While cruising around Youtube, I happened upon a discussion about misogyny in gaming, particularly the game "Grand Theft Auto V." Just to provide a bit of background for those who may not know, the Grand Theft Auto series is comprised of open world "sandbox" style 3rd person shooter, where the player character is able to do almost anything they imagine. One of the consistent criticisms of the game series is the allowance, and perhaps even encouragement of violence against women (e.g players can gain small amounts of cash by injuring the sex workers depicted in the game). During a discussion of the game, a popular game critic (Adam Sessler) raises the broader topic of misogyny in the Grand Theft Auto series.... and awesomeness ensued!
I'm posting a video of this discussion not because I necessarily agree with Adam, but because he addresses two of the concepts that we've discussed in class:
1) The idea that critisism of certain aspects of a brand/product does not always mitigate ennjoyment of said brand/product
2)Privilege- Most of the panel is comprised of men, however, that isn't the cool part. The cool part is that for perhaps the first time ever, I saw a reviewer start off by acknowledging their privileged as a "white dude" (in their words)!That's a huge bonus, whether or not one agrees with him or not!!!
Adam's argument begins at about 22:30, and I'd encourage everyone to give the video a watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upBG3Q20Vjg
I plan on watching this video later but just by reading this post I feel a little bit better. I have always known that in Grand Theft Auto you can injure prostitutes and get money. This bothered me way before I became a feminist, you can hurt people and be rewarded for it. Of course it has to be a woman that is seen as the worst part of society. I'm so glad you found this video!
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