Celebrity in the GTA IV Era: Difference between revisions

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'''The Wave of Celebrity in the Grand Theft Auto IV Era '''is the term used to describe the sudden influx of celebrity and gossip media in the fictional universe of grand theft auto.
The [[Grand Theft Auto]] series has always strongly relied on satire of popular culture, but a strong influx of parodies of '''celebrity'''/gossip culture can be noticed from [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] onwards.


==Pop and Tabloid Culture==
GTA IV's media is sprinkled with references to its own fictional pop culture universe, which parodies the 2000s-era wave of [[wp:Reality television#2000s|reality television]] and [[wp:Famous for being famous|"famous for being famous"]] celebrities. Many of the celebrities have turbulent friendships or loose associations with each other, much like their real life counterparts; For example, Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian are half-siblings, and many other celebrities are socially linked together via New York's [[wp:Covenant of the Sacred Heart (New York)|Covenant of the Sacred Heart]] Catholic school.


==Examples of Celebrities in GTA IV==
'''Cloe Parker''' is a Paris Hilton-like heiress and world-famous celebutante socialite living in [[Liberty City]] and [[Alderney]] in 2008, she freqently recieves attention from the media usually discussing her notorius explot's.




'''Heirs and Heiresses:'''
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 600px;"
|'''Name'''
|'''Occupation'''
|'''Main Parody'''
|-
|'''[[Cloe Parker]]'''
|Import/export heiress
|Paris Hilton, Britney Spears
|-
|'''[[Jill Von Crastenburg]]'''
|Banking heiress
|Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate Olsen
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Unnamed British Prince'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Royalty
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Prince Harry
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[January Natasha Vasquez]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Drug heiress
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Kim Kardashian
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Alfonso Vasquez Jr.]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Drug heir
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rob Kardashian
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Tyler Dixon]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Cloe Parker's fiance
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Kevin Federline
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Lyle Cleethorpes|Lyle Cleethorpes V]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Historic family heir
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Josh Astor, David Mayer de Rothschild
|}


'''Samantha Muldoon''' is a Madonna-like celebrity pop singer who has over a dozon adopted children and is married to a billioniare hedge fund manager who later devorced.


'''Self-Made:'''
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 600px;"
|'''Name'''
|'''Occupation'''
|'''Main Parody'''
|-
|'''[[Kerry McIntosh]]'''
|Supermodel
|Kate Moss, Britney Spears
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Samantha Muldoon]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Singer
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Angelina Jolie, Madonna
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Tony McTony]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Social network founder
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Mark Zuckerberg, Sean "Diddy" Combs
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Ernesto Asaltacunas]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Baseball player
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Jose Canseco
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Richard Bastion]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Radio host
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Poppy Mitchell]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Actress
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Lindsay Lohan
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Clay Jackson|Clay "Pain Giver" Jackson]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rapper
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Cam'Ron
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Bruce Spade]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Actor
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Al Di Napoli]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Actor
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Blue Brothers]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Singers
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Jonas Brothers
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Wayne Tearson]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Actor
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Heath Ledger
|}




'''Jill Von Crastenburg''' is a socialite and notorius [[Liberty City]] party girl who is also an heiress to the enormous [[Von Crastenburg Family]] fortune, which are the wealthiest dynasty in the world and are siad to own half of [[Algonquin]].


'''Carried over from GTA III Era:'''
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 600px;"
|'''Name'''
|'''Occupation'''
|'''Main Parody'''
|-
|'''[[Jack Howitzer]]'''
|Actor
|Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Love Fist]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rock band
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Motley Crue, Guns 'n' Roses, Iron Maiden
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Madd Dogg]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rapper
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Ice-T, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[OG Loc]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Rapper
| style="vertical-align: top;"|MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice
|-
|'''[[Lazlow]]'''
|Radio host
|NA (as himself)
|}




'''January Natasha Vasquez''' is a [[Algonquin]] socialite and daughter of a millioniare drug lord, she has an extreamly low IQ and i most likley inspired by real-life celebrity Kim Kardashian.




'''Real-life celebrities: '''Considerably more famous people in real life agreed to portray themselves in GTA IV than any previous GTA game. Almost every in-game DJ is a prominent musician or personality in real life, Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams play themselves as comedians, and Busta Rhymes also appeared on the radio as himself to promote his new album (in-game and real life).


'''Bruce Spade''' is a [[Vinewood]] leading man and world-famous movie-star who is a closeted homosexual, he is likley based on Bruce Willis and David Spade to very famous actors.
==Politicians==
 
The political atmosphere of the game has a very strong sense of post-9/11 hysteria. Surprisingly, there are no references or parodies whatsoever to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, which was arguably the largest media frenzy of 2008, likely because the majority of GTA IV was completed before 2008, and well before Obama was considered a viable candidate for President.
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 600px;"
 
|'''Name'''
'''Poppy Mitchell''' is a celebrity former child actress and a frequent [[Liberty City]] partygoer she has had sexual relations with Luis Fernando Lopez.
|'''Occupation'''
 
|'''Main Parody'''
 
|-
 
|[[Joe Lawton|'''Joe Lawton''' ]]
''Kerry Mclntosh''' is a 23 year old supermodel prone to meltdowns, she is probibly based on Kate Moss.
|US President
 
|George W. Bush
 
|-
==Reason Being==
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Charles Martin]]'''
the most ovious reason for the massive influx in celebrity media in 2008 GTA is the fact that real-life media has devoted it's self to A-List celebrity gossip and as such created a enormous cult-like following.
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Alderney Senator
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Duke Cunningham, James Traficant, Webster Hubbell
|-
|'''[[Michael Graves]]'''
|Liberty Gubernational candidate
|Mark Foley
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[John Hunter]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Liberty Gubernational candidate
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Al Franken, Fred Thompson, Jesse Ventura
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Thomas Stubbs III]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Liberty House Representative
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Kennedy family
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Julio Ochoa]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Liberty Mayor
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Fernando "Freddy" Ferrer
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;"|'''[[Bryce Dawkins]]'''
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Liberty Deputy Mayor
| style="vertical-align: top;"|Larry Craig, Richard Curtis, Bob Allen
|}
[[Category:GTA IV Era]]

Latest revision as of 20:40, 5 July 2014

The Grand Theft Auto series has always strongly relied on satire of popular culture, but a strong influx of parodies of celebrity/gossip culture can be noticed from Grand Theft Auto IV onwards.

Pop and Tabloid Culture

GTA IV's media is sprinkled with references to its own fictional pop culture universe, which parodies the 2000s-era wave of reality television and "famous for being famous" celebrities. Many of the celebrities have turbulent friendships or loose associations with each other, much like their real life counterparts; For example, Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian are half-siblings, and many other celebrities are socially linked together via New York's Covenant of the Sacred Heart Catholic school.


Heirs and Heiresses:

Name Occupation Main Parody
Cloe Parker Import/export heiress Paris Hilton, Britney Spears
Jill Von Crastenburg Banking heiress Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate Olsen
Unnamed British Prince Royalty Prince Harry
January Natasha Vasquez Drug heiress Kim Kardashian
Alfonso Vasquez Jr. Drug heir Rob Kardashian
Tyler Dixon Cloe Parker's fiance Kevin Federline
Lyle Cleethorpes V Historic family heir Josh Astor, David Mayer de Rothschild


Self-Made:

Name Occupation Main Parody
Kerry McIntosh Supermodel Kate Moss, Britney Spears
Samantha Muldoon Singer Angelina Jolie, Madonna
Tony McTony Social network founder Mark Zuckerberg, Sean "Diddy" Combs
Ernesto Asaltacunas Baseball player Jose Canseco
Richard Bastion Radio host Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck
Poppy Mitchell Actress Lindsay Lohan
Clay "Pain Giver" Jackson Rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Cam'Ron
Bruce Spade Actor Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio
Al Di Napoli Actor Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino
Blue Brothers Singers Jonas Brothers
Wayne Tearson Actor Heath Ledger


Carried over from GTA III Era:

Name Occupation Main Parody
Jack Howitzer Actor Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone
Love Fist Rock band Motley Crue, Guns 'n' Roses, Iron Maiden
Madd Dogg Rapper Ice-T, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube
OG Loc Rapper MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice
Lazlow Radio host NA (as himself)



Real-life celebrities: Considerably more famous people in real life agreed to portray themselves in GTA IV than any previous GTA game. Almost every in-game DJ is a prominent musician or personality in real life, Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams play themselves as comedians, and Busta Rhymes also appeared on the radio as himself to promote his new album (in-game and real life).

Politicians

The political atmosphere of the game has a very strong sense of post-9/11 hysteria. Surprisingly, there are no references or parodies whatsoever to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, which was arguably the largest media frenzy of 2008, likely because the majority of GTA IV was completed before 2008, and well before Obama was considered a viable candidate for President.

Name Occupation Main Parody
Joe Lawton US President George W. Bush
Charles Martin Alderney Senator Duke Cunningham, James Traficant, Webster Hubbell
Michael Graves Liberty Gubernational candidate Mark Foley
John Hunter Liberty Gubernational candidate Al Franken, Fred Thompson, Jesse Ventura
Thomas Stubbs III Liberty House Representative Kennedy family
Julio Ochoa Liberty Mayor Fernando "Freddy" Ferrer
Bryce Dawkins Liberty Deputy Mayor Larry Craig, Richard Curtis, Bob Allen
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