Red Dead Redemption’s Change We Can Believe In

It is too easy for me to embrace the cliché and simply state, “Red Dead Redemption isn’t your dad’s wild west story.” I refrain from saying it not because it is tired and lacks any kind of meaning, but because it simply is not true.

In Rockstar’s latest epic of the old west, the game touches upon themes that have been genre staples since the advent of motion pictures and television. One act of the game is essentially the John Wayne/ John Ford styled western. Another act is the Sergio Leone western. What Rockstar did with the genre, however, was to create a narrative that synthesized aging genre conventions in order to speak to larger contemporary issues.

Just as much as Grand Theft Auto 4 served as a mouthpiece for Rockstar Games president and co-founder Sam Houser to discuss his sociopolitical views on immigration and “the American dream”, the narrative of Red Dead Redemption explores – quite cynically – the dynamics of change.

In Red Dead Redemption, the narrative centers itself in the struggle of John Marsten. John is a man trying to reclaim his family from a life of violence and crime – a life he once lived and was apart of. The struggle in RDR is not John’s alone. The world in which John lives in is in constant struggle – a struggle that is consistent with historical accounts.

Advancements in the early twentieth century had placed the western United States and Mexico in a tough transition period. The old way of life in the west was rapidly becoming archaic and incompatible with modern life. Mexico especially made efforts to embrace modernity in its infrastructure and culture.

Automobiles and internal plumbing had created a need for new urban planning. Electricity and crude oil became new recognized forms of energy. Evolution and microbiology were the topic de jour within academia and mindscapes of the literate. So in the name of modernity, cities transformed and cultures changed – for better or worse. The choice of accepting the new paradigm of modernity was up to those who lived in the time – most notably John and his peers of schemers, tyrants and criminals.

RDR’s premise is borrowed from the John Hillcoat western The Proposition. John is sent out by government powers in order to seek out members of a gang he used to ride with and bring them to justice – lest not John ever see his family again. John and his former gang were relics of their time – men that had no place within the new paradigm of modernity. The characters understood that their place in the world was quickly fading and decided to deal with the new modern world differently. On one hand, John tries to reform and start a family. Dutch, the gang’s enigmatic boss, decides to resist change.

At the moment of resolution between Dutch and John up against a cliff, the narrative quite plainly shows the contrast between the two men. Dutch resisted the change being thrust upon him and would choose death before he succumbed to change. John, on the other hand, would chose to accept the change if it allowed those who he loved to live. John was the optimism of the American dream – that no matter where someone came from or what he or she did, happiness is always in grasp.

Dutch, and it seems Rockstar, do not believe so. “We can’t always fight nature, John,” says Dutch. “We can’t fight change. We can’t fight gravity. We can’t fight nothin’. My whole life, all I ever did was fight… But I cant give up. I can’t fight my own nature. That’s the paradox, John… Our time is passed, John.” No matter who John loved or who he lived for, he was defined and judged by his past. John, Dutch, and every other outlaw of the west were products of their environment. As the old west had begun to die, so too must the outlaw.

In the narrative, John had sacrificed himself in so much that it would grant his family peace away from violence and death. In assuming the control of Jack, John’s son, the player is then given the tools to further explore the world. Rockstar then tempts the player by promising revenge for the slaying of John. Does the player simply turn the console off and accept John’s redemption? Or does the player seek retribution – therein by making the sacrifice made within the narrative in vain? It would seem as if RDR might have the subtlest moral choice in a video game this generation.

The rhetorical use of change throughout the narrative contrasts against the rhetoric seen in contemporary politics. Is RDR Rockstar’s commentary on a post Obama America? Probably not. In fact, the repetition of “change” although out the narrative may be incidental and without any larger meaning. But Rockstar has set a precedent of presenting sociopolitical commentary in their previous games, most notably with the Grand Theft Auto Series.

RDR, with the context of the narratives of GTA4 as well as expansions, offers a bleak and cynical view of the United States – one that quite frankly isn’t too off. In light of the racial tensions in Arizona and distrust in federal powers and regulatory bodies, RDR best serves as a mirror to a problematic contemporary America. So while times may change and society becomes more and more progressive, people remain the same – faults and all. Just like Dutch, we are only free once we embrace our nature.

- Adrian Perez