The name and the death star of Grand Theft Auto.

The name and the death star of Grand Theft Auto.

 by Ninan Kurian

Grand Theft Auto, as the name suggest started out as a motor vehicle theft game but over the years it has evolved by adding an underground business that sells drugs, forged documents, and recent guns. There are also various missions and heists that involve killing and stealing products for business and money. The aim, to raise your rank of the criminal underworld to the highest possible. It is one of the highest grossing and popular games in the world, as millions of players play it worldwide. As Tuan (1991, p.688). quoted “Naming is power”, if the name was stealing things instead of GTAV then it would reduce the power to identify the context of the game through the title. The name is what gives the place an identity. Further exploring the game and Tuan (1991, p.686) quote “storytelling converts mere objects ‘out there’ into real presences”, I have come to understand that language and names have the power within the game too (Kuttainen, 2017). People form gangs within the game, which requires a name that is appropriate to the game and people with names that stand out. If you went with your name or a fake name like The Nerd, King Arthur, or The Peace Keeper then you are likely to be on your own but instead choose a name like Hotshot, Bloody Ghost or Sniper007 then it will be easy for you to be part of a gang. In the case of gang names, names like Kung Fu Pandas, The Muffin Men, or The Step Dads, are likely to be laughed at then feared but names like Brotherhood of Horror, Nightmare Squad or Zeus Judgment will strike fear into thought who seek to challenge your gang. This shows that names can make things that are invisible, visible but also can turn imaginary identities into real presences. 

Picture 1: Life a Nintendo version of GTA V or Skyrim (wellthisjustgotinteresting, 2015)

Finally, the language and just as the death star of Star Wars has many ships within the star, the language of Grand Theft Auto has many sentences that contain bad words, and the game's atmosphere causes you accidentally to use those same words. In the game, if a person goes around saying taking and please they will remain a stranger but those who swear and use slang will be part of the family. So many, use these words to adapt to the place and survive in the virtual world but the language used there is being transferred to the real world and changing the lives of many people. Unlike the death star in Star Wars which was demolished, the language used in this game cannot be destroyed because, without its presence, the game would not feel real or fun to many gamers, which will cause the game to lose its popularity. So, the Rebel Alliance must now find a way to destroy, yet another death star, even though this time it’s not the Empires. 

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Stories of place: Story lines, lecture 5 [Lecture slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_84764_1&content_id=_2759359_1

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the association of american geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430

wellthisjustgotinteresting (2015). Life a Nintendo version of GTA V or Skyrim [Picture 1]. Retrieved from http://imgur.com/gallery/RvkmUkL