Are we really that woke? (Thoughts on my fav TV Show)

<<<Light spoilers on HBO's TLOU Season 1>>>

Okay! I know the title is inflammatory, and can probably be misconstrued for something I am not attempting to say. Nevertheless let me attempt to say what I am trying to say. 

My favorite TV show and video game of all time is The Last Of Us. I love it all so much for a trillion different reasons, and it means so much to see yourself onscreen ykyk? I love the apocalypse, found family, action, drama, and lesbian story lines duh! (not all of my blog entries being about lesbianism) So I followed everything that had to do with the game and the show because of this obsessive nature. 

For anyone who doesn't know, the second season of the HBO adaptation of The Last Of Us Is scheduled to release April 13th of this year. I've followed the creation of the first season just through interviews and the HBO podcast where the creators of the show answer questions about the making of each episode. I've come to love the creators of the show Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann who also created the game. Unlike other remakes, I trust them to do a great job in adapting the show further. They take time and care with each script, attempting to best make the beautiful game fit for screen, while preserving the golden story and morphing new elements to best display on camera. I think it really shows. I may even say, they were snubbed at the Emmy's in 2023. Damn you Succession. Each step they have taken away from the mold of the game, has been upheld by deliverance. Truly the tweaks and changes made by Craig and the writing team have made the story better. Like when meeting Sam and Henry. Sam is deaf in the show making the brother's communication all the more intimate amidst the crossfire. Or allowing Ellie to save herself from the cannibal attack in episode 8, and Joel to save her emotionally, creating a better sense of connection between the characters, while also protecting Ellie's agency. The show has triumphed across the world, creating memes such as Pedro Pascal's "Internet Daddy" and drawing in all new audiences to witness the saga. The show and game have connected so many people through the fandom and the brilliant story. 

I believe that the creators of the show have, in the past, also triumphed in representation. The Last of Us Part I features the first ever Lesbian kiss in a video game. In addition in the Part II, the game features one of the internet's first transgender video game characters. (Although I could not find exact data pointing to exactly how early this was) Where race in the US is always addressable, the game and and show upheld blind casting efforts, where appearance, race, and the degree you resemble the 'original character' is not important when making casting decisions. However, for many titular roles they have protected the appearance of characters for the inclusivity of the original cast. In the show race is not heavily commented on thematically, but I believe raising questions of whether are not the cast could have been more inclusive is totally fair. Because, yes we can always be more inclusive. Specifically intersectional, where we don't typecast and stereotype inclusivity, but where we apply intersectional identities onto real characters!

All of that being said, there is always room for improvement, but I believe the game and show still remains a product of 'its time', in the sense that... are y'all really that woke? 

And the answer is no. 

Where I would appreciate radical inclusivity, and efforts to form a more grounded take on issues in 'the culture', I believe The Last of Us team has tucked their tail and ran, silently away from a great opportunity to be a voice for change. This has boiled down to past triumph being the excuse for cut corners today. Right now TLOU is failing Ellie. And I'm not chill with that shit.

Bella Ramsey, the actor who plays Ellie is extremely talented and an angel to which the show, recently, has not been deserving of. Bella has said to interviewers and the press on multiple occasions that they identify as Non-binary and go by "any pronouns" which later changed in a following interview to they/them pronouns as they got more comfortable with popularity following TLOU. Bella has also done multiple brand deals with LGBTQIA+ owned brands, such as TomboyX, Both, and Them. speaking on their experience as a member of the community in the film industry. They are also a practicing Christian, and have been outspoken on social media about how this intersects with their identity seamlessly (which I think is beautiful). Part of Bella's entire internet presence has always revolved around activism and community. Bella received backlash against their thoughts on how gendered awards shows are, and how in order to be considered for these awards, one must identify as either male or female. They bravely pushed for inclusion and a shift away from gender essentialism and were met with even more hate. They are constantly berated online for not looking enough like the original animated version of Ellie in the TLOU game. People say the most hateful things to the point of Bella deleting their instagram account in preparation for the influx of hate they may receive as the show releases soon. Now this hasn't been confirmed, but they posted they were stepping away from social media for the time to cleanse. 

I want to focus on how silent Naughty Dog and The Last of Us and all other cast and crew members have been towards the hate the show has gotten for its inclusivity, and the disproportionate hate Bella Ramsey has received for their identity outside of the shows fourth wall. I believe they missed a huge opportunity to cement their franchise as 'something' that actually gave a shit. 

To walk it back a bit, what sparked my tirade in defense of wokeness (haha) was The Last of Us's SXSW Panel which occured on March 8th at 4pm CST. I watched live, so excited that my TV show was back! And finally the interviewer asked Bella and Isabela Merced (who plays Dina in season 2) what their chemistry was like. The previous discussion consisted of Craig and Neil pouring praise over the comradery of the cast and the talent in each of them, and specifically Bella. I expected a similar sentiment from Isabela who jumped on the mic first. Maybe it was nerves, or a misjudgment, but what flopped out of her lips was so mf unnecessary. She goes "they're just friends you guys" "don't say that in front of my mans (referring to co star Young Mazino)" and "they were roommates". The crowd politely chuckled. I raised my eyebrow so high it about fell off my huge forehead. After making these jokes, which I will break down later, the interviewer redirects and asks "so what was it like working with Bella?" To which Isabela responds with the most awkward, stuttered, strained complement of Bella. Now you may infer that this is because they must have had zero chemistry and maybe just didn't get along great, which may still be true, but what punctuated Isabela's sentences so concerningly was Bella's name replacing each pronoun. Then she misgenders them and corrects herself awkwardly. Now I understand, you are referencing two different entities Bella(they) and Ellie(she) when talking about making the show, so I expect slip-ups. However it was the difficulty at which Isabela found herself addressing them with "Bella knows how I feel about Bella" Like okay girl. 

This was the last straw for me. and now we arrive at the point!

Bella has been fighting the same battle to be recognized as themselves each day. I originally saw their public journey with gender as inspirational and prolific alongside Liv Hewson who spoke out about the same issues in award shows and representation for non-binary folks. Now, I only see Bella's journey undercut by TLOU, HBO, and Naughty Dog who remain silent on the overwhelming hate directed towards a member of their so-called 'family.' Wearing the badge of having a diverse cast is not the same as standing with this family. Groups and found families have a duty to protect one another. This is literally what their franchise is built on, the story of taking in, reaching out, and protecting who you say is family. It cuts me up to see them take down their instagram account, which was a wealth of resources for trans and gender nonconforming people in the United States, and resources to educate oneself on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Shedding one's instagram account to protect yourself from hate is drastic and makes me sad to the state of the world may be so vicious to this young actor, but this means that they have effectively lost their voice on social media. The world is attempting to silence marginalized groups into submission, and TLOU said nothing. There is no radical acceptance. If there was we would hear about it in interviews. We would get tweets, posts, and support from crew and cast towards the community the represent in a way. They put these groups of people on the biggest screens in the world, and then when people campaign for their existences to be illegal, these creators leave actors like Ramsey to fend for themselves. 

(Clarity: I mean we have gotten almost dead radio silence. Craig said they chose the cast for their best reasons and encourage the cast to stay away from social media. Which is good, I'm glad they won't bend to bigots who demand recasting, however, saying nothing says a lot too.)

The creators of the show and their silence to defend Non-binary groups or LGBTQIA+ representation, they chose to take on, attempt to leave all opinions on the table and say little in an effort to stay mysterious, however the stage they play God on has real world implications. A show with this following has the power to change cultural tides. Craig and Neil and all cast have witnessed the hate, they've witnessed the bigots, and they watched Bella suffer that, and they let their cultural positioning pass them by. The show's instagram account could have spoken up to raise money for the charity's Bella's instagram promoted. They could have, in the wake of Trump's presidency, provided social commentary or resources for their audience of trans and LGBTQIA+ kids. Sure, there are no rules surrounding this, this is a active cultural shift, however being one of the pioneers, I believe their maneuvering around social backlash could have been handled better. They signed up to take a 'liberal' stance when they employed a diverse cast. I believe it is also their responsibility to come to this diverse casts' aid when the social discourse tornado comes for them on the largest stage in the world. And these are people they call family. 

There is so much nuance here. Each situation is different. I'm not saying that hiring someone as a cast member makes the brand aligned with each political stance of each individual. I am clarifying that if a body or work of art comments on social issues, the creators (cast, crew, everyone) has the responsibility to uphold all areas of activism to which they stand for in their art. If you don't care to speak up when someone's pronouns aren't being respected, then don't cast a nonbinary actor and call them family. If you don't care about Queer rights, then don't tell a story containing over a dozen Queer characters. If you do care, fucking say something about it. We live in too tumultuous a time for anyone to roll over and die. 

I believe the nature of the story requires LOTS of outspoken opinions. But that is for a different day...

Everything is addressable. Everything is important. If you make your family woke, the fucking be woke and stand up. Defend your family like I defend people I've never met. 

I really hope my found family stands up for Ellie and the very real fucking person who is Bella Ramsey. 

Shows like this remind us how far we have come, but they have the responsibility to take us further when entering that social contract of found family. We have a long way to go. As long as we don't bend to the bigots, I will wait until The Last of Us stands up for what it 'believes in.'