I’m not sure Grand Theft Auto V, or any games from the series, seek to make specific comments on moral questions, but there are certain aspects from each that puts us in the position to make moral considerations, and the implications of this, whether intentional or not, are large and fascinating, and impossible to replicate anywhere outside the gaming medium. Games have a way of putting us in the shoes of another character in a visual and tactile way; as novels can put us in the literal mind of somebody else, games allow us to see through someone’s else and act with their hands in a more real way than any other medium.
The moral questions of the franchise are storied and controversial and often talked about in ignorant ways, reduced to the act of “killing hookers,” which I don’t think the vast majority of players have actually ever done. But there is the moral conundrum of being a gangster, where we’re controlling acts of murder, that makes the actions more immediate than the vicariousness of Goodfellas or similar movies.
GTA V takes this even further, with a torture scene that is gruesome and challenging from a purely moral standpoint. This is surely intentional. It’s also more than depiction, but to reduce the work to endorsement would be a disservice. It’s hard to say to what extent the game judges the actions of its characters, or whether judgment from a narrative perspective would be a strength or a weakness. It’s seemingly in our hands. At the same time, our control only goes so far. With the torture scene in this game, they’ve served up one of the most compelling and troublesome instances yet.
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