Representation of Ethnic and Religious Stereotypes in Digital Games and Justification of aggressiveness in public spaces: The case study of Grand Theft Auto game

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Meghdad Mehrabi
Communications, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
10.22054/nms.2019.30672.439
Abstract
Digital games have become a popular form of entertainment among different people specially adults and adolescents. The game Grand Theft Auto series has taken a lot of attention from young people around the world so that according to Wikipedia game sales the version of San Andreas has sold more than 43 million copies around the world. With the release of the series of this game, politicians have criticized them for their aggressive content. The review of literature confirms that game researchers have mainly analyzed the game effects on young players, but they have seldom critiqued misrepresentation of minor ethnicities and minor religions. In this paper, with the methodology of game feature analysis of the games including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Kumawar, Splinter cell: Black List, Delta force, Sandstorm: Pirate Wars, Total warrior and America’s Army we indicate how they misrepresent ethnical minors such as African-Americans and Muslims with stereotypes or how they justify aggressive tendency and behavior in the stressful public places of U.S.A. after September 11th attacks.
Keywords
"Digital Games"
"Representation"
"Justification of aggressive behaviour"

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