critics as well. People are always going to misunderstand satire, but in general satire shouldn't be aimed directly at the audience who is most likely to miss the point. That seems unwise at best and irresponsible at worst.

GTA is a game about drugs, murder, robbery, murdering police officers, and all sorts of felonious behavior. In light of all that, you chose to highlight misogyny? Come on, man.

And what exactly do you mean by "getting a pass?" A pass from whom? What would you like to see happen, the game be banned? I don't play GTA. I wouldn't let my kids play GTA. But if people want to play it, that's their business. If I don't want to play a game, I don't have to. If I don't want to smoke, I won't (and I don't). If I don't want to watch a show, guess what? I change the channel. What I don't do is try to stop other people from doing those things, because they're adults.

Hey Kevin,

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.

Yes, I chose to highlight misogyny--I am pretty sure that all those things you mention are things that people knew were problems with the GTA series, "theft," after all is in the title.

What I mean by getting a pass, and I think you probably can see this in the article itself so I won't elaborate too much, is that many important critics identified misogyny as a big problem in the game but that criticism was not reflected in the game's overall score.

I don't try to stop other people from playing games or any other activity. What I do think is important is for critics to be critical, particularly with regard to issues like misogyny which we so easily overlook.

Thanks, Drew, for a really helpful take on this series.

I have to disagree, Kevin. Part of our calling in the world is to speak out against injustice and systems that perpetuate violence. Yes, there are many other aspects of the game that are troubling beyond the misogyny. Yet, I think that what Drew highlights is the way that our culture turns a blind eye to the perpetuation of such misogynistic attitudes. We should do everything we can to warn others not only of the violent and immoral acts contained in a game such as GTA but we should also use our voices to speak out against attitudes that intentionally dehumanize our sisters, wives, mothers, and daughters.

Ahh, but it's only a video game, right? Unfortunately, the digital dehumanization of women has profound ramifications for the real world. If we need a reminder, just turn on the news.

Thanks Kory, I am glad you found it helpful.

I think the fact that reviewers are bringing up the subject of Misogyny is not giving it a free pass. But the sum of a game is more then just that. You have to admit if you love gaming and have a passion for it, we may disagree with subject matter, but as a whole GTA is an amazing game that has more going for it then just the storyline. The amount of things you can do in that game is staggering and how they were put together is of high calibur. Even the writing and storyline fits in line with what they were trying to achieve. So even if you criticize that one aspect of the game as a whole I don't see it diminishing from the game's score because a game is usually more then just writing. There are many games that have good subjects, good writing with poor gameplay and are rated as such.

To further add to this, there is also another element at play. Jeff Gerstmann was fired at Gamespot for giving a game a low score the site was advertising. It was an unspoken truth that review sites will not be overly critical with game scores for various reasons. This incident just made that truth become a very well known one - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gerstmann#Reason_for_GameSpot_termination_revealed