No one in the game outside the main trio has any meaningful depth or development though, it's not just the women. They're all there in service to main three. Lester serves no purpose other than being the brains. Lamar is simple comic relief/bumbling idiot and shows absolutely zero change over the game. I would be very interested in a female protag for a GTA game though, if not just a BoGT or TLatD style expansion.
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Feminists play GTA for the 1st time
- Thread starter Basketball
- Start date
No one in the game outside the main trio has any meaningful depth or development though, it's not just the women. They're all there in service to main three. Lester serves no purpose other than being the brains. Lamar is simple comic relief/bumbling idiot and shows absolutely zero change over the game. I would be very interested in a female protag for a GTA game though, if not just a BoGT or TLatD style expansion.
Ok.
ViolentP
Member
If I had to pick, I would much rather let my child play GTA than to surround themselves with people like you who think they know what is right for everyone.
SolidSnakex
Member
The main three are the only three characters in the game that are fleshed out. The rest are just given basic personalities and motivations for those three to progress off of. Lamar and Amanda both see the same amount of attention as far as fleshing out goes. Which isn't much because neither of them are really the focus of the plot. The focus is on Franklin, Michael and Trevor.
i'm not saying people play gta as a self help book, i'm saying millions play it and love it and obsess over it (because it's an amazing open world action game with tons of stuff to do and great presentation) during a period of adolescene where they're working out who they are
i don't like this because i'm a pompous jerk/concerned parent/high horser about its messages
Demoskinos
Member
This is the grossest shit. This doesn't provide any new meaningful insight on GTA from a feminist perspective. It's literally the most transparent effort from Buzzfeed to capitalize on the drama in the video game community for clicks.
Well... I mean thats what Buzzfeed is best at isn't it?
Inferno313
Banned
Well then they should take a crack at having a female main character for once. They've only had, what? 9 lead characters since GTA 3 and they've never tried writing a woman in that role.
nice... giving people 10 minutes to play the game and instruct them to do certain things to paint a picture of the whole game is like showing a sex scene (preferably Drogo raping Daenerys) from Game of Thrones and selling it as the driving force of why the series exists..
don't get me wrong.. sexism is a problem in our industry, especially when you look at some comments on the video.. but i don't much care for the Fox News type sensationalism (think Mass Effect controversy) this video is delivering.
don't get me wrong.. sexism is a problem in our industry, especially when you look at some comments on the video.. but i don't much care for the Fox News type sensationalism (think Mass Effect controversy) this video is delivering.
Lionel Richie
Member
I didn't even understand this part. The character, a dude, got killed by another dude. Am I missing something?
She was saying she wasn't going to be able to do anything sexist in the game because she kept getting killed, thus not being able to do anything..
AuthenticM
Member
"To anyone who's never been to strip clubs, you're not supposed to touch the strippers."
The canadian in me is grinning.
The canadian in me is grinning.
Damerman
Member
LOL the gif reactions are amazing... please keep them coming.
Also concerning the girl who said that she wrote a blog about how she hates video games for these reasons is not helping. either she needs to choose her words more wisely or she needs to shine a light on games that promote equality between genders.
Also concerning the girl who said that she wrote a blog about how she hates video games for these reasons is not helping. either she needs to choose her words more wisely or she needs to shine a light on games that promote equality between genders.
Lionel Richie
Member
Ah, I get it now. But why would she deliberately do something sexist? Can't she do some story missions or some shit?
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
she knows whats up
but seriously speaking it wasnt that bad, i actually laughed at some of the reactions
NinjamicWZ
Banned
Games need to be more accessible so I can find out what I don't like about them faster.
I think they should make whatever game and write whatever story they want to. A female protagonist could be interesting but it is very apparent that there is game and story type which Rockstar and the Housers enjoy making, are good at making and which sells incredibly well.
D1renegade
Member
The first page of this thread is perfect.
JigglesBunny
Banned
BIG: Broad Inaccurate Generalizations
I like the definition I saw once that defined a "strong character" as having responsibility, agency, and impact on the story. They are the movers and shakers. So for example, in The Dark Knight, Alfred is a well-written character with lots of great dialogue, but he's not a strong character because his actions matter little to the plot. Rachel Dawes has importance to the plot, but it's by virtue of her existence, not her actions, so she's not a strong character. The Joker, Batman, and Harvey Dent, are strong characters because they consciously shape the plot.
Or in video game terms: Bowser is a strong character in Super Mario Bros because he kidnaps Peach, the source of the conflict. Mario is a strong character because his quest to save Peach is the driving plot of the video game. Peach is not a strong character because her actions don't shape the plot, even though she's a major part of the plot; she's only important through her existence as Mario's goal. None of them are fleshed-out characters, but you can still define which ones are "strong" and why.
I never liked the game personally cause it was essentially just a killing machine game. But it doesn't pretend its not about some sick people...the real dark side of human life. So to imagine that they would treat anybody well is far from the characters roll. Its like playing a Mario game and rating it for its first person shooter characteristics, it ain't there. You run over people with your car, you shoot friends, innocent people, etc etc. So treating women badly and everyone else badly is the game.
As some said...typical click bait.
As some said...typical click bait.
Ivan Amiibo
Banned
They were probably tasked with doing something sexist for the video, or showing examples of how the game can be sexist, etc.
WrenchNinja
Member
"I wrote a blog post a while ago about why I fucking hate video games, because this is what it does, it appeals to the male fantasy"
Lol
Lol
I wonder how many people who keep complaining about feminist here, would be mad if GTA would only consist of female main protagonists for all these years with the men being the prostitutes in the strip club. Of course with the obligatory mission to go to the strip club and have a look at all those half naked men :>
"It's really sad that GTA accomplishes the intentional hyperbole that it sets out to depict. Video games would be a better place if nothing was satirical, and grand theft auto was simply a different game. Which is to say not exist."
Battlechili
Banned
I don't understand why they'd show people who are already against such the things the things that would elicit a negative reaction. Why not show the whole game and let people decide what they think based on the sum of its parts?
And it particularly irked me how one person in the video used GTA as an example of something influencing how someone will treat women in real life. Why would someone use GTA, or any video game for that matter, as an example of what a group of people are like and how to treat them? And then there's the whole "I hate video games" thing...
Ah well. On the bright side, some of them liked the game so that's cool I guess.
And it particularly irked me how one person in the video used GTA as an example of something influencing how someone will treat women in real life. Why would someone use GTA, or any video game for that matter, as an example of what a group of people are like and how to treat them? And then there's the whole "I hate video games" thing...
Ah well. On the bright side, some of them liked the game so that's cool I guess.
stufte
Member
Because it's buzzfeed. Buzzfeed doesn't care about adding anything to the commentary. They just want to get on the "video games are sexist!" hype train and rack up dem page
clicks.
Mango The Magician
Banned
I'm not one of the people "complaining about feminists", but I'd still be confused as to what the issue is. I mean it would be kinda different, because I think female prostitutes outweigh male prostitutes (I don't know one way or the other, but that would seem logical) so an abundance of male prostitutes would be a bit weird, but I'd still fail to understand the issue.
Portugeezer
Member
Did they do any Heists?
TheSpoiler
Member
"See this is why I don't like video games because Buzzfeed forced me to play a game with glaring marks without context."
GTA is satirical/parody. It may not be subtle, but it's definitely there. Sure, it has incredibly glaring problems and pandering issues (the strip club, for one, and prostitution), but majority of it is steeped in making fun of terrible male stereotypes and their affect on the world. In fact, the main characters are huge beacons for that, from race to family issues.
Good job on expanding on those things, Buzzfeed. You are really doing a great thing for women looking into entering the hobby.
Look at all that violence that they enjoyed before leading up to that "outrageous content"
I'm not even convinced they were being honest with themselves. Seems like it fit the bill for an {insert cliche complaints here} moment.
chrominance
Member
So what I'm getting is this:
Critic: There are no strong female characters in GTA!
Response: That's because the only fleshed-out characters are the main people, all the side characters are dumb including men. Stop complaining.
Critic: Then maybe they should try having a woman as a protagonist!
Response: Let the developers make the game they want! Clearly they're making really good games with male protagonists, I see no reason for them to change.
I mean, if Rockstar just doesn't want to have complex female characters in its games, fine, that's their right. But I don't see how that isn't still a legitimate criticism of GTA.
jim-jam bongs
Member
That was funny, some of you people need to lighten the fuck up.
TheSpoiler
Member
It is, but look at how GTA is taken right now. It's pure parody, but somehow people miss that. Now imagine a female character being treated in the way that the male characters are. I doubt it would be well received, and seen as something harmful instead of progressive.
Yeah, telling girls to not play video games because of some clickbaity, out of context scenes (besides a few) is really funny. Buzzfeed has a very large reach, and for girls who are entering the gaming field to start a hobby, this kind of shit isn't helping. (All this said by my girlfriend).
Also, "feminist play"? Is that some sort of sacred, tiny select group of women? Because last time I checked, there are a hellvua lot of females looking for equal rights and treatment in society, and those too are feminist.
freenudemacusers
Member
how can we be sure they are feminists? shouldn't we raise up sex workers for controlling their bodies?
"you're not supposed to touch the strippers strip clubs"
step up your strip club game, dear feminist.
"you're not supposed to touch the strippers strip clubs"
step up your strip club game, dear feminist.
Nintendojitsu
Banned
There's good satire and then there is GTA. If a choice would present itself that I had to choose between videogames existing or playing GTA, I would probably take the former.
Well the issue would be, at least for me, that it would be pretty boring to only have female characters for 18 years with the men being portrayed only as some sort of sexual objetcs and the only other men in the story being some useless and empty characters.
This is exactly the same situation for women today and I kind of understand their problem with this game.
stufte
Member
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that GTA isn't a good satire.
TheSpoiler
Member
The discussion is not how good GTA's satirical elements are. It's that they exist and are obvious. It doesn't have to be good to be effective.
Read Film Crit Hulk's analysis of Birdman and compare that to GTAV to see if it succeeds at being satire or just depicting the bad without adding the context or "wink" needed to actually be satire.
From the feminist article linked earlier, it might be a case of something that claims to be satire while not in any way following through on it. Which would make the game exactly what it claims to be mocking.
I haven't played any of the GTA series, so I wouldn't know. But just wanted to contribute by saying that just because something claims to be satire means nothing if all it does is depict the stuff.
From the feminist article linked earlier, it might be a case of something that claims to be satire while not in any way following through on it. Which would make the game exactly what it claims to be mocking.
I haven't played any of the GTA series, so I wouldn't know. But just wanted to contribute by saying that just because something claims to be satire means nothing if all it does is depict the stuff.
...That doesn't seem like a particularly tough choice.
plasmawave
Banned
Seems like you're the one who's disconnected from the real world.
Where did I say it's not a valid criticism? It's a fine criticism, I don't personally agree with it but that doesn't make it invalid. I disagree with the notion that a female protagonist, and therefor a flushed out female character, would make GTA a better, more fun game. Other people think they would get more enjoyment out of that sort of a game. We're all correct because it comes down to our subjective enjoyment of a product.
Also, I take issue with the way you frame Rockstar's choice of protagonists. "I mean, if Rockstar just doesn't want to have complex female characters in its games, fine, that's their right." Really, you think that's their thought processes? That they don't want complex female characters? Rockstar has chosen to make a series of games which focus on male protagonists and their stories. They have not chosen to ignore women, they have chosen to focus on men. Those are two very different things.
TheSpoiler
Member
Well the good news is, from someone who's played it, is that GTA does actually follow through. The three main characters are male tropes exposed. It's debatable as to how heavy and smart it is, but it's there and it's not just used for an excuse. I mean, that'd be considerably obvious if it was since the majority of the games are built around satire.
Weltall Zero
Member
The video was perfectly fine; reactions by women playing the more controversial bits of GTA for the first time and reacting as most women (and many if not most adult guys outside our little circle) would. If anything I'd say it didn't really made us aware of any shocking new truth.
The YT comments on the other hand...