Rockstar Uses Actual Gang Members for GTA V Voice Acting

[maddawg IAJI]

"Former gang members" fine. Good. People getting a job. But "gang members?" No. You don't give money to criminals. Stop being a piece of shit thug and THEN get a job. I'm not paying to support your disgusting, parasitic lifestyle.

Right, because giving someone a job so they can support their family is totally supporting crime. Fun fact, a lot of people are in gangs because they can't afford not to be in one.They don't have access to the education needed for a successful career in a field, they don't have access to a lot of equipment that would allow them to search beyond their current environment for a job and they don't have access to adequate protection as cops often avoid high crime areas during patrols (Ironic right?). So how do they protect themselves while also earning an income? By affiliating themselves with gangs. If you employ them, they're more likely to leave a gang.

Also, boycotting a game over a series of voice actors is really fucking silly, especially when we have developers get away with racism and misogyny in their games on a regular basis (Looking at you, Techland.) But hey, if you want to skip out on it, I'm not gonna judge you on that, but I think your argument is severely lacking.

Seriously? Think about it for a second. One of the more prevalent messages in gangster rap is to "get out of the hood". You don't get out of the hood without a job.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Fuck I hope you precious princesses aren't fans of Sons of Anarchy which stars actual members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, or any mob movie made in the last thirty years because a lot of the time, actual gangsters get bit parts in them for shits and giggles, and occasionally hired as consultants.

 

[Frost27]

I see no problem with this. It's not like they shot their way into the recording booth and then beat a prostitute on mic for authentic sound effects.

Assuming Rockstar paid them in actual money rather than the equivalent value in drugs/alcohol, this may be the closest thing to honest work many of these guys have seen in a while.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I think its a good idea. First off, you can hardly say people don't deserve a job just because they are part of a gang. How do you expect them to change if its the only way they can get money? Secondly why wouldn't Rockstar try to improve their game just because some gang member might profit from it a little.

Thirdly, I get to hear gangsters talk. I can then borrow these lines and look even whiter than normal when I try to use them.

 

[Ham Blitz]

It's funny, they did this exact same thing for San Andreas. I mean, not knowing much about gangs or their talking it is hard to notice but I guess it is a cool little bit of information to know about their voice actors.

 

[Jadak]

Why shouldn't they offer a legal alternative to making money? How is a person supposed to change if you don't provide a means for them to do so?

Stars like Danny Trejo seem to indicate that offering legitimate employment is potentially life changing and/or saving.

Helps to have any indication they intend to change.

The only details here are that they "hired criminals". That good be a good thing, particularly if this were a consistent thing and start making a living out of it (of course, then they'd stop being legitimate criminals and not be qualified ?), or it could just be that Rockstar funded them to buy guns/drugs the next day. I don't know which is the case, but the latter even being a possibility is kind of bad.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I am truly surprised by the number of narrow-minded people posting on this thread. There is no-way near enough information to judge rockstar with their move. Plus, not many gang members believe they can choose their life as they can sometimes only survive when growing up, to be part of a gang. We have generally been 'pack' species anyway. To judge them as just 'criminal scum' straight away, then hating rockstar for even trying to give them a better opportunity to earn some honest money is just downright shallow and hateful. Perhaps too many people here have been raised in silver-spooned comfort while watching american news and police shows to gain their view of the world.

Personally, i believe that gang members know how to show attitude when needed. So there is a high probability that they can say certain lines with the correct angst required. rockstar hasn't let me down before with believable voice acting. Bloody controversy will no doubt spiral either way

 

[anthony87]

So many high horses in this thread.....

OT: I'm intrigued by this. Sure it probably wasn't necessary and if I hadn't read the news then I may not have even noticed but now I'm kinda interested to see how this turns out.

 

[xPixelatedx]

I am not surprised in the least. Seems like 'wannabe thugs' are also one of their target demographics, and they'll eat this up with a spoon. I've just never found anything fun or enjoyable about these games. I played 4 hours of GTA4 and thought it was as monotonous as the sims, only with gangs and stuff. I don't need a gritty life simulator, thanks. I already know how shitty a place the world is.

 

[Vivi22]

Funny thing? Being in a gang doesn't mean you can deliver a line of dialogue.

Because I'm sure the company spending millions of dollars to develop the game isn't going to get the guys who are interested to audition and see if they can pull off a good performance. Nah, they definitely would have just grabbed people off of the street, threw them in a recording booth, and kept whatever takes happened to come out, regardless of quality.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

yeah... this seems kinda exploitative, to be honest. Let's use poor people to make our million dollar franchise more legit.

Also taking away jobs from actual voice actors.

 

[Vivi22]

Helps to have any indication they intend to change.

The only details here are that they "hired criminals". That good be a good thing, particularly if this were a consistent thing and start making a living out of it (of course, then they'd stop being legitimate criminals and not be qualified ?), or it could just be that Rockstar funded them to buy guns/drugs the next day. I don't know which is the case, but the latter even being a possibility is kind of bad.

Give me a break. Rockstar is giving people an opportunity they might never have had before. Ever. Maybe they'll want to try and pursue it in the future. But in either case, do you really think whatever they got paid for a few recording sessions is going to dramatically impact how much they spend on drugs or guns or committing crimes? Not really.

And if you have a problem with the idea that that might happen, do you also have a problem with places like grocery stores that take money from known criminals who obtained that money illegally?

Here's the reality of the situation: whatever Rockstar paid them will in no way materially affect crimes they may or may not commit. Moreover, the idea that a person offering genuine, legal employment, should refuse to higher someone who is or was in a gang because of what they MIGHT do with that money is patently ridiculous.

 

[Cecilo]

For the people defending the practice, I doubt any of the gang members are going to get a legitimate job out of this, the people that have a problem with it seem to be going along the lines of "Well great, You gave people that kill other people, distribute drugs, or slavery more money. Well done"

Then again, we all give our respective government tax money every year so I guess not many of us have an issue with that.

 

[l3o2828]

I'm sorry but what?

What about the actual good voice actors that spend time and money, sweat and blood into becoming something so they could someday participate in a huge project like...you know, GTA V.

Seems kinda unfair.
And these are criminals you are talking about, in the best case scenario they will change their mind about crime, but do you seriously believe any other company will employ them? HAH.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

There's nothing worse than that, so just go find the terrifying people and say 'can you come in here please?'

I suddenly imagine nerds in thick rim, taped glasses run for their lives from every gang in Orange County, all at once XD

It woulda been really interesting to get more insight into the recordings, though. I'm sure it was a very cool experience for the GTA crew. Talking to, or even being near, an OG crew is intimidating as balls.

 

[flarty]

All I can think of is the scene from Tropic Thunder.


Yeah, the whole real gang thing is far from a good idea.

I was more reminded of this


Posses of crack heads lol

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Why shouldn't they offer a legal alternative to making money? How is a person supposed to change if you don't provide a means for them to do so?

Stars like Danny Trejo seem to indicate that offering legitimate employment is potentially life changing and/or saving.

Exactly, whats the point in going to prison if the only thing your going to learn is how to be a better criminal and no one wants to hire you when you get out. Also, I think this should work great even if it might be iffy for a lot of people. I did find a lot of GTA's dialogue to be corny as hell or at best something that would be screamed at me in Call of Duty.

 

[Hazy]

You mean like they did with Max Payne 3? And with San Andreas?

This is hardly new information, and a lot of you people need to get off of your high horses. These are people doing a job for money. You can ***** and moan about Rockstar facilitating gang violence, but here's the thing: every time you buy a diamond you run the risk of supporting violence. Every time you buy a shirt, shoes, or pants, there's a strong chance it was made by an underage factory worker slaving away for long hours to provide for his family. I can go on and on.

Don't be ignorant of where your money goes and then flaunt a superiority complex because a company gave these people the time of day.

 

[II2]

I think it might be worthwhile to point out that extinctions exist between being an active party to criminal activity (a criminal) and a ex convict (or felon) with a criminal record.

I think what bothers people is that:
A) It feels like a shady publicity move, which Rockstar is known to do.
B) While it's legitimate work, it's a job secured on the predication of previous criminal activity. Rewarding a legacy of bad behavior, so to speak.

Personally, I don't care, but I think those are the mechanics of bad taste, stated above.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Eh. If I remember, the Wire did the same thing, so there's precedent.