The Last of Us - An Essay from Andy

The Last of Us - An Essay from Andy

This Blog Post will contain spoilers for the Last of Us Part 1

This is the second part of a two part Last of Us essay, with Annie and Andy each sharing their thoughts. Lets hear from Andy!

The story of my love for the Last of Us begins with my love of video games. The artistry in them astounds me. I am no stranger to the medium. I have played a lot of video games. Every year, I watch the video game awards with Annie. It’s a yearly tradition for us. Watching the video games that  I connect with every year be celebrated as art is such a celebration for me.

Typically, games represented comical or exaggerated villains. Bowser, Sephiroth, Ornstein and Smough. These villains were so over the top, they could not exist in the real world. So many games have the player facing unrealistic odds to defeat god or some force of nature being of abstract evil. After all, these are video games. Players want an epic boss fight following a puzzle, platforming section or shooting arena. I enjoy these types of games a lot. Several of them make my top 10 lists every year, but I craved more from my games.

The Last of Us holds a special place for me. I have followed the franchise for over a decade, ever since it was previewed at the Spike Video Game Awards. The Last of Us exemplified the medium of games in terms of art, sound design, and narrative. At the time, it looked so realistic to being an interactive movie. It allowed me to become immersed in the world. I remember playing the game for the first time. It was just before I started college during one of the most annoying years of my life. It offered me a sense of escapism in the apocalyptic world of the game. With this game, I went from enjoying games to appreciating them.

Last of Us is a realistic game. Not in the sense of your digital companion walking into enemies with about being recognized, but in its themes and characters. Ellie is my favorite character in both games, but Joel is the one that expresses the most realistic approach to the world. Joel is not a hero. He is not the beacon of morality. He is not the one that saves humanity. Joel is not destined for greatness. In fact, he never accepts the role of “hero” in the games. He is a man that survived. He is Ellie’s hero. More on this later.

Joel is a survivor. He did things to survive the 20 years in the outbreak that people would never argue as “heroic”. Several times he references terrible things he did to survive. Everything Joel does is in service to that one goal, survival.

Smuggling? Pay for his and Tess’s ability to leave Boston.

Transporting Ellie? Tess’s last wish for a cure.

Saving Henry and Sam? Escape the Pittsburg QZ

That is until his survival was not the goal, but Ellie’s. About halfway through the game, Joel starts taking risks to his own survival for Ellie. While not physical, this is spiritual survival for him. Ellie represents the loss of his daughter. A chance to do things differently. If Ellie does not survive, he will not survive. She *must* survive. The bond between the two grows from the training, banter, and life in their dynamic. Survival went from the physical needs of food, safety, and shelter to community, relationship, and innocence. Twenty years is a long time. Apathy and resentment at the world fueled Joel to survive. To Endure and Survive. Ellie became the something in “you keep finding something to fight for”.

Joel saved Ellie’s life. Many people discuss the act as being the “right” or “wrong” thing to do for humanity. Joel does not care about humanity. He stopped the moment his daughter died. Joel became a hero when he saved Ellie’s life. But he was selfish. He made an impossible choice to save a loved one. He did not care about the fate of humanity. He did not care about a cure. He cared about the life of one person. He does not feel guilty for the people he killed to save her. He was her hero.

Joel showed me that you can be a hero to one person’s story while being a villain in another person’s story. With the creation of the show, I can share this story that is near and dear to me with Annie. From all the highs and lows of the show, it is amazing to be able to share it with her in our traditions. It has become another ritual where we sit together and watch. I am so glad that we were able to capture the magic of that shared experience in a way that you, too, can enjoy. I hope you find the villains and the heroes of your story and find the time to be kind to your inner villain as well.