Sunday, February 21, 2016

Ellie (The Last of Us)


By far the best game I've played in the past twenty years of my life has been "The Last of Us" which was released in 2013 and later rereleased in 2014. The story follows the characters of Ellie and Joel as they fight their way across the post-apocolyptic country in order to find the rebel group, the Fireflies, and make sure Ellie, the only known person immune to the zombie plague. From the first moment I met Ellie and she tried to stab my character, she went against everything I knew about fourteen year old girls in video games. Ellie was able to wield a gun, knife,and bow and arrow with minor training. And unlike other zombie infested video game heroines, Ellie never dressed in form fitting leather. Instead, she opted for more traditionally masculine clothing: jeans and a t-shirt with a long-sleeved shirt underneath. And throughout the game her clothing grows more and more masculine as she wears hoodies and plaid button-ups. She also doesn't ever try to look particularly feminine as she has no concern for any sort of makeup. What you don't get from the main game, but from the DLC, is that Ellie is not straight and had a a crush on her best friend Riley. There is no indication from Ellie that she fits the stereotypes that society has created for women attracted to other women. Ellie is a character that I really admire and hope gets a little more attention over the next few years like other strong female characters.


Taylor O'Neill

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