Written Analysis 5

Written Analysis 5

            I believe that the theory that best describes my topics Xbox One, PS4, and Grant Theft Auto is Myth Theory. Each of these three artifacts in Popular Culture have several myths attached to them. For example, there is a myth associated with the Xbox One and PS4 that you must be wealthy to own one of these consoles. People believe that because these consoles are so expensive and the upkeep is so expensive that only wealthy people own them, but this is not the case. More teenagers and young children own Xbox’s and PS4’s than older adults. According to Entertainment Software Association, “32% of kids under the age of 18 play video games and 32% of teenagers from the age of 18-32 play video games” (ESA, 2013, p.2). On top of this, there are myths about the game Grand Theft Auto including the myth that this game makes children become violent and that the game is all about violence. No one knows the true story behind the game, the main character was a war veteran that came to the United States to find something important and instead had to turn to violence to make money.

            On top of this, there are many stereotypes associated with each item. With Grand Theft Auto the game makes it seem that African Americans live in the “ghetto” or the slums and that African American men are violent, drug dealers that will attack anyone for money. The race stereotype is the worse one and this one should have been prevented by the company. Also, there are stereotypes involved with Xbox One, PS4 and Grand Theft Auto as well including the stereotype that only lonely, jobless men play these consoles and this game. This is far from the truth, there are many young gamers and a lot of the gamers work. I have an Xbox and I have played video games, the last time I checked I am a young adult female.

            The most interesting thing I found out about these things are that they are artifacts in popular culture and these things are important to people. There are so many myths and stereotypes involving these three things and they all have something in common; they are intended for a specific audience and someone always has something bad to say about each artifact, even if there is nothing wrong. These three artifacts also are all tied together, to play Grand Theft Auto you have to have a console, and if you want to play on a console, you have to have a video game to play.

            Honestly, these three artifacts were very hard to talk about because they really do not go with the topics in this class. I had trouble figuring some of the assignments out. Even though they are involved in Popular Culture, I look at them differently now. I look at these three artifacts differently because I now know the formulas that are involved with developing these things. Each item first has to be sketched out, then the first item created, next the bulk of the items have to be created, and finally the company has to market the product so the public knows the specific details and when the product is coming out and without this step no one will buy the product.