‘Identify
the potential impact of a media product you have studied on the audience’
The product I have studied is Grand Theft Auto
V. Grand Theft Auto V is an
action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North. The regulatory body
Pegi gave the game a rating of 18+.Its audiences ranges from 15-35+, 10%
female 90% male and is played mostly by the Abc1 classification.
All 3 playable
characters are morally corrupt and are anti-heroes. You play as the
protagonists. The game has an unconventional structure. Many role play games
with a classic ‘good’ versus ‘evil’ storyline has the player controlling the
central ‘hero’ figure. This is reversed in GTA and the player takes the actions
of a corrupt character into their own hands whose decisions will have consequences
throughout the gameplay. This can lead to morally corrupt decision making by
the player. The game offers an opportunity for a player to play the villain
that doesn’t play by the rules of normal society. This can offer the player a great amount of
escapism from rules and decisions of everyday life.
Unusually for
this sort of game there is a significant back story to each character. The
impact of this on the audience is that the player will seek to identify with some
of the characteristics of the character and through personal identification
with the character, it helps to justify the actions taken. For example, the
central protagonist Michael is dealing with a midlife crisis and has trouble
communicating with his son and daughter and has a marriage that is on the
rocks. Michael (AB) is a wealthy man that lives in luxury. He attends
counselling and relationships with his family are falling apart due to him
being selfish. This lifestyle may represent the audience of GTA V and have an
impact on the consumer base; this is represented in the statistics stated in
the introduction. These sorts of personal relationships in the story line may
be the main impact on the audiences age range. GTA V’s characters backstory
connote common characteristics and scenarios that people throughout the social grade
classification system can relate to (AB,C1,C2,DE). The character is deeply
flawed and struggling with normal life scenarios but deals with them in
extraordinary ways, which the player can only fantasise about in real life.
Franklin (C2) grows up in the ghetto of ‘Los
Santos’, an ex-gang member and is a product of social violence and deprivation.
Therefore, he has a desire to ‘hustle’ his way out by getting a job at a car
dealership. Consumers in the social class grade C2DE may interact and see
Franklin as a personal relationship within the game due to him trying to steer
away from gangs. He sees Michael as an ideal self.
Trevor (DE) is a
sleazy, trailer park criminal, and Michael's best friend. Trevor is seen to
be the worst of the bunch, as a psychotic maniac and also is a fan favourite
due to the dark humour, toxic communication/ voice lines and having anger
issues. The impact Trevor has on the audience is that he acts as an outlet of
rage. One positive interpretation of this is that the game is seen as therapeutic
for people that are not violent, toxic or objectifying in real life. The normal
human urges that are controlled in everyday life can be displaced into a
virtual character. Rage and violence can be visualised on screen with no real
consequences to a ‘living’ person. It is made safe through the game.
The characters in GTA V heavily impact the gameplay and the audience and
this is backed up by Anderson's (2007) theory of high exposure to
games like GTA. Opposite to the view given above, Anderson says that these
ultra-violent games dampen emotional responses to real violence
and desensitises the human brain. This can lead to some incidents in
the media where crimes have been blamed/ influenced by this
block buster title. Due to pre-18 year olds getting a hold of this game; the
media/ Pegi may think the content of this game may easily influence adolescent
children. However, the vast
majority of people that play this title can differentiate fantasy from real
life and will experience nothing more than a vicarious thrill.
In conclusion
GTA V has many potential impacts on the user; good or bad. I have highlighted
the ones that have been most apparent to me and have identified the strength of
escapism this game provides and the weaknesses/ negative effects it may have on
human brain chemistry.
