The age, race, and social standing of each of the three characters in GTA V were all very specific and intentional. Michael is the wiser, older, settled soul, who was living comfortably in white suburban America, though living in misery. Trevor was the more redneck character, living in the shitty part of town, cooking meth to get by and fucking and killing anything that stood in his way. Franklin, on the other hand, stands in bitter contrast to Michael and Trevor. He is struggling to “come up” still, is a little younger, and is African American.
Though the differences may seem shallow on the surface, all you need to do is play the game for twenty plus hours to realize, Franklin’s race factors into the game WAY more than you think it would, and as upsetting as it may seem on the surface, it is one of the most genius things any game designers have ever implemented in any game, ever.
Let me tell you why I think the “profiling” I’ve experienced in my play-through of Grand Theft Auto V is brilliant.
Suddenly, 100 million white kids who have no idea what it is like to have to suffer for being different suddenly know what it is like to be profiled. Suddenly, a bunch of white kids who have no reference point for what it must be like to be a victim of racism, on some microcosmic scale, suddenly have a grasp for that. Laugh all you want, but spend some time in Grand Theft Auto V, and it becomes rather bothersome, no doubt, on purpose.
A perfect example of this is about halfway through the game, you need to steal some military trucks out of a convoy so you can use them for a heist. The trucks show up at random points, and regardless of who you play as, you can jack the trucks as they roll through. So, I’m playing as Trevor and I park my car sideways in the road, pull out the driver, and steal the truck. A few of the soldiers give chase, but they give up rather quickly. I get no stars, and no police trouble as a result. I drive the truck back, park it, and get on with life.
Then, I decide I want to try to jack the trucks again as Franklin, because his driving skill is sick and I probably could have gotten a gold medal on the mission. The next time I see the convoy I get into the truck and BAM, two star wanted level. I do all the exact same stuff I did as Trevor, but by the time I get back to the house with the truck, I am a four star wanted level and am pretty much unable to shake any of it. That, my friends, is just one example.
What about when you are standing around as Franklin, checking your phone, and some random white lady freaks out and calls the cops on you for no reason? Has that happened to you yet? What about the cops in the game confusing you with another black guy and shooting at you for no reason during a robbery, has that happened to you yet?
Does it suck? Yes, but it is supposed to.
Rockstar can deny the racism all they want, but they are doing that because people can’t get over the fact that the game can have elements of racism without Rockstar themselves being racist. In that sense, I don’t blame them for denying it as intentional. The world needs to evolve a little more before they will be accept that level of satire, but for people to scream out that Rockstar is racist or sexist is an absolute joke.
This simply proves that the people Rockstar are geniuses, and have earned that Rockstar name.