By Nelson Schneider - 04/19/20 at 05:43 PM CT
Earlier this April, a leaked plot synopsis for “The Last of Us: Part 2” made the rounds in the dark underbelly of the Internet gaming community, before being removed by a DMCA takedown notice. In this synopsis, it was revealed that, far from being a post-apocalyptic zombie story that just happens to contain lesbians, the long-awaited cinematic sequel will, in reality, be a LGBTQ+ gender dysphoriac story that just happens to take place after a zombie apocalypse.
Series writer, Neil Druckmann, is a self-professed male feminist and follower of Anita Sarkeesian, who, emboldened by both the positive reactions toward and negative backlash against his “The Last of Us” DLC and graphic novel, which revealed main character Ellie’s lesbian leanings, has decided to cram as much divisive identity politics into the sequel as possible. While leaks and rumors are inherently disreputable, veteran voice actor, Troy Baker, who portrays former-lead-character, Joel, in ‘The Last of Us’ IP has gone on record confirming that, whether or not the exact bullet points in the plot leak are accurate, the resultant experience will be politically charged and highly divisive.
“The Last of Us: Part 2” will allegedly revolve around a revenge plot by Ellie, whose lesbian lover is killed/badly injured by the game’s central villainous organization: The Seraphites, an Evangelical cult Hell-bent on purging the post-apocalyptic world of sinners – specifically “the gays.” While an irrational, totalitarian religious cult makes for a very compelling and socially relevant antagonist, the idea that such a cult would go after “the gays” or ethnic minorities* (*that is, minorities in North America, since, every ethnicity is in the majority somewhere on Earth) in particular just reeks of a myopic victimhood complex on the part of those communities. No, an irrational cult is dangerous to everyone, and ‘convert-or-die’ ultimatums are terrifying when wielded by the far-right or the far-left. Not to mention that there are far more common ‘sins’ shared by all people that should make such an antagonist truly terrifying to far more people than the roughly 3% worldwide with a gender identity affliction.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the release of “The Last of Us: Part 2” due to developer Naughty Dog and publisher Sony not wanting to fragment the release between a digital release now and a physical release once the pandemic has cleared and logistical systems are back up and running, we are all left to speculate about what will happen when that launch window finally arrives. I predict that the social-justice-concerned online games media and “progressive” bastions like Twitter will love it, mainstream gaming forums and dens of depravity like 4-Chan’s /v/ will hate it, and I will still continue not giving a fig because Neil Druckmann lost me at “mushroom zombies.”
