Violence in Video Games
Let me start by posting this Forbes article that was published a few days ago:
The gyst of Erik Kain's article, and many other video game reviewers' articles that have been published in the past few days, is that the newest trailer for The Last of Us II is much too violent. First off, I think the author's worries about the tone of the new game are completely founded. The Last of Us is a game about learning to love and trust those around you after going through a terrible loss. It is emotional and devastating in the best way possible. The Last of Us II seems like it is going to be much darker than the first. The quote from The Last of Us game director Neil Druckmann, that the next installment is a “...story about hate" is slightly worrying in that regard.
That being said:
The Last of Us is a game about parasites that infect humanity and turn them into cannibalistic monsters. Many, MANY main characters die (SPOILER: one of them is the main character's tween daughter about 15 minutes into the game), and has a plethora of extremely violent imagery. It is by no means a happy game.
So when I read articles condemning the violence in the most recent The Last of Us II trailer, I can't help but think that the context of this series was simply not taken into consideration.
For instance, Julia Alexander's recent article for polygon.com (Stop Using Violence To Sell Your Game), a well written discussion about violence against women in video games (Thank you Julia for writing about this problem, because many games go unchecked about their violence and toxic attitudes towards women *cough Grand Theft Auto *cough). I, however, see the newest trailer for The Last of Us as being empowering to women, not another example of misogynistic game play.
The only characters that have any lines in this trailer are women, first off. This trailer, now that most of the characters have been named, passes the Bechdel Test (SEE HOLLYWOOD EXECS? ITS NOT HARD). The main character is ripped. Like completely shredded. She doesn't exist in this post apocalyptic world to be feminine eye candy for the male protagonists. She is realistically shaped to survive in the world she is in. However, who is she saved by? Not by a man, but by two young women (who are not white, but that deserves a whole other conversation about race in video games). One is androgynous, another example of what real women can look like, and the other is defiant even in the face of defeat. Yes, her arm being broken is shown in graphic detail, but she gets right back up and kills two of her captors despite this. The women are subjected to violence because the world of The Last of Us is violent. But are they shown to be victims? Do they cower in the face of violence like so many female movie and video game protagonists do?
No. They show that women, no matter if they are a villain, a pair of badass saviors, or a mysterious anti-hero, can survive an apocalyptic world just as well as any man (and perhaps even better, as the two swinging corpses shown in the trailer are both men) We see the survival instincts of Tess, the fortitude of Ellie, and the spirit that makes The Last of Us such a beloved game. So no - I am not worried about the tone of the next installment of this series, because from what has been released so far, I can see what makes The Last of Us unique: the fight all people have - no matter their gender, age, race, or sexuality - to keep their humanity and stay alive in an incredibly violent world.
