One Last Ride On The Road To GTA VI đź“… 64 Days to launch
Michael Finally Finds Inner Peace… Then Loses It
This is almost a perfect Michael character study. He has spent the entire session being told that his mind, body and emotions are blocked. And, somewhat surprisingly, the yoga actually seems to work. Michael is calmer. He’s engaged. He’s even willing to admit that he may have benefited from it.
For perhaps thirty seconds, we see a version of Michael who is actually capable of slowing down and letting go. Then Fabian starts pushing Amanda into increasingly intimate-looking yoga positions and Michael’s newfound enlightenment lasts approximately four seconds.
That’s what makes the scene so good. Michael hasn’t actually solved his problems. He’s simply discovered that he can be calm until something threatens his ego, his marriage or his sense of control. Then the old Michael comes roaring back.
The deeper analysis
The really interesting thing about this scene is that Michael actually succeeds. That’s what I think makes it worth analysing differently from the usual “Michael loses his temper” interpretation.
For once, somebody gets Michael to stop. He participates. He listens and by the end, he appears genuinely more relaxed. That tells us something important; Michael isn’t incapable of change. He’s resistant to change. There’s a difference.
Michael’s problem isn’t that nothing works. It’s that he generally abandons anything that requires him to confront himself and Fabian is particularly interesting because he’s almost accidentally getting Michael to do something that therapy hasn’t managed to accomplish; be present.
Michael has spent much of the game escaping. From crime. From his past. From responsibility. From his marriage problems. From his children. From Trevor. Even from himself. Yoga temporarily removes all of those distractions.
Then Fabian’s comments about Michael’s “sexual energies” and his interaction with Amanda bring Michael straight back into the world of ego, jealousy and control and that’s where the comedy becomes character development.
The swimming pool is the perfect ending. Michael doesn’t simply yell at Fabian. He lunges at him. Fabian sidesteps. Michael goes straight into the pool. It’s almost a visual representation of Michael’s entire personality. He sees something he doesn’t like. He reacts immediately. He doesn’t think about the consequences and he ends up making himself look ridiculous.
That’s happened repeatedly throughout his story. Michael’s biggest enemy isn’t necessarily Trevor, Steve, Davey or even his family. It’s often Michael’s inability to control his own reactions.
There’s a brilliant irony in the final line. Michael has just been told; “Yoga is the answer but what is the question?”. That’s actually one of the smartest lines in the scene because Michael is constantly searching for answers without really understanding the question.
What’s wrong with his life?
Why is he unhappy?
Why is his family falling apart?
Why does he keep returning to crime?
Why can’t he leave his past behind?
Why does he keep getting angry?
Why is Trevor’s return affecting him so profoundly?
Michael wants solutions but he hasn’t fully worked out what problem he’s actually trying to solve. Then he throws himself into the swimming pool. Which is about as Michael De Santa as it gets.
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 one last ride through the narrative.
In this new collection I’m analysing the story 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 – đź‘Ť đź’¬ đź”” 🔎 Gramepa – 🙏
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