Barrett, P. (2006). White thumbs, black bodies: Race, violence, and neoliberal fantasies in Grand Theft Auto. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and C

Barrett, P. (2006). White thumbs, black bodies: Race, violence, and neoliberal fantasies in Grand Theft Auto. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 28, 95-119.

Paul Barrett’s article provides a thought-provoking analysis of Rockstar Games’ representation of the inner city African American experience in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA). Barrett suggests the game presents black bodies as a disposable commodity and reinforces negative racial stereotypes by attempting to define the essence “blackness.” Rockstar Games relies on hip-hop culture as the foundation for their appropriation of black society in GTA and embraces the danger, aggression, and violence in albums like 50 Cents’ Get Rich or Die Trying. Barrett concludes, “the implication [of theses games and albums] is that blackness is a style, something that can be taken on and off” (p. 100). Therefore, white players construct black culture as they see fit when playing GTA and black individuals playing the game must accept a dangerous neoliberal representations of their own culture.

Barrett’s article is very strong and provides a lot of evidence for my own argument. He delineates the social conflict evident in GTA and argues that the game implies that African Americans should accumulate wealth by any means necessary. The game—Barrett argues—“suggests that the problems that African Americans experience is due to individual failure” (p. 114). Thus, GTA portrays African American’s as inherently strained by society and endorses violence as an acceptable means for coping with a troubled life. The article works perfectly in context with the theoretical foundation laid out by Merton and Agnew and provides support for their (and my own) arguments. Although Barrett uses CJ of San Andreas as the focal point of his argument, the essay is extremely applicable to the imagery of immigration and social strain throughout Niko Bellic’s journey in GTA IV.