Is the most disturbing scene in GTA5 justified?

[Administrator]

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't played GTA5 yet, then reading this feature will reveal details of a mission about a dozen hours into the game, along with some of the surrounding context. This won't ruin your enjoyment of the game, but it will reduce the impact of one of its most extreme moments. Read on with that in mind or return when you've gotten there yourself and feel like talking about it. You have been warned.
Grand Theft Auto is no stranger to controversy, but now that Hot Coffee has gone well and truly cold and highbrow networks like HBO have made sex and extreme violence a more regular fixture in polite living rooms, Rockstar obviously feels comfortable expressing itself again fully. In the case of GTA5's most disturbing scene, however, it draws inspiration from real life rather than fiction.
The US government's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" is the basis of a mission called "By the Book" where Trevor Phillips, one of GTA5's three playable characters, tortures a man suspected by the GTA world's government agencies of harbouring secrets about terrorists. Players must choose between various instruments of torture and press buttons and rotate sticks when prompted in order to use them on the suspect. If the suspect's heart stops, it can be restarted so the questioning can continue. Meanwhile, one of the game's two other playable characters, Michael, races around Los Santos following any leads gained during the interrogation.
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