The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has expressed its concern over the depiction of Niko in GTA IV, worrying the game could make life hard for Eastern Europeans.
"The figures show that East European immigrants are not proportionately responsible for any increase in crime," a spokesperson said to The Times. "This plays on untrue stereotypes."
The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to allegations of racism and stereotyping.
In November 2003, Cuban and Haitian groups in Florida accused GTA: Vice City of encouraging hostilities towards them, whilst an article in the New York Times in 2004 questioned whether San Andreas was racially stereotyping in its depiction of African Americans.
I dont see the Chinese complaining, and Triads have been in just about every GTA !! Plus if a fantasy hero is Racist then, then god knows what the rivals are then!! If anything its likely to make people understand other cultures more and difficulties living in other countries.
Things like this report is just, PC gone wrong. Niko could be the most interesting character yet in the GTA series, and I haven’t even played the game yet, just watched lots of trailers.
Unless the Immigrant Council is worried that each of the immigrants they are looking after will suddenly turn into criminals, what's the big deal? And if they do think that, they have bigger prejudice issues then anyone else...
Not only that but I read something the other day which proved crime HAS gone up since our influx of Eastern Europeans in the UK... I'll try and dig it up and post it, if I am remembering correctly then not only is this group overreacting to a game but they're also in denial
I would also like to complain about the victimisation I have faced since the birth of 'Harry Potter' and related games. Being one of the many Potters in the UK, I have been the butt of an endless stream of jokes/names calling etc. This must stop now
Perhaps we should ask them what ethnic background they would prefer the character to be. As for playing on stereotypes, I hear that Niko is an interesting character. We can't have it getting around that eastern Europeans are interesting.
I would like to complain on the unfair portrayal of us eastern europeans by that "council". Most of us don't care and are not such whiny sissies as those guys
ps. 50 more minutes at work until I can go play GTA rawr!
I'd like to complain about the sheer number of Eastern Europeans living around this part of the country. There's about 5 Polish supermarkets within spitting distance of each other for a start - who do I complain to?
Every character from every background depicted in every GTA game has been a stereotype - that's just the point. Something like, say, The Simpsons does the same thing; when they get the balance right (which they have with GTA and The Simpsons) then stereotyping becomes satire. Let's not forget that Niko is the only truly likeable character in GTAIV.
My Ukranian friend was delighted when he found out the main character was Eastern European.
If anything it is stereotyping AMERICA because GTA is a satire of their popular culture, I think the idea behind the main character was that seeing it from the point of view of an ex-enemy would be funnier. Though I have found the humour to be more blatant, diluted down for Americans no doubt.
Not only that but I read something the other day which proved crime HAS gone up since our influx of Eastern Europeans in the UK... I'll try and dig it up and post it, if I am remembering correctly then not only is this group overreacting to a game but they're also in denial
My Ukranian friend was delighted when he found out the main character was Eastern European.
If anything it is stereotyping AMERICA because GTA is a satire of their popular culture, I think the idea behind the main character was that seeing it from the point of view of an ex-enemy would be funnier. Though I have found the humour to be more blatant, diluted down for Americans no doubt.
Couldn't agree with you more. Rockstar is really taking the micky out of American culture and their mentality. A prime example of that is when you're watching the animation show on Niko's T.V. It's a cross between Halo (yes they do take the micky out of that) and American foreign policy. I found it hysterical.
I would also like to complain about the victimisation I have faced since the birth of 'Harry Potter' and related games. Being one of the many Potters in the UK, I have been the butt of an endless stream of jokes/names calling etc. This must stop now
Interesting one this. I think the chances are likely that Eastern Europeans are seen more positively after GTA4 than before, at least by the GTA audience. Hours spent with Niko and his plight will engender the audience to him and increase their empathy for him. In turn, maybe, to Eastern Europeans in general.
From the outside however, a game which is infamous for its depiction of crime, violence and drugs, might well suggest that the impression of Eastern Europeans will be damaged. Perhaps those that think in this way are the same ones that are already deeply prejudiced towards them?
What's missing, as always, is the point that the player has full control over Niko. If he visits prostitutes or beats up passing pedestrians for fun, that's only a reflection on the player, not on the character or his ethnicity.
As a final thought, my wife is Polish and was generally concerned about this game before it arrived yesterday and we spent three joyous hours with it. Her mind was immediately put at ease. Unlikely Borat where the whole 'joke is on the audience' is a thin mask for what is otherwise old fashioned racism, Rockstar seem to have created a very charming and real protagonist. Who doesn't love Niko?
I understand the point but how is this game any more insulting to East Europeans than San Andreas was to black folks? At least this version supposedly displays the negative effects of the protagonist's actions on his conscience.
It's only in videogames that the media feel they can comment without knowing diddly squat.
This ignorance offends me and every right thinking person in the country.
We should be asking why there are so many people flooding into this country in the first place, regardless of ethnicity, faith, intelligence etc....
One in ten people in Southampton is Polish, the rest seem to be Indian. Now I'm not racist or xenophobic but I think we've got bigger issues brewing under the surface other than a video game.
Not only that but I read something the other day which proved crime HAS gone up since our influx of Eastern Europeans in the UK... I'll try and dig it up and post it, if I am remembering correctly then not only is this group overreacting to a game but they're also in denial
GTA is set in America...
I'm fully aware of this. But seeing as the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants is a UK council I'm pretty sure they are referring to Eastern Europeans in the UK... anyway, found it.
PS - I'd like to point out that I have nothing against immigrants or Eastern Europeans, it just annoyed me that the JCWI got all up in arms about GTA when it is clear from the police report quoted below that EU immigrants HAVE caused a surge in Crime... (though possibly not the same sort of murderous rampage type crime portrayed in GTA)
The police report when published in full ACTUALLY makes it clear that there has been a "huge surge" in organised crime caused by this unprecedented immigration! Further, Mike Fuller the Chief Constable of Kent has advised Government that there has been a 33% increase in violent crime due to migration surges in his area. A Whitehall memo reveals that 80-85% of all cash machine theft was carried out by - Romanian gangs? Who'd have thought that, eh? In London last year a third of all those charged with criminal offences were foreign. Romanians and Lithuanians topped the crime poll. Around a third of all sex offences and 50% of all frauds in London are carried out by those who come from abroad. Last September, the government itself revealed that it was anxious about 45,000 potential criminals coming from Romania and Bulgaria. Oddly enough, crime has FALLEN in Romania over the past year or so - can you guess why?
I'm not a fan of political correctness, and I can't help but think this is just another case of "jump on the GTA hate bandwagon".
The game is offensive, non-stop, but it is also very funny. The thing about GTA is that its something of a parody. A difficult concept for some to grasp, perhaps. It is such a big p**s-take of American culture and values. There are also glimmers of truth in it, because when people did emigrate there, they did have to turn to crime to survive. Some still do.
It's sad because anyone could complain about anything in popular entertainment. Everything has the potential to offend some people in one way or another. The portrayal of Italians in mafia films, for example. The portrayal of little people in the Wizard of Oz...
Oh come on. Its only a game for crying out loud. People take Gta way to seriously. Anyway, Niko is depicted as a nice guy in the game anyway. Sure he has to do some questionable things, and has had a pretty lousy past, but in genreal he is a good guy thats been dealt a bad hand by life.
If you're gonna moan about videogames then you certainly can't ignore gangsta rap which is a much more widespread problem IMO. I have nothing against it personally and I can fully appreciate the lyrical skill of some mc's (especially those like Supernatural MC that can freestyle) yet I think it's much more influential than videogames are. Not to take the moral high-ground but whilst GTA lets people simulate violent acts it is only a game at the end of the day. On the other hand many mc's boast of shooting, robbing, beating, etc, and this is supposedly in real life. GTA is made by geeky programmers, gangsta rap is made by gangsters. If anybody wants to argue it's just lyrics the please explain all the rappers who get caught in clubs with guns or get caught pistol whipping people, or even worse, the ones who get shot. How many prog-rockers die from shotgun wounds? I'm pretty sure the hooded dude who stabbed somebody in a GTA queue wasn't a Bon Jovi fan.
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