How can Grand Theft Auto V and Michael De Santa be considered an example of Postmodernism?

Postmodernism is a 20th century movement which recycles old forms of art, music and other types of media. It is principally a rejection of all traditional forms of media established in the modernist era. The theory primarily explains how postmodernists create a unique form or style of media and cultivates existing forms of art in a collaboration to produce an unorthodox end product or in GTAs case an open world in which anything is possible.

Grand Theft Auto is an action-adventure video game series; most games in the series are set in fictional locales sculpted along the basis of American cities, usually: Liberty City, Vice City, or San Andreas, which are the copy-write equivalent for New York City, Miami and California. In general gameplay focuses on an open world where the player can choose missions in a continuous story mode, as well as, engaging in side adventures and activities consisting of action-adventure, driving, third-person shooting, occasional role-playing, stealth, and racing to name a few. One postmodern technique that is seen in a previous game GTA 4 is parody. New York is known as 'Liberty City' in GTA 4. The Statue of Liberty holds the famous flame however in GTA it is holding a Starbucks Coffee. This is seen as parody and pastiche. This could also mean that Starbucks is taking over the world as GTA is a global game. Grand Theft Auto 5 is the most recent version of the franchise; it is also ground breaking as it is possible the most postmodern game of this century, hence the five years it took in development. The game boasts the use of music from reality showing a massive intertextual influence but also sense of ‘Hyper reality’, what is real and what is not. Grand Theft Auto can be seen as a second life. There is a do it yourself attitude (Bricolage) used in this game, there is a narrative but it is jumbled. You do not follow a certain story, there are different missions with different people and it is your choice. Moreover there is no time limit in completing the game allowing users to take their time and enjoy the game instead of being frustrated by it. This can be seen as postmodern as people have their own choice, this game has no boundary’s! Gratification theory is a key feature within the game as players can experience the adrenaline pumping in threatening situations that they would never witness in their life time; such as a bank heist. However they don’t have to deal with the consequences in real life. It offers players a chance at seeing the criminal side of life through the eyes of the characters which is extremely postmodern. Moreover the creators have made the characters more relatable to a typical male target audience as all three antiheros adhere to stereotypes in the western world. Trevor is an out and out all American red neck who has a passionate hate for the US government and lives on the wild side of life. Franklin is an African American gangbanger who lives in ‘the hood.’ Michael who the story is based around, is a family man, living in witness protection, supposed dead by his friends, but living a secret life as a criminal.

Michael is a postmodern character as he is running from the aftermath of the "GTA lifestyle;" a man who has risen from the bottom and done it all in the criminal world, done some terrible things in the past and is trying very hard to change his ways only to find that things aren't always so easy. He is relatable to the white American audience. He looks after his family and will do anything for them despite the threatening consequences. Michael however they take the stereotype of an antihero therefore users can play as him, committing dangerous deeds such as killing, robbing and speeding which our real society doesn’t deem acceptable, however the users route for him and want him to progress and continue to commit these terrible acts as they don’t want to be caught. Michael is a very muddled person and is defiantly confused by the real life struggles of "good and evil" . This makes him even more relatable to the audience members playing him as he struggles to make the right decisions. Michael has an obsession for materialistic appearance and images therefore as you may presume he has the money to attain sports cars, a big Vinewood (Hollywood) mansion and other expensive materialistic objects, therefore consumers who don’t have this amount of money can live ‘the good life’ through the character of Michael. Also in Michaels mansion there is the availability to watch television programs and listen to music that is up to date with the current music scene therefore it blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Michael lives in an open world therefore no day is the same and nothing is ever predictable which relates to our society, moreover the open world gives access to Michael to adventure through, “Sand Shores,” “Vine wood” and the national park therefore giving him lots of opportunities to experience. Moreover you are able to change Michaels outfits as you would be able to do in everyday life, you can change his clothes glasses and shoes as well as giving him the option to wear a hat therefore your character will be unique to another’s in the game adhering to the general idea that everyone is different. Moreover throughout the game you can get his hair cut however your have to go into the barbers and then you get the option of the cut which is extremely close reality which is quite concerning; I will digress later. Moreover Michaels features and the graphics required to produce such an in depth game are so acute that he actually looks like a real living human, moreover the way in which he runs and complete actions are as close to reality as possible therefore the producers have achieved their goal of creating a postmodern game.

In conclusion having a game that is so postmodern may be a good thing however it has its pitfalls as with all the different scenarios within the game, users may become addicted as they have this urge to complete every single mission, more so new missions pop up every time you play the game. This is a concerning problem as by playing GTA users may try and escape from the problems of everyday life by playing in a “new life” as Michael therefore ruining their own sanity and quality of life. This is a ground-breaking product with such in depth details and characters however the satirical way in which has been produced to oppose the ideologies of a basic Americans life is concerning as it could give people ideas that the life in which they actually live in, is substandard in comparison to the life of a GTA character.