by Julia Parobek
In Left Behind, the prequel DLC to 2013's Game of the Year The Last of Us, players get a peek inside Ellie’s past where a tale of romance and an infected bite is shared. We are introduced to an old friend named Riley, another adolescent female forced to endure the post-apocalyptic world, who takes Ellie on a journey to a mall they once hung out in months before.
Riley’s influence brings out the child side of Ellie,
whether it be wearing stupid masks at a cheap Halloween store or laughing at dumb
puns. The audience relishes in seeing Ellie finally get to be who she wants to
be: a normal teenage girl. She wasn't being forced to pack up her old dreams
and store them away so she can focus on survival. Riley just let Ellie be
herself.
What really seemed to stir up both a positive and negative
reaction from the fans was a quick kiss shared between the two after Ellie confessed
to Riley that she wanted to stay with her.
“I think it fit in perfectly, and felt like it was totally
needed. The way it was set up and how the characters were feeling at the moment
I felt help lead up to that,” says Ryann Thompson, a fan of both the main
campaign and DLC, in an interview. “I would have been a
bit disappointed if all they did was hug or give each other friendly pats on
the back.”
Yet some of the more negative comments are people denying
the kiss overall, claiming it was a friendly gesture. An anonymous user states
that “It's actually kind of annoying these days where every place you look,
this gay stuff is being shoved down our throats.”
The problem is that fans today assume that any LGBTQIA
characters in video games and movies are only there to direct people’s thoughts toward
the political debates in the real world. When in reality, their sexuality is
only a small portion of who they are.
Naughty Dog, during an interview, claimed that they try not
to confirm most of the characters’ sexualities in the game. They want the
audience to leave that up to their own interpretation. It helps the audience
connect and draw conclusions throughout the story. And the characters that they
do confirm is usually through a long process with subtle hints along the way, never
fully stating what their sexuality is.
Game director Bruce Straley gives his opinion on the uproar,
saying “who cares?” when the question was brought up whether Ellie was gay or
not. He emphasizes that the whole point was to make a good character, and she
remains a good character whether or not her sexuality is brought into the
light. However, in a later interview, creative director Neil Druckmann confirms that the two girls were more than friends.
But I wouldn't call this love confession unnecessary. The
connection between Riley and Ellie also makes Ellie’s story more tragic. During
an apocalypse with the Infected, everybody loses a friend or two, but because Riley wasn't
just a friend to Ellie, you see her at the happiest she’s ever been, laughing
and smiling like a normal kid would. And that makes it all the more
heartbreaking.
With someone special in her past, Ellie’s story has a more tragic
feel to it. Certain scenes in the main campaign have a much greater impact now,
from the scene where you find Riley’s pendant to when Joel doubts that Ellie understands
what loss is. And with the help of Left Behind, we have a much better
understanding that although she is young, she truly understands what loss is.
Sources: Gamespot, Gaygamer
Photo: Playstation4
