Diversty in GTA

[kilenem]

I always though its odd that Rock Star gets flak for not havering women as playable characters but isn't given props for having characters who aren't white Americans. Franklin is the best original black character. His dialogue is great and he isn't some cookie cutter stereotype. Most black characters in video games look like they are on steroids or they are comic relief. Specially if you look at black people in Japanese games. I cringe every time i see a black person in a Japanese game.

If we look at some of the other protagonist in GTA like we have people of Italian decent, Chinese decent and Niko Bellic is probably of Russian Decent. I don't think Rock star has a problem with diversity as much as other companies. I know its sucks for women that most of your characters look s like a barbies but most characters who aren't white American males have the same character type or little variation. Its not just women who have the same art design so we should give praise to a company breaking the norm.

 

[Tayh]

That is all I get from the forums as of late. I agree completely with you, but many seem so insistent that a game has to have a playable ugly gay female character they are sexist. I really do hate this trend and hope it dies off quickly

To be fair, if they can't even include one female playable character out of their three protagonists, in a long series of games(at least since the series went 3D) with only male playable characters, then this "trend" just might have a point.

 

[Eve Charm]

Why would a company that only puts out a game about every year take that risk of putting a female character in a game they market and make for adult males?

You'll probably never see a female lead in an GTA game, maybe a DLC, if they wanted to it'll get shot down by the investors for gambling or just not trying to give them the biggest return on their investments.

 

[Genocidicles]

Trevor is bisexual too, although I think he's a bit stereotypical in that regard, being a maniac willing to stick it in anything.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I always though its odd that Rock Star gets flak for not havering women as playable characters but isn't given props for having characters who aren't white Americans. Franklin is the best original black character. His dialogue is great and he isn't some cookie cutter stereotype.

Even better than this [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Lee_Everett.jpg] guy?

Anyways, right now, people seem more concerned about the gender makeup of the cast, not the racial makeup, so they're more likely to spot the issue with female representation rather than praise anything for bringing in greater racial equality to the cast of characters in a video game. This doesn't mean that we should suddenly drop everything and start looking at how characters of different races are presented, but it does sort of explain the issue.

In any case, personally, I find the GTAV ordeal blown way out of proportion. As I stated at the announcement, I was more surprised by the lack of a female protagonist largely because I've played so many games recently where there was at least one female character as an option. We've come much further than many people are willing to admit, and, while that doesn't exclude us from seeing how we can progress even more, GTAV seemed more like the target of people just looking for every popular game to attack because they simply aren't willing to look for the games that already give them what they want.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

Blah blah blah needs female protagonist blah blah blah sexism blah blah blah feminism.

Pretty much all I hear when people complain about this shit.

Remember when this wasn't a problem? Those were happier days.

 

[Evonisia]

I can't really comprehend how Franklin isn't a stereotype. He's a gangster from the streets who dreams of big but is foul mouthed, morally bankrupt, openly violent and like every single Black character in the game (and in most media) he replaces commas with "************", "Dog", "Dude" and "N-Word". He also keeps being reminded of 'the hood' and how he must live in that situation because that's how it is. The only thing that puts him apart is that he wants to leave the streets. Franklin is a stereotype of Black people as depicted in Western media, at least from what I can tell from playing as him for 7 hours and hearing him gab on and on about the same subject for another 10 hours.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Do these people ever stop and think about what they're asking for? The protagonists in GTA V are irredeemable psychopaths. Call me crazy, but I think people would be more upset if Rockstar did make a female protagonist that performed similar depraved acts as the characters currently in the game.

In the meantime, there's always the Saints Row games if people really want to play as a psychotic, morally bankrupt female character.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Not once in any of my playthroughs of any GTA game have I ever thought about this "issue" or ever considered playing as a female protagonist. Why? Because there's no reason to. The GTA games have always worked just fine and quite successfully as they always have: with male protagonists.

This is a non-issue.

Blah blah blah needs female protagonist blah blah blah sexism blah blah blah feminism.

Pretty much all I hear when people complain about this shit.

Remember when this wasn't a problem? Those were happier days.

I concur. We need to move the fuck on.

 

[kilenem]

Even better than this [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Lee_Everett.jpg] guy?

I was thinking about characters based in a original story. He is still based in the walking dead comic series. Storm from marvel comics in any video game is my favorite black character.

 

[krazykidd]

I can't really comprehend how Franklin isn't a stereotype. He's a gangster from the streets who dreams of big but is foul mouthed, morally bankrupt, openly violent and like every single Black character in the game (and in most media) he replaces commas with "************", "Dog", "Dude" and "N-Word". He also keeps being reminded of 'the hood' and how he must live in that situation because that's how it is. The only thing that puts him apart is that he wants to leave the streets. Franklin is a stereotype of Black people as depicted in Western media, at least from what I can tell from playing as him for 7 hours and hearing him gab on and on about the same subject for another 10 hours.

I disagree . Lamar is the stereotypical black guy based on western media . Frankling actually has some depth to him . He does most of the things he does out of a sense of devotion ( to Lamar , and his hood), but he really wants to escape that lifestyle , most of the time he tells Lamar no , but then get's dragged into the shit anyways.

 

[kilenem]

Do these people ever stop and think about what they're asking for? The protagonists in GTA V are irredeemable psychopaths. Call me crazy, but I think people would be more upset if Rockstar did make a female protagonist that performed similar depraved acts as the characters currently in the game.

In the meantime, there's always the Saints Row games if people really want to play as a psychotic, morally bankrupt female character.

Well in GTA 4 they had the heavy set black women who was a drug dealer and she killed that guy who was doing a TV show. That wasn't really out of the norm for GTA

 

[kilenem]

Why would a company that only puts out a game about every year take that risk of putting a female character in a game they market and make for adult males?

You'll probably never see a female lead in an GTA game, maybe a DLC, if they wanted to it'll get shot down by the investors for gambling or just not trying to give them the biggest return on their investments.

That is a bad argument because we wouldn't have charterers like samaus For the most part Meteoroid games sell well. Mrs Pac Man was made for women but I think everyone knows how to play Mrs.Pac Man.

 

[kilenem]

I can't really comprehend how Franklin isn't a stereotype. He's a gangster from the streets who dreams of big but is foul mouthed, morally bankrupt, openly violent and like every single Black character in the game (and in most media) he replaces commas with "************", "Dog", "Dude" and "N-Word". He also keeps being reminded of 'the hood' and how he must live in that situation because that's how it is. The only thing that puts him apart is that he wants to leave the streets. Franklin is a stereotype of Black people as depicted in Western media, at least from what I can tell from playing as him for 7 hours and hearing him gab on and on about the same subject for another 10 hours.

Yeah but Trevor does the exact same thing to Micheal. He always criticizes him for living the high life ad how it morally bankrupted his family. Lamar and Franklin actually show fear Also they show fear to Trevor a white man. Most of the time black characters only show respect to white characters who are cops. Rock star they touches on racial discrimination when they ask why was Franklin arrested on a bullshit charge and the cop responds with we have a racial quota. They also talk about the C.I.A selling drugs in urban neighborhoods.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well it's the smart thing to do. Diversity embiggens the target demographic AND makes you look progressive. I don't get why it doesn't happen more often.

 

[shootthebandit]

GTA is a lot like the simpsons in the respect that its a parody of society. each character is a caricature of what we expect and thats why its so effective

 

[Someone Depressing]

"A series targeted at adult males needs more female protagonists."

Nope. Never. The series would crash and burn. You'd be suprised how many people are turned off by having to play as someone the opposite gender. It would be years until another GTA game.

Are you even reading what you are saying? While it's a good theory, as long as there are people like that group of fratboys in Borat, and there always will be, who play video games, then gender diversity just won't open up all that much. And if Rockstar does, good on them. Just don't let the fans who did like the gender diversity see the sales figures.

 

[norashepard]

Yo first of all CJ >>>>> Franklin.

Second, while they are 'diverse' there are still pretty bad at actually having diverse characters. Every Italian is a mob type, every black person is a gangsta with a crew, all the asians are Yakuza, etc. White ladies are always shrill bimbos, and WoC are all hookers, illegals, or addicted to drugs. Clearly, just because there are diverse races, that does not automatically lead to diverse characters. All Rockstar seems to do is mix up the usual stereotypes in pretty ways.

Why not have a Latino (or even a Latina) try to build their own crime empire (like Elizabeta Torres in GTAIV), independent of the already existing criminal stereotypes? Or have an Italian who isn't part of the mob, and is instead a dirty cop or a meth cook or something? What if, hear me out here, there was a Native American character? In any game! Literally any game! And I am waiting for the day that a game has an honest to fucking god second generation Asian American protagonist who doesn't go on about fucking honor or the mother country or whatever. They exist! Really!

 

[Lieju]

Because you can crtiticise a game for different reasons even if you praise them for others?

And considering how often I hear the argument 'But is she also complaining about the racism/violence/etc!?' it seems a lot of fans who don't have a problem with sexism in the series do think it has issues with racism, but in a way that doesn't bother them.

But if you think the game handles writing different races well and depicting racism, isn't it then a game-series that could tackle sexism the same way?
Personally I would have liked GTAV to have a female protagonist because I would have loved to see what the writers did with it.

Blah blah blah needs female protagonist blah blah blah sexism blah blah blah feminism.

Pretty much all I hear when people complain about this shit.

Remember when this wasn't a problem? Those were happier days.

When was this? When was the time when women were well represented in video-games? Or are you talking about when people didn't talk about the problems? Because that's a great way to deal with issues.

BUT THEY AREN'T GIRLS AND SINCE THEY AREN'T GIRLS IT IS OKAY TO *****! THEY ARE SEXIST ASSHOLES! FUCK THEM FUCK THEM FUCK THEM FUCK THEM FUCK THEM. <-- Major Exaggeration of how people act over this.

That is all I get from the forums as of late. I agree completely with you, but many seem so insistent that a game has to have a playable ugly gay female character they are sexist. I really do hate this trend and hope it dies off quickly.

*FLAMESHIELD ACTIVATE*

Well, considering how when a female reviewer praised the game and the characters but criticized sexism in passing a vocal part of gaming community blew up over it, this is hardly just one side acting silly.
In an ideal world one could criticise a game in a reasonable manner and we could just all discuss it.

Also, aren't you maybe exaggerating a bit? At least here on these forums it tends to be less 'sexist!' and more 'I'd like more diversity.'

Which is the case for me. A female protagonist for GTAV would have made me far more interested in it.
As would if one of them was a ghost. Or if the game had dinosaurs.

What if, hear me out here, there was a Native American character? In any game! Literally any game! !

I didn't play Assasin's Greed 3 but wasn't the main character half native? So even if you don't count him, there would have been others in the game, right?

 

[Evonisia]

I can't really comprehend how Franklin isn't a stereotype. He's a gangster from the streets who dreams of big but is foul mouthed, morally bankrupt, openly violent and like every single Black character in the game (and in most media) he replaces commas with "************", "Dog", "Dude" and "N-Word". He also keeps being reminded of 'the hood' and how he must live in that situation because that's how it is. The only thing that puts him apart is that he wants to leave the streets. Franklin is a stereotype of Black people as depicted in Western media, at least from what I can tell from playing as him for 7 hours and hearing him gab on and on about the same subject for another 10 hours.

I disagree . Lamar is the stereotypical black guy based on western media . Frankling actually has some depth to him . He does most of the things he does out of a sense of devotion ( to Lamar , and his hood), but he really wants to escape that lifestyle , most of the time he tells Lamar no , but then get's dragged into the shit anyways.

Franklin may have some depth to him, but he's basically just like the rest of the Black characters of GTA V. He has that one trait (escape the lifestyle) but otherwise I could swap him with Stretch or Lamar and not that much would have changed. Rockstar should be praised a little for trying to develop an interesting Black character but in all honesty he doesn't transcend the formula in a significant way. Though in all fairness the same applies to Trevor and the other 'hick' characters.

Yeah but Trevor does the exact same thing to Micheal. He always criticizes him for living the high life ad how it morally bankrupted his family. Lamar and Franklin actually show fear Also they show fear to Trevor a white man. Most of the time black characters only show respect to white characters who are cops. Rock star they touches on racial discrimination when they ask why was Franklin arrested on a bullshit charge and the cop responds with we have a racial quota. They also talk about the C.I.A selling drugs in urban neighborhoods.

This is all good. Rockstar has made a step forward (fear, the racial quota line), it's just that the step isn't that far. I like how they make commentary on the racial aspects but my issue is that none of the Black characters (except maybe Tanisha) really act differently to Black characters you could find in any standard gang/mob/crime setting.