The Last Of Us - Gender Equality

WARNING: May contain spoilers.

Working at an electronics retailer, I am very familiar with all of the latest games that have hit shelves over the past few years. It is not unknown that the portrayal of women in video games is controversial. Often the damsel in distress, female characters are more often than not dependent on male protagonists. However with video games slowly progressing over the years, more prominent strong female characters have been introduced into the gaming world.

One game in particular that deserves a notable mention is "The Last of Us". The women in this game are all incredible, brave, determined and strong characters - they are leaders, warriors and survivors. The game closely follows the journey of Joel, a survivor of a pandemic that has destroyed civilization and Ellie, a young orphan who has grown up in the post-apocalyptic world that is believed to be the cure to the infection that has devastated the world. Although you still play as a protective male for a hefty chunk of the game, in my opinion, it really did take a massive step in the right direction when it comes to the portrayal of women in video games.

PS3 game: The Last of Us

Generally we perceive males as being strong and dominating, whereas women are more likely to be associated as vulnerable and weak. With reference to preferred reading, the reader would accept that in the "The Last of Us", Joel is shown as the only capable person to protect Ellie and lead her to safety, even though he doesn't even know her. Hall (1973, p.60) states that negotiated readings operate "with exceptions to the rule". In relation to the "The Last of Us", a negotiated reader would acknowledge Joel to take on majority of the physical and dangerous scenarios throughout the game, but would also take notice of Ellie's imperative influence when it comes to their survival. Lastly there is the oppositional reading, which Hall (1973, p.61) expresses as decoding the message in a "globally contrary way". Looking back to "The Last of Us" again, the reader would reject the fact that Joel is depicted as the only suitable option to take on all of the overly physical tasks throughout the game, and instead believe that the female character, Ellie, could do everything on her own and provide her own protection.

With this tipped to be "Game Of The Year", it paves the way for more strong female characters to be introduced into the video gaming world, and I for one am extremely excited.

References:

Hall, S. 1973, Encoding and Decoding in the Television Disclosure. Birmingham [England: Centre for Cultural Studies], University of Birmingham, 1973. 507-17 (available: http://visualstudios.buffalo.edu/coursenotes/art250/250A/_assets/_readings/encoding_decoding_hall.pdf)

The Last Of Us, photograph, Viewed 9 September 2013, <http://www.i-am-geek.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/TheLastOfUsTitle.jpg>