GTA, Humor, and Protagonists - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 85

Grand Theft Auto is a key part of the rhetorical construction of the series.
Wordplay can articulate why these varied responses matter. The words sur-
rounding the games can be seen from a gamers' perspective through both
game play and the wealth of game reviews published by large-scale game
news outlets, while non-gamer discourse abounds in various social com-
mentaries about the state of society. In game reviews it is clear that, instead
of placing their focus on the violence, reviewers stress two key elements of
GTA games: the details, especially the humor, that make the games feel
like a living world and the evolution of the depiction of the protagonist. For
critics of GTA , the violence takes center stage. The open world concept that
enables players to do most anything becomes a platform upon which GTA
is portrayed as a “murder simulator.” These rhetorical moves defi ne the
discourse of the series and are instructive about how games are discussed
as a whole, as they illustrate how GTA 's violence can recede to the level
of a mere game mechanic. By marginalizing what is the central portion of
the game for non-players, wordplay critiques how all the elements of GTA
work together to shape how it is read as a cultural product.
Three primary principles are required to understand why GTA is so
interesting. First, it is necessary to understand the role of humor in dis-
course to see how it can shape and defi ne GTA . Second, public discussion
of GTA will be charted to show the controversy surrounding the series.
Finally, game reviews show how gamers elide discussions of violence in
GTA by focusing on other elements of the game. GTA 's reviews place focus
on the rhetorical force of certain elements of the design and play of games,
leading to a better understanding of wordplay, while articulating many of
the reasons for the controversy surrounding GTA .
HUMOR MATTERS
A specifi c body of literature about communication is necessary to fully
investigate how wordplay applies to GTA . Humor is a key piece of the
series, as noted in both game reviews and academic analyses, 8 and a bet-
ter understanding of the dark humor helps explain why those who do not
laugh at the game criticize it so harshly. GTA contains heavy touches of
irony and satire. Humor changes the dynamics of a text, potentially lead-
ing to multiple kinds of readings about what the text 'means' by creat-
ing “distance and dif erentiation—division rather than identifi cation.” 9
Put dif erently, “humor can have both uniting and divisive ef ects within
and between communicating parties.” 10 Within the context of GTA , some
may appreciate the humor, while others will not. This polarizes the audi-
ence; you either laugh with the game or fi nd it even stranger that anyone
could like it. For those who laugh, the humor bonds them to the game and
becomes memorable, pushing them away from those who just do not get
the joke. This is especially true for irony, “as an ironic message can only