Why the Torture Scene in GTA V is OK
The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to controversy. Back in the day some people thought that one of the main parts of the game was beating prostitutes to death with baseball bats to get a refund for services performed. Clearly they weren’t aware that although that was something people could do, it was an option that players chose for themselves, never once explained as part of the rules, or even given as a mission.
This time around though, the controversy has come from a game section that is mandatory.
Beware SPOILERS AHEAD.
In a mission called ‘By the Book’, player character Trevor has to extract information from a hostage to pass on to a second character, Michael, who uses it to assassinate a target. Trevor’s tools are a variety of torture instruments, pliers to pull teeth, electrodes to shock, a wrench to whack, and a container for waterboarding. As mentioned, this is a mandatory mission for game completion. It’s not an optional side quest, it doesn’t offer you the choice to refuse to torture Mr K, or turn on the FIB agent who is making you do it. You simply have to get through it to continue enjoying the game.
It seems that for some players, this was too much. It also seems that for a lot of people who haven’t played it and heard about a game that features mandatory waterboarding, that this is an outrage too far.
Having squirmed my way through the mission, I’m not one of those people. I’ll explain why.
The mission was not fun. The rest of the game is extremely enjoyable, full of satire, and dark humour. This bit left out the humour, leaving us with dark satire.
The mission has you play as the character Trevor. Trevor is introduced early as an amoral psychopath. The GTA games generally do star characters whose morals are questionable, and he is no exception. Trevor’s entrance scene has him stomp on the head of someone who dared confront him for sleeping with his girlfriend. He’s not a nice guy. He’s the opposite. The torture scene suits him. If the scene had been given to one of the other playable characters, Michael or Franklin, I imagine they would have had an option to back out. Backing out doesn’t cross Trevor’s mind. In this scene, as with the rest of the game, you have to role play as someone who has a faulty moral compass. It’s not like many other games where you can make decisions as you might in real life. In this game you play the bad guy and have to unapologetically.
As a note, during the rest of the game you kill, murder, steal, burgle, do drugs, see prostitutes, and commit any number of other crimes. I do find it curious that someone can play the game and be OK with all of that, but the torture is too much. I’ve heard the excuse that when it comes to the rest, they are desensitised because it’s in so many games and films, but torture is new. That’s terrible reasoning. That almost suggests that if life really were like GTA, then people would be fine with men going on killing rampages every so often just to see if they can beat their previous score. So, if you’re a GTA player anyway, you shouldn’t be complaining.
So, it’s firmly established at this point that Trevor is a bad guy, who doesn’t much care for the well-being of those around him, and even enjoys being violent. Torture is a hobby for him. As long as you can separate yourself from Trevor (as you should be throughout the whole game) you should be OK.
So anyway, this mission was not fun. It went on for a long time, it was mainly a man screaming in pain while you pressed buttons to make it happen. It wasn’t even a challenge. It was simply ‘hold R2 to cause pain’ and that’s it.
The point was to get information from Mr K. The thing is Mr K was willing from the beginning to tell everything. He kept saying “Stop, I’ll talk!” as you performed the operations, but Trevor goes on anyway, egged on by the FIB agent.
When Michael eventually finished the hit, Trevor is told to finish Mr K off as the agent leaves him alone with the victim. Trevor at this point decides to have a little mercy and let him go, even offering him a lift to the airport so he can flee the country and put it all behind him. On the journey Trevor explains that torture is a worthless way to get information.
“The media and the government would have us believe that torture is some necessary thing. We need it to get information, to assert ourselves. Did we get any information out of you? Exactly. Torture’s for the torturer…or for the guy giving orders to the torturer. You torture for the good times – we should all admit that. It’s useless as a means of getting information.”
He knew that Mr K was willing to talk the whole time, but torture is just fun for the torturer and a way to show power over someone else. He also mentions that information gained through torture is rarely reliable anyway.
What Rockstar did with this mission was simply show the pointless horror of torture. You went through a horrible several minutes of causing agony for no gain, which reflects what has happened and may possibly still be happening in real life. They were highlighting just how bad and useless torture is. They weren’t glamourising it, and they didn’t make it fun. This was probably the best way to get a message out to otherwise decent people who might not be aware that this has gone on.
It’s no reason to ban or boycott the franchise. They crossed a new boundary to give their take on an important issue.
Comprehension Questions
What is the name of the character you play as in the scene?
What is the name of the company that made the game?
Do you think this article makes a compelling case in favour of the controversial scene?
Do you agree that raising awareness of issues involves depicting those issues clearly?
Had you heard of Grand Theft Auto before?
Are you aware of any other controversies surrounding the game series?
