Grand Femme Auto

[IMPress Polly]

So it was leaked recently that Grand Theft Auto VI -- the next installment in the infamous heist franchise who's currently installment is now the second-best-selling video game of all time behind only Minecraft -- will feature a story influenced by the real-life criminals Bonnie and Clyde, and to which end will feature two playable characters: one male and one female. It was also indicated that the game play will take place in a number of different cities, with indications of Miami being among them, and will strike a more serious tone than we've seen. I'm inclined to view all of that news as positive, personally. It suggests that the developers at Rockstar will be expanding on the things that have made the franchise truly something special (namely and most importantly the depth and sheer interactivity of its open-world environments) while moving away from those elements I've disliked more personally, like excessive volumes of toilet humor that sometimes strike one as forced in to lighten the mood and yes male chauvinism (sorry but it's not rationally deniable).

And yet the simple fact that I'm now looking forward to the next installment by itself means that many franchise fans aren't. Yep, the inevitable controversy over the existence of the Latina co-star has begun already! *sighs* So here we go again. YaY. I hereby dub this idiotic yet inevitable controversy Grand Femme Auto for convenience, based on the theory of participants that GTA is a franchise for men that is being wrongly stolen from them. Perfectly capturing the typical attitude behind Grand Femme Auto was this tweet with more than 4,600 up-votes that was posted in response to the linked IGN article about the leak:

GTA 6 tweet.jpg

IT HAS A VAGINA. MAKE MY PEEPEE SAD. ME BIG MAN, PLAY MAN GAME. PLAY PLAY PLAY!

Okay, enough poking fun. Is this actually a franchise for men, as our man-child here suggests? Unfortunately, the IGN article feeds into this perception, I think, by claiming that "Female protagonists have previously only been available as custom characters in GTA Online, never in the game's single player campaigns." That's not actually true. The original Grand Theft Auto game from had eight customizable avatars to choose from, four of whom (i.e. half) were female. Here they are:

GTA characters.jpg

I mean I know that's back before the franchise really took off with its leap to 3D in the early 2000s, but thought it a bit of history worth correcting. It was also quite rare back then in 1997. Back in those days, video games rarely made female avatars playable, and almost never were they given equal, 50/50 representation like that even when they were selectable. The original Grand Theft Auto, in that regard at least, stood out from the crowd in a way that seemed perhaps intended to draw in a substantial number of female players.

One thing that is new though is that this will be the first time in the franchise that a female player character will have a story arc that matters. In the original GTA, your choice of avatar didn't matter, which is why you could choose and customize one to your liking. It had no affect on the story. These, by contrast, will be characters with actual personalities, not just lifeless stand-ins for the player. Perhaps it's this prospect -- having to actually try and relate to a woman instead of just using her body for an energy refill or something -- that actually petrifies this type of gamer.

Notice that no context was required for Grand Femme Auto to occur. Simply the knowledge that a Latina co-star will exist has been enough.

[Ethereal]

GTA player base is probably overwhelmingly male. Male players tend to prefer story-lines with male leads. Female players tend to prefer the opposite. It is what it is. If Rockstar wants to ignore the preferences of their player base, then they are going to receive backlash.

[OLD GUY IN FLORIDA]

GTA player base is probably overwhelmingly male. Male players tend to prefer story-lines with male leads. Female players tend to prefer the opposite. It is what it is. If Rockstar wants to ignore the preferences of their player base, then they are going to receive backlash.

This is a racist, sexist, homophobic post.

[LWW]

This is a racist, sexist, homophobic post.

You forgot it was homicidal, genocidal, suicidal, dance recital!

[IMPress Polly]

GTA player base is probably overwhelmingly male. Male players tend to prefer story-lines with male leads. Female players tend to prefer the opposite. It is what it is. If Rockstar wants to ignore the preferences of their player base, then they are going to receive backlash.

I honestly don't care if the sixth installment sells fewer copies than the current one; I just want it to be something I can enjoy more. The moron who tweeted out the remarks I highlighted in the OP is someone worth losing, IMO. But I guess that mindset is why I don't make for much of a capitalist.