The Last of Us has become the series of the moment. The fiction starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey has been the most successful show on HBO Max for weeks, generating dozens of conversations about it and leading all the audiences of the streaming platform.
However, not all reviews are positive. Although the quality of the series is undeniable, both artistically and technically, since the series was announced, a carca public began to attack it. The first of these controversies was the choice of Bella Ramsey in the role of Ellie. Many accused her of “not being pretty enough” (although the character is 14 years old…), but the actress silenced the mouths of most with her magnificent interpretation.
The Last of Us suffered review bombing after the third chapter
However, the biggest controversy about the series came in the third episode. In it, there is an impasse in the story (which is not in the video game directly) to tell the story of Bill and Frank: two homosexual men who manage to grow old together in a post-apocalyptic environment.
The love story is so well narrated that most opinions were very positive, and many defended it as one of the best chapters they have ever seen in a series (myself included). But the more traditional sector rose up in war against the chapter, with a review bombing that made it lower the average score significantly in this respect. And the only reason is that the main characters are gay.
But the truth is, if they wanted broth, they’re going to have a lot more than two cups. One of the latest news is that Bella Ramsey considers herself to be gender non-fluid, something she explained in GQ UK when talking about her relationship with Pedro Pascal: “We were very honest and open with each other, explaining everything to each other […] About gender, it’s not something I particularly like, but as far as pronouns go I don’t really care.”
In addition, anyone who has played The Last of Us II will know that the queer theme gains much more relevance, with an openly lesbian relationship and the inclusion of a trans character. Ramsey has also expressed his opinion on this, and he didn’t want to mince his words:
“I’m not particularly anxious about it. I know people will think what they want to think. But they’ll have to get used to it. If you don’t want to watch the show because it has gay storylines, because it has a trans character, it’s up to you . It’s your loss. That’s not going to scare me. I think it comes from a place of rebellion.”
Ian Alexander, the actor who played Lev, the trans character featured in the sequel to Naughty Dog’s title, has told Insider that he would love to be in the series. Although he received a ton of hate from the gamer community when he was revealed as the actor, he would love to repeat the experience:
“With The Last of Us II there was a lot of transphobic reaction to Lev’s character. The fans of the game didn’t want to see a trans character in the series. It was really heartbreaking, because in the original game there was already queer representation; there was Bill and Frank. I’m glad that now they’re making the LGTBIQ+ representation more explicit and fair… and obviously queer. I’d love to see more of that in the series.”
At the expense of what will happen in the next chapters (and next season), when the relationship between Ellie and Abby begins to be revealed, it’s clear that fans of The Last of Us are going to have to get used to characters from all spectrums appearing.
