"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."- George Carlin
For me, playing GTA4 is a visit home. I left New York for Japan more than a year ago and through Nikko's fresh immigrant eyes I get to experience nostalgia. The skyline's familiar enough, even when it's not accurate, to light up memories. The hip-hop radio station is a sound-alike. The way the NPCs walk can even get me to miss home a bit.
Now, one of the reasons I came to Japan was to put space between me and my culture so I could see it better. GTA4, the story of Nikko Bellic's rough entry into the American underground and culture, was brought to us by the British Houser brothers. And no part of American culture is calling out to be held up to the light more than the idea of the American Dream. It's something people desperately want to believe in, especially now when America's strength has been shaken in a number of ways. If it ever was, is there anything left? If it wasn't there, would we ever notice or we would continue to go on believing in the illusion?
I'm not very far into the game, but so far it's telling me th characters are all trying their hardest to fool themselves, and I wonder how far they represent America. Many of the people Nikko encounters re under the influence of drugs, but even setting this aside, very few are taking a sober look at reality.
Everyone is a star in his own reality. Manny a South Bohan (Bronx), is a fake community activist who's really looking for fame. Playboy X tries talks about being a businessman and soon going legit, but so far his "diversifying" is nothing but dealing several kinds of drugs. His dream is just an excuse, a way to justify the means. After Playboy finished schooling Nikko on how the game has changed in recent years, I called up Roman's car service for a ride to the save point and even the driver is talking a lot of bull about how he's got the best game in town when it comes to the women. He's snatching up so many of the women flying into Liberty City that he's surprised there's any left for the rest of "the chumps". Maybe Elizabeta will prove to be a little better. So far, she seems to know her friendships are illusory, just junkies hanging around a dealer.
With Roman, I get a closer look. He's willing himself into believing in the American Dream no matter what happens, like it's a necessary part of survival. First, he lies about his level of success to lure his cousin to America and when Nikko complains, Roman is quick to talk about how the dreams will soon be reality. After Nikko's criminal entanglements lead to Roman losing his home and his business,Roman loses hope for only a short time and soon regains his belief that his dream is waiting just around the corner. Soon, he calls up Nikko to tell him to watch American TV because it's better than TV back in the old country. Nikko reminds him that TV back home was mostly American too. Not to be rebuffed, Roman tells him to watch it for nostalgia's sake then.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of the illusions of Liberty City's residents, with a sense of nostalgia, but also of concern, that it's just a bit too close to the warped reality of many delusional people.