Sunday 25 July, 2010

Ernest F. Ledbetter III
July 25, 2010

San Andreas Day 2
Today I played San Andreas for about an hour; instead of free-lancing I completed a few of the beginning missions. They were interesting; I understand that each addition to the series perpetuates a particular stereotypical presentation of ethnicities that are affected by overt and covert prime but it was still interesting that the African American character of the game series had to be an impoverished thug in the ghetto’s of a type of Los Angeles. As I was playing the game I observed at how the first few missions had to deal with hookers, drug dealers, drug abuse, and gang members. I thought about how these images of the black community are still be used to represent the whole of the black experience. When we observe how blacks are displayed in the media it is not much different than how they are portrayed in the video game that is set almost twenty years ago.
I kept playing the games and by the time I got to the “Nines and AK’s “mission, I began to examine my life and reflect on how I could not relate to anything in the game. Growing up in a Christian house-hold, I was not familiar with drug use, gangs, or any sort of lasciviousness or lewd behavior. As the son of a pastor, I’m thankful that my parent protected us from those things. There were gangs in my neighborhood and drugs are everywhere, however, there was a naivety that I possess because it was not casual sight to see in my suburban hometown. I noticed that as I was playing I cringed upon the thought of hookers being so common around me. I thought about my three older sisters and how I would feel if I found out that they were of that profession. I know for a fact that my ethical perspectives that are shaped by my Western Christian Faith influence my thinking and my experience as I am playing the game.

I get the sense that playing the game, in some sense, provided you with a different perspective on life. I've always wondered what it would be like to have grown up in a situation such as CJs and what I would have thought my options in life were. The game can provide a little insight into that, which is always a good thing.