Anytime a Grand Theft Auto game releases, even if it's just a next-gen re-release of a game from a year ago, the media makes a big deal about the amount of violence in it.
Today, it's the ability to sleep with a prostitute and then kill her. Although this was already possible in the last-gen version of the game via a third-person view, it's totally different in first-person and somehow seemingly more inappropriate than before. You know, because f*cking and killing a prostitute is fine as long as it's not done through the eyes of your character, right? I find it hilarious that this was largely ignored when the game originally released for Xbox 360 and PS3.
So today, during Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers," Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick as asked by show host Stephanie Ruhle "We’ve got to talk about what’s in Grand Theft Auto. Players have the right to have sex with a prostitute and then kill her. Is this true?" As if this wasn't already possible in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.
Zelnick's answer couldn't have been phrased any better.
Well, I don’t look at it that way at all. Look, this is a criminal setting. It’s a gritty underworld. It is art. And I — I embrace that art, and it’s beautiful art, but it is gritty. And let’s not make — you know, let’s not make no bones about the environment in which we operate. And we stand shoulder to shoulder with other major motion picture releases and major television shows that explore a similar universe. So yeah, this is a tough universe because it’s a criminal universe. However, there’s hundreds of hours of gameplay. People have been engaged with Grand Theft Auto Online for over a year and there are plenty of things to do, and it’s an incredibly exciting environment. But can it be rough? Absolutely.
Grand Theft Auto gets a ton of flack for its content, and is constantly the target of criticism by traditional media. Meanwhile, movies and shows of the same graphic nature get a pass. Let's not act like games are alone in this. Grand Theft Auto is a gritty game intended for mature audiences. The developers are free to create whatever they want, bound only by moral obligation.
Based on Ruhle's reaction and condescending tone when mentioning the ability to sleep with and kill hookers in the game, I'm going to assume she has never played it. She's merely reacting on the worst of what she's heard about the game. While I expect this sort of reaction from traditional media who may be unfamiliar with the series, to see this same headline repeated over and over among the gaming media is proof that we're stuck in a cycle of mindless, clickbaiting.
