I Can’t Believe I Have To Say This
Since the release of the Last of Us, Part 2 a new, very critical, subject has come to light. A very few select people got to play the game before the actual release date and we started seeing all these great reviews. Fans from around the world could not contain their excitement and I myself could not stop wondering if this was going to be 2020’s game of the year. When the day finally arrived for all the boys and girls to insert the game and press play we soon discovered what the game truly was… an unpredictable story that sent us on a rollercoaster of emotions.
For some it was a disaster, for others it was something new but unpleasant. Either way, it was a game they definitely did not prepare themselves for. Mostly because the game was about its shock factor, as the developers and writers did everything they could to mislead us from the very start. They took that comforting feeling we had with horseback rides and snowball fights and yanked it right out from underneath us.
However, this is not what today’s story is about, it’s about how this game that was so focused on opening our eyes to violence, anger, and rage sparked hatred amongst some of The Last Of Us Part 2’s die-hard fans. For those of you who haven’t played the game yet, I will try and keep this as spoiler-free as possible.
As I scrolled through social media the other day I saw a tweet by Laura Bailey, aka Abby from The Last Of Us Part 2, that was making waves on twitter about how she has been getting threatened by fans about the actions of her character. This is something that should have never happened! How can you threaten the life of someone who was paid to do a job as an actress!? Surely we should be able to take a step back and look at the story for what it was…a video game!!
Imagine waking up one morning looking at your phone and seeing all these death threats. It would be terrifying and make anyone uncomfortable. Just last month I saw social media blowing up about how unfairly women are getting treated and killed, raped, and threatened without much being done. As video gamers, we should be better. As people, we should be BETTER!! We should not be contributing to spreading violence and hatred toward anyone, we should not be adding fuel to the fire.
Abby from the Last Of Us Part 2 was not a kind person, she took the dark road and in her mind, she got the justice she deserved which lead Ellie to follow on a similar path. But Abby is a video game character. I understand what it feels like to emotionally connect with a video game character but threats and violence to the person behind a voice are not the way to go.
Laura Bailey has worked hard for years for her name to be noticed within the gaming industry and I can only spend hours trying to figure out how she manages to level out her voice for all these different characters. She has voiced so many fan favorites and brought so many of our beloved characters to life, through her outstanding acting. She does not deserve to be threatened over one character fans disliked.
I feel really bad for the fans that are currently saying Abby is ‘ugly’ just because she was muscular and stronger than Ellie. I feel bad for the gamers who say that you cannot be a feminist if you look muscular and still be happy with the way you look.
We find ourselves in a situation where some male gamers believe girls can’t be muscular, strong, and stand up for themselves. After seeing these kinds of comments I noticed a lot of females taking a stand and sharing their stories about how it is okay to be muscular and strong and how they don’t see anything wrong with it. Some even saying that females don’t have to be skinny to be empowered and be a feminist.
Hate speech is something we should definitely not be contributing to as it shows the world once again how small-minded some gamers can be about their opinions. Yes, you are allowed to have an opinion but you should not voice it if it’s about how women cannot be what they want to be or look the way they wanted to look. You don’t get to have a say in how other people think or want to look.
I’m a girl, female…a woman and I would hate for not just a man, but anyone, to tell me how I should act, dress and look like.
Women come in all shapes and sizes and all women have their own scars and insecurities, just like men do. We are all equal to each other so we need to begin creating a culture of kindness and understanding.
We might be beaten and bruised but we have to say no to what’s going on around the world with women getting attacked, killed, and bullied. We do not need this kind of behavior in the communities where we should be sharing our love and passion for video games.
So please, the next time you catch yourself about to start spreading hateful messages of any kind remember that you aren’t making the world a better place, you’re just trying to drag everyone else down to your level.
Lots of Love
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