3. A Special Kind Of Evil
In the entertainingly mediocre
Con Air, Cyrus Grissom played by John Malkovich makes a point of noting how there are few things he despises more than rape and those who commit it; this sentiment from the self-proclaimed leader of a plane full of unrepentant monsters. Evidently, even evil has standards. This grievous violation of personal autonomy and dignity ranks second only to homicide in the minds of most, and for good reason. Even the accusation of it is enough to permanently ruin lives and, in extreme and rare cases, leads to the vigilante murder of those not proven guilty by an incensed party. Most likely unknowingly given its evident track record ('a stopped clock is right twice a day'), GTA showed a rare case of female-on-male assault in
San Andreas, where the hapless CJ was subjected to an impromptu introduction to the finer points of BDSM by his host Catalina (who, rivalling Trevor for sheer insanity, should not be allowed to practise it). Having heard some truly horrific stories from victims, this sort of thing being played for cheap laughs
is not funny. It is more proof of the series' unworldliness despite its pretentions otherwise, and makes me cringe to think about. To the point: Once again, within a fictional virtual universe, it may be acceptable to circumvent the courts on this matter. Our fair protagonist may encounter the issue at one point (and, as we don't wish to go down the condescending, lazy
Tomb Raider route of garnering audience sympathy, she herself will at no point be threatened with this savagery), hearing about a crime perhaps from a friend or colleague who knows either the victim, the perpetrator or both. As the corrupt local PD in the GTA universe care naught for speeding or even firmly crumpling their tail lights (if you're lucky), we'll say that they either have been bought off by relatives or legal connections of the culprit or else simply can't gather the basic human decency to care, being too busy putting their feet up and munching confectionaries. This is where our heroine steps in: hunt down the b**tard (perhaps in a classic stalking mission), corner them in a grimy backstreet and confront them about it. Depending on the demands of the plot, this encounter can range from a firm beating to outright murder (if it turns out he murdered his prey afterwards or, worse, before), with the protagonist and her paymasters feeling very good about themselves for serving justice. Let's just not go overboard by turning him into another 'Mr K' by graphically interactively castrating him or something. Another sign of our inevitable cultural deprivation is the uniquely awful phenomenon of the 'snuff film', video recordings depicting actual murder. Thus, another gameplay opportunity presents itself: forcibly stopping the creation of one and dealing with all of its producers. After a frantic phone call or meeting, our heroine races over to the filming location either through direct knowledge or hasty satellite navigation via phone signals, and duly proceeds to stab, strangle and shoot her way through the security detail before seizing the would-be victim and spiriting them away to comparative safety. At this stage, the series would do well to emphasise the saving of women rather than their wanton slaughter. But they need not all be damsels in distress...