Doing It Right: The Last of Us

Reviews

Mar 24

For the majority of you who have followed this blog fairly regularly, I suspect my choice of quotes may leave you a bit stumped given how often I have railed against intellectually deficient content, lackluster character development, out of touch content creators, excessive use of normalized tropes, and treatment of LGBTQ2S+ characters. As Professor Fennimore is fond of saying in the novel series, Fennimore & Simms by A.D. Garrett (Margaret Murphy), Context is key!

Let me take it a step further by saying nuance gives birth to creative prowess. I was once chided by a co-worker for getting too much into the minutia when attempting to address an issue experienced by an external customer. Then, I was ridiculed for not documenting A and entering the information correctly into B. I found the entire interaction quite humorous because if they would have bothered to actually read my email detailing the efforts to address this particular customer’s concerns, the minutia would have explained everything. In this scenario it was more about their own ego than attempting to create a positive learning experience.

My reasoning for approaching the introductory paragraphs in this fashion delves into a facet, I believe is at the heart of telling good stories, especially those memorable ones adapted from one type of media to another. It is an intentional process where innovative content creators walk the proverbial tightrope between doing something right, while also allowing for just enough creative leeway on world building without going too far off course and alienating their audience.

When I am wearing my content consumer cap, I do not expect a literal interpretation of content taken from, say, a novel, which is then adapted for a motion picture or television. I understand some creative measures will need to take place for it to fit within a certain timeframe or current technology may not be up to speed for a proper display of written visuals.

When writing a story, it is often much easier to use descriptive language to describe technologies we have not seen in the real world. It is another to bring said descriptive language to life for visual consumption using props, motion capture, advanced puppeteering, etc. Since the development of computer-generated imagery (CGI), the ability to adapt some of our most beloved stories in written or comic book form has gotten a lot easier. I’ll let the purists in the CGI and practical effects departments duke it out as to which is better.

In this post, I want to highlight a personal favorite of mine, which is now being consumed by an even larger audience due to its adaptation from video gaming platforms to Home Box Office (HBO). What is this spectacular, well-written, superbly acted and visually stunning content I am referring to? The title of this post gives it away. I will be highlighting the world of The Last of Us and will ensure not to spoil any of the content in the television series currently taking place.

Created in 2013 by video game developer Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, The Last of Us is an action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic United States, where the player controls Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, to rendezvous with a rebel militia group known as the Fireflies. It became one of the best-selling video games, selling over 1.3 million copies in its first week and 17 million by April 2018. It has won multiple Game of the Year awards and has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made with its sequel, The Last of Us Part II released in 2020. I would suggest reviewing the various Wikipedia articles below if you are interested in this story’s history and gaming mechanics.

The Last of Us television series created by Craig Mazen and Neil Druckmann for HBO, launched January 16, 2023, receiving critical acclaim, and cited as one of the best adaptations of a video game with the series premiere being watched by 4.7 million viewers on the same day, averaging 30 million viewers for the first, six episodes by March 2023. I do not find these numbers particularly surprising when something with the reputation of The Last of Us is expertly handled by both the creators of the video game and television series, who convey an obvious understanding of how to transition a story from one venue to another without turning it into a hot mess.

Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones fame portrays Joel, the hardened middle-aged survivor with a tormented past. Pascal is flawless in his interpretation of Joel with seemingly effortless grace where, if you were to pick-up the video game and play as Joel for the first time, you could not tell the difference between them. This is also a testament to the wonderful performance by Troy Baker who portrayed Joel in the video game. As a gamer who played the video game, I found it humorous to find out Pascal preferred to watch his nephew play the game’s beginning because he lacked the skill to play it himself. We all have our strengths and challenges, do we not?

Another Game of Thrones alum, Bella Ramsey brings to life both the video game and live action persona of Ellie, the 14-year-old girl who is being escorted by Joel to rendezvous with the Fireflies, with such explosive talent I was struck by her accuracy of Ellie’s inherent mannerisms from the video game and how she captured the raw defiance of a character whom she only watched a few game play videos on YouTube about to “get a sense of it,” while still having not played it after filming the series. Her reasoning was a desire for her performance to be reminiscent of the games without copying them. When I read this in my research for this blog post, I was even further impressed and thankful, she took the role.

This is where content creators clearly demonstrate they understand the essence of how to bring an acclaimed and beloved story to a larger audience by choosing the proper talent. The cast of characters for both the video game and television series is vast in a sea of incredible talent, I would encourage you to peruse the various resource links at the end of this blog to familiarize yourself with such a gifted group of people.

There are numerous, memorable moments in the video game many of us gamers were hoping would be portrayed in the television series with an acceptance they would not be literal interpretations. From the unnerving and tense navigation of the museum where viewers encounter clickers for the first time, the fight with David who is hell bent on Ellie bending to his will to the sight of a special infected called a Bloater plowing through a rain of gunfire to rip the head off one its victims, are a few examples of iconic moments superbly translated for people new to the story to experience. My husband was practically giddy at the sight of the bloater in the television series given how tough they are to defeat in the game, which made me inch a little further away from him on the couch.

Before I craft closing remarks, I want to highlight another remarkably astute story element delivered with delicacy and just enough nuance to tie people’s brains in knots. It is the relationship between Bill, played by the talented Nick Offerman of Parks and Recreation fame, and Frank portrayed by the equally talented, Murray Bartlett from The White Lotus and Looking.

In the video game, the subtly of their relationship went over most people’s heads. It was a very miniscule plot element to simply move the story forward. In the television series, an entire episode is devoted to their relationship when it begins shortly after the world falls apart up to the current timeframe of the series. What I loved about it the most was the seamless approach in how their relationship came together. It was not forced and, remarkably, was absent of standardized gay tropes. In many ways, it was the first time I felt a piece of content involving a gay couple was relatable to my own real-life experiences. Those of you who have read the majority of my posts, should understand such a statement is quite the endorsement and I would not make it lightly.

Let’s get to the knotting of brains related to this specific episode, titled Long, Long Time. As you can imagine, especially in the world we currently reside, this episode was not well received by some, although it received the highest, first-night viewership with 6.7 million viewers and being wildly acclaimed by critics. Nonetheless, the episode was review-bombed, which is when people purposely give a movie or series a low rating, usually because of an “ideological disagreement” with its content. Typically, they tend to be for racist, sexist, or homophobic reasons. The Star Observer article linked below provides a wonderful snapshot of comments from those who did not agree with the episode’s theme, so I will not highlight them in this post.

In spite of what I just said, I am going to mention one of my personal favorites, synthesized into one big quote, bad grammar, and all: Doing this with every show nowadays isn’t helping me to ‘accept’ or ‘like’ them more in fact it makes my opinion of them worse. Same goes for the relationships between male and female characters. For the butthurt people out there – take my opinion how you like; however, I’m not spreading hate, I’m just fed up with this, it’s been years.

Let me put it this way. If you ever feel the need to go out of your way to post something similar to the statement above for everyone and their mother to see, then take the intellectually deficient stance of, …I’m not spreading hate, I have a news flash for you. If you have to say, I’m not spreading hate when articulating your viewpoint on something, guess what? You are spreading hate. So, at least be a grown up and own it.

In closing, I want to acknowledge my own potential biases. The Last of Us, subsequently renamed, The Last of Us Part 1 in a September 2022 remake with enhanced graphics and improved gameplay, has provided me with hour upon hour of memorable gameplay. I fully intend to play the version being released on the PC for first time on March 28, 2023, while still keeping to my commitment to put my writing first.

In addition, the television series is providing even more impressive and memorable viewing experiences. I can see where these elements could certainly slant my opinions of both the video game and television series. This is why I rely on others to send contrary perspectives my way to provide the proper balance.

Admittedly, both my husband and I had mild trepidations about this wonderfully crafted story coming out of the closet in the form of a television series. Over the years, I have detailed more than one beloved story or universe that has fallen victim to visionless content creators who conveniently veiled their travesties behind the reimaging curtain.

The Last of Us is no such victim nor has it been infected with the kill characters just to kill characters because we can and think it is what viewers want virus. The video game and television series are one in the same, while uniquely standing alone as distinct versions. Where one delves briefly into a particular element of the story, the other expounds upon it appropriately. Both are a masterful orchestration, which will and should stand as an example for others to follow on how to properly tell a story, without selling your soul to do it.

Be safe, be well, and build a mind on a foundation of compassion and unconditional love. By doing so, you will influence others to do the same and help make the universe a much better place to live by helping change one mind at a time for the better.

Thank you for reading.

References

A.D. Garrett (Margert Murphy):

https://www.adgarrett.com/

Craig Mazin Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Mazin

Isabella (Bella) May Ramsey Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Ramsey

The Last of Us (Game) Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us

The Last of Us (TV Series) Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us_(TV_series)