the gta v fandom is a kind of hilarious one wherein a character is a rapist, serial killer, cannibal, abuser, cult of personality unto himself, but that his best friend tried to have him whacked by the fbi before faking his death makes friend b the absolute worst one
to elaborate:
i think it’s interesting that trevor and michael are heavily paralleled in terms of growing up around abuse and neglect before their descent into anger issues and a life of crime. however trevor is someone who refuses to hear any ill about a mother who emotionally and physically abuses him and is heavily implied to have sexually abused him as well. ‘motherfucker’ and any insult to mothers is one of his biggest triggers in the game and his type of women is Older for, as michael says, oedipal reasons.
meanwhile michael is someone who has distanced himself heavily from his family background. though he’s willing to be self-deprecatingly open about his weight, failed football career, semi-successful criminal status, deranged killer status, trustworthiness, etc., we only really hear about his parents in context of what he’s told his therapist. he’s failed his current family time and again through affairs and emotional neglect.
trevor has michael’s name tattooed on his shoulder as ‘brother’ – michael refers to trevor as ‘brother’, but as a nickname alongside t, trev, baby, etc. trevor’s biological brother died under i’ll presume suspicious circumstances. if michael has (step-)siblings it’s not something he brings up. they have very different takes on what family means, what loyalty means. for michael it’s about being a provider. for trevor it’s about acceptance.
we know trevor isn’t a danger to michael or his family … but the thing is, michael doesn’t see it that way. in many ways his decision to fake his death, have trevor set up, etc., is based on a selfish desire to survive. however, he also has a family to look after. the only person trevor has is brad, who is an even looser cannon, and if i had those two orbiting my family i’d freak out too. michael says that once trevor finds out the truth of his involvement with the fib, then trevor will cut off his head, then kill his family – or raise them as his own, and he’s not sure what is worse. michael is afraid of trevor, he’s just someone who’s also snarky in face of fear, so he wraps it up in jokes. however even jimmy, if called after trevor comes back into their lives, expresses concern for michael, saying that uncle t loves jimmy and wouldn’t hurt him, but he’s worried for his dad and what trevor will do to him. if michael dies, well, he’s dead, but he’s also not going to be there for his family, and that would be the ultimate failure.
in essence, trevor has reacted to his childhood of abuse and torment by normalizing what he experienced. he treats ron and wade like shit. he won’t let chef cook for him until chef has also dismembered a guy, as a test of loyalty for entering the cult of trevor. like his mother, trevor expects everything to be given to him, because where would these nobodies be without him? he’s as much of a narcissist as michael can be.
meanwhile, michael has done his best to run as far from his past as he can. he tells amanda “face it, we’re trailer trash” in a breakthrough moment, showing how fake his attempts to gather wealth and privilege are at heart. sometimes when you switch to him he’s leaving the golf club, angry at being mistreated and seen as lesser, and if you buy it, the manager will go “i didn’t realize how rich you really are, if we’d known we wouldn’t have treated you like shit.” he absolutely does not want to be seen as lower class trash. he wants to be the rich man with the family whose every need is catered to – and by being financially present with kids who don’t need to turn to crime to make ends meet, he feels he’s met his requirement of fatherhood, when obviously, they want him to be emotionally present and not just depressed by the pool as well.
trevor would live in his darkness. michael wants to leave it behind. trevor scares michael, both in a very real, he’s a scary mf sense, but also, in that he represents the dark side of michael who can be just as bad. but i do believe michael ultimately did all he did for his family. if it weren’t true, reconciling with his family wouldn’t be his personal journey through the game. he’s forgotten why he did what he does, and needs to reconnect with the real thing that puts him above his background: a love for his family, and a desire to be there for them.
their reconciliation in the post-game of michael offering trevor his cut of the score shows how they’ve come to meet in the middle. trevor learns forgiveness after a lifetime of not forgiving because either you’ve wronged him and you die, or you’re like his mother, and incapable of wrong. michael hurt him, but he can forgive michael. michael has realized that it’s not the money he needs, but trevor’s friendship, and he’s willing to give up 20 mil if it means getting it back. “it’s not about the money” – it’s about michael making an actual apology and trevor being able to accept it.
