![]() He knows exactly what he is – a personification of the player’s worst impulses. There’s no hypocrisy with Trevor, a truly psychopathic killer from Canada. With Trevor Phillips, the final player character, we get the truth. He played them at their own game and won. When he joined the story of GTA Online recently, Franklin had become a big cheese. While netting him far, far more money than his violent criminal activities, these crimes never elicit a police response. In a series of assassination missions, Franklin gets the opportunity to manipulate the stock market and take part in some insider trading. But even in him, we get to see how white-collar crime is often overlooked. He’s the classic GTA archetype, starting at the bottom of the criminal ladder and fighting to work his way out of poverty. He tells himself he’s a good guy.įranklin Clinton, another player character, is the closest we get to a good guy. Inside, he’s empty – like Santa Monica pier, it looks good from a distance, but the symptoms of a broken system are hiding in tents underneath the woodwork. On a surface level, he has everything he needs. He owns a yacht just so he can drive down to the pier and watch it bob in the ocean in his cargo shorts and sandals. He neglects his kids, who are spoilt because he thinks that buying them things is a good replacement for being a father. Michael is critical of capitalist America but unwilling to do anything about it. As he puts it, “ I’m a cuckold, a snob, and a f*****g cliché.” He lives inside his own head while his wife cheats on him with the tennis coach and yoga instructor. He faked his own death to leave a life of crime behind, and now he spends his days lounging by the pool and reminiscing about the glory days or daydreaming about classic movie scenes. Through Michael, one of its playable characters, we see the American dream made manifest. Cruise down to the skate park and you’ll see young adults standing around, staring at their phones – they’re there to pose, rather than skate, much like the burly blokes at Muscle Beach, who stand around flexing more than they exercise. Take a trip out of the city into Blaine County and all the yokels drive off-road recreational vehicles and hulking pickup trucks. Its police department’s motto is “obey and survive”. It’s a city filled with crooked politicians, self-obsessed celebrities, and pharmaceutical advertisements. Los Santos itself is a critique of media-driven America, from the billboards to the television shows, web pages, and radio programs. Look no further than Los Santos, GTA 5’s caricature of LA, which is accurate right down to the potholes – a place where Fox News becomes Weasel News, American Idol becomes Fame or Shame, and Mark Zukerberg becomes Jay Norris, founder of a social media site called Life Invader. It’s almost as absurd as trying to review an open-world video game in a week.Ī more appropriate way to critique a city, of course, is by making a virtual parody of one. Imagine taking an entire metropolis – and one as sprawling and complex as LA, at that, with all its looping freeways, burger joints, tourist attractions, and distinct districts – and condensing it down to a few hundred words and a five-star scoring system. This is a direct quote from a two-star Yelp review of the city of Los Angeles. In spite of all the BS, I still enjoy LA, and will be here for a while longer, but unfortunately, I feel like the sun is setting on this iconic city, not rising.” “Unfortunately the cons are worse than they’ve ever been: wealth inequality, unaffordability, gentrification and displacement, racial tension, destitution and despair (over 50% of LA residents are rent poor), traffic, dangerously pothole-riddled roads, litter, filth, homelessness, lawlessness, gang violence. ![]() In LA I feel like I’m in the center of the universe and like dreams can be manifested. “There are so many things I love(d) about Los Angeles, which is why I moved back here after my first stint eight years ago: the perfect weather, laid back, creative people, Latino flair, true diversity, food scene, artistic dynamism.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |