Grand Theft Auto 5 has some of the greatest mission variety of any open-world game, offering a great balance of high-octane action and more laid-back scenes. Unfortunately, those more subdued parts sometimes end up being worse received than Rockstar may have expected. But there's one mission that has made a name for itself as one of the most unpopular in the series despite really helping to sell the game's satirical tone.
"Did Somebody Say Yoga?" has become one of the most memorable missions in GTA 5, and not for all the right reasons. It has gained a reputation as one of the most hated missions in GTA 5, and maybe even the franchise as a whole, for its really slow pacing and lack of engagement. The disdain fans have for the mission is understandable based on how it all plays out, but that hate might be missing the thematic purpose Rockstar had in mind.
Grand Theft Auto's Satirical Stories
"Did Somebody Say Yoga?" follows Michael as he takes part in a yoga class with his wife Amanda, ending with Michael lashing out at her yoga instructor Fabien, leading to his family leaving him. In terms of gameplay, the yoga section is effectively just holding the prompted position; like a quick-time event, just not at all quick. When it comes to boring Grand Theft Auto missions, it's definitely a contender for the top spot, but that's likely the intent.
Between crude jokes and toilet humor, GTA weaves satirical portrayals of America. GTA 4 satirizes the American dream; moving to the US with the hopes of a new life, only to find a tougher situation than before. It's a tale relevant to Liberty City as a counterpart to New York City, known for iconography like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Meanwhile, San Andreas looks at policing and the correctional state. CJ finds himself almost immediately stuck in old ways after getting out of prison, stuck in situations where the biggest crooks around are police officers and military personnel.
For GTA 5, Rockstar revisited San Andreas' Los Santos in a new era, so it needed to add elements of modern-day Los Angeles. In doing so, it ended up poking fun at the city's early-2010s millennial qualities, exaggerating its superficial, consumerist, and self-absorbed aspects. Yoga is the perfect way to encapsulate that, especially within the context of this mission.
A Parody of Los Angeles in GTA 5
Yoga has its roots in Eastern world religions and spiritual traditions that teach detachment from worldly matters. Conversely, GTA 5's Los Santos is vapid and self-absorbed, and the adaptation of yoga there has followed suit. The background stories of the GTA characters involved hint at this contradiction. It is implied that Fabien uses his profession to pursue affairs with clients, including Amanda. Likewise, Amanda's habits as a serial cheater and excessive spender contradict the teachings of traditional yoga. She makes resentful remarks toward Michael even during the activity, despite him seemingly starting the practice in good faith.
In some ways, Michael's outburst is the most logical response to the activity. He accepts his mistakes and current emotions, unlike Amanda and Fabien's inauthentic ways of masking them. He's aware of his past as an unfaithful husband and violent criminal, and behaves in such a way toward Fabien's physical behavior with his wife. Michael is still a bad guy, he's just more self-aware than Amanda and Fabien.
Americanized yoga has a reputation of being boring, and the mission is a light-hearted nod to this. If vapid dullness is one of the things being satirized by GTA's parody of modern LA, it makes sense to do so with a dull yoga mission. An argument could be made that because many players missed this, it wasn't executed well, but many artistic decisions don't land with audiences and make their point all the same. The fact that this mission is so notorious is a testament to how well it managed to achieve its parody; its unpopularity is almost more evidence to this.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
