One Last Ride On The Road To GTA VI 📅 105 Days to launch
Love Doesn’t Always Feel Like Love
Tracey shouts; “Dad, you’re embarrassing me!”. Michael doesn’t care. He believes she’s in danger. The interesting part is that both of them think they’re acting out of love. Michael thinks he’s protecting his daughter. Tracey thinks she’s protecting her independence.
That’s what makes the scene so believable. Some of the biggest family arguments don’t happen because people don’t care. They happen because they care in completely different ways.
“The hardest part of parenting is knowing when to hold on… and when to let go.”
This scene completes something we’ve been watching develop throughout Michael’s family story. With Jimmy, Michael is often too absent. With Tracey, Michael is often too present.
That’s a fascinating contrast. He struggles to find the middle ground. When Jimmy needed attention, Michael didn’t know how to give it. When Tracey wanted independence, Michael didn’t know how to step back.
Rockstar isn’t presenting Michael as a bad father or a good father. They’re presenting him as a father who’s constantly overcorrecting, trying to make up for past mistakes, but often swinging too far in the opposite direction.
One of the hardest parts of loving someone is accepting that they won’t always understand why you’re trying to protect them.
Whether viewers agree with Michael or Tracey, almost everyone can recognise that tension. Parents see risks that children don’t. Children see control where parents see care. That clash of perspectives is what makes the scene feel authentic, and it’s why it resonates far beyond the action on the boat.
This scene is a particularly raw one for Gramepa… As is always the way, I’ll swap a story for a story.
With Grand Theft Auto VI on the horizon, I thought it was the perfect time to revisit one of the greatest games ever made. Over the days leading up to the launch of GTA VI, I’m returning to Los Santos for “Grand Theft Auto V – Series 2”.
I’m creating a brand-new collection of shorts and then analysing the narrative in the comments to tell you what I think is going on. Disagree with what I say? Get in there! My challenge is to get the whole game covered by GTAVI launch.
Link to full GTA playlist here:
Level me up by – 👍 💬 🔔 🔎 Gramepa – 🙏
One thought on “Protection or Control? GTA Analysis Beyond The Mission”
Do you look back now and realise your parents / guardians had your best interests at heart… even if it didn’t feel like it at the time?