what if tess was the main character of the last of us?
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- when presented with a mother daughter dynamic rather than a father daughter dynamic does the story of the last of us still work? short answer no, long answer - see above video essay.
in today's video we examine gender roles for parents under the patriarchy, complicated mother daughter relationships and how a general public audience reacts to all of the above.
contains spoilers for:
the last of us part 1 / season 1
the evil within 2
logan
hereditary
sharp objects
just like home by sarah gailey
nightbitch by rachel yoder
chapters:
0:00 intro
5:45 part one - red ribbons & invisible strings
19:09 part two - everything changes & everything stays the same
31:00 part three - save who you can save, unless...
41:06 part four - my father is the worst man alive & I am his favorite daughter
1:00:39 part five - reflections on shattered mirrors
1:34:10 part six - inherit the earth
videos taken from the last of us, hereditary, the haunting of hill house, sharp objects and ladybird.
music from epidemic sound share.epidemicsound.com/57xzcy
references:
time.com/5876597/motherhood-a...
epiloguers.com/logan-the-last...
www.sciencedaily.com/releases...
genderhistory.pubpub.org/pub/...
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture...
all opinions stated are my own, I know nothing. - Розваги
One thing I will say about Bill.
I remember seeing a video talking about the different characters surviving, and what they're willing to sacrifice to survive. In the game, Bill was willing to live completely isolated to survive. He didn't sacrifice survival to save Frank.
In the show, Bill and Frank's little arc is almost identical to Henry and Sam's. One of them dies/is going to die, and the other decides life isn't worth living without them.
I think that the game's version of Bill and Frank is better. The game overall shows a much better image of everyone putting survival first. Except Joel. The reason the end of the game hits so hard is that Joel gets what he wants. He gets his stuff and gets an exit. But he says no. He decides saving Ellie is more important than surviving.
I can see your point but still will take the story the show presented us with over the better survival narrative because it was so well written and acted and i just really enjoyed it lol. to me it’s still different than Henry and Sam because even though there’s a part of it that’s about Henry not wanting to go on after Sam, imo it’s more because he was the one who did it and in such a horrific way. i think he may have made the same decision later, but for me some of it is the blame / guilt rather than strictly not wanting to go on without the other. thank you for watching!
I strongly recommend Jeff Lemire's comic book series "Sweet Tooth". It's basically The Last of Us before The Last of Us was a game, but with the difference that it's about father-son relationship instead of father-daughter one.
I haven't heard of that one before, thanks for the recommendation I'll definetetly check it out.
@@conversationswithcolette Just come across a channel that completely omits the Bill/Frank relationship part out of Ep3... but supports the Right Wing film Sound of Freedom based on a sex offender....
Great video! I've been on a last of us binge this month and your video is such a refreshing idea from the usual last of us videos! Thank you for making it and sharing it!
thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed!
I was so surprised when I saw you only had 20 subscribers then I realized this is literally your first video. This is so well nuanced and cured my brain rot, not even joking. Happy to be the 21st subscriber now
thank you so much for watching and such a nice comment! happy to be able to cure brain rot - and working on another video soon(ish hopefully lol) :)
@@conversationswithcolette no, keep up the good work!
I love all the points you made, and totally agree. I always get disappointed with Tess's death. It wasn't fridging but I can't help but feel it's so similar to it.
I adore the thought of BOTH Joel and Tess taking Ellie to the Fireflies. I think about how the hospital scene would have differed. How it would have better shown the duality of both sides. Where Tess would sympathize with the Fireflies as she is fighting to find the cure to heal infected to save her son, to undo what happened to him, because deep down, she thinks it can be undone just like you said. This versus Joel who sees no point in a cure because humanity is stuck on the thought that if he was stronger, faster, more aggressive, Sarah would be alive. So he is stronger, faster, more aggressive to protect Ellie, his substitute daughter.
I also think the show of Joel and Tess's relationship of loving each other and work because of their similarities, versus Bill and Frank who are IN LOVE with each other and work because they're so different, would be very interesting. It could show different relationships in media not often explored with men and women where they where they can be so close while also not being related or in love.
Idk, I know loss is meant to be a big point of TLoU but I just want both traumatize parental roles to be explored. I'm sure there's a fanfiction out there of it. If not, might write it myself.
thanks for watching! I played the game with no spoilers the first time years ago and instantly Tess was my favorite so I was very disappointed when she was gone so quickly. I applaud writes who aren't afraid to pull a twist and off characters who you think are main characters early on, but I seem to have a misfortune of picking them as a favorites disproportionately so lol.
that's another avenue that would have been SO interesting for them to explore. how they would have formed a pretty typical nuclear family and who Ellie would have bonded with more (probably still Joel imo) also love how you phrased Joel needing to be stronger, faster and more aggressive in the Sarah / Ellie situation. wish I would have thought of that, ha.
in general I just wish we got more of Tess in any fashion, either by herself of with Joel. and you'll be pleased to know on the TikTok that sent me down this spiral half of the comments were of people recommending fics with tess/Ellie dynamic or tess/Joel/Ellie.
We definitely would’ve gotten a completely different story. The story with Joel wouldn’t happen with anyone else (in the known cast) because Joel’s perspective is guided by the loss of his daughter. I believe we would’ve gotten the vaccine with Tess, and she could potentially return to Jackson knowing Tommy’s connection to Joel and becoming known as a saviour. The politics of the vaccine’s production by the fireflies not being able to create enough of the vaccine fast enough would probably have become the main theme of the second game, if there was a follow up.
If they had Tess be like Joel and become a mother to Ellie I think that would’ve been too tropey and follow silly gender stereotypes that would’ve broken her character. That’s not to say they wouldn’t have bonded, but Tess would’ve been much more pragmatic about the cost of not having a vaccine.
agreed completely. the perspective I take here is only one of the possible dynamics that could have been explored. but like I said, I think to maintain the killer mindset / archetype that the adult protector role takes with Ellie, it doesn't allow for that parental figure to be too soft. at least for the story to remain serious and not a parody. so for the gender stereotypes of a mother, it wouldn't work - thus the complicated / abusive mothers I mentioned.
and totally agreed about the second game, as we know the vaccine never would have actually saved humanity in the first place.
As someone who was interested in the hype of TLOU, but hasn’t watched it, I found your commentary truly engaging. This idea is so interesting and honestly hard to digest as the truth hurts, lol.
But also, yes it’s disturbing the dolls stare at you while you sleep… 😂
thanks so much for watching! i love hypotheticals of hypotheticals and exploring little what ifs like this. the dolls thank you for your contribution 🫶
ahh dang it. i wanna watch this video but it spoils stuff i haven't seen yet but want to. so i am leaving a comment for engagement and adding it to a playlist to return to at a later point.
thanks for the engagement lol, this'll be here for you when you're ready!
God this video is so good
thank you for watching!