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Is the extreme sensual/violent promotional material for the Last of Us II exploitative or effective or both?
- Thread starter grmltr
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The point i'm getting at is that murder is horrible no matter how you try to frame it. But most games frame it in a fashion where it's cool, and not a big deal at all. You see a random person and you kill them, get your XP and then go to the next. Killing that character means nothing more than a little popup to boost your character. So if the concern is in the depiction of violence and murder, wouldn't it be more concerning when it comes to games where violence and murder are treated like not a big deal? Where there are all these cool moves to kill people in a fancy way? Part II is taking the opposite approach. Down to them giving even common NPC's names so that they feel more than just like a bunch of polygons to kill. To give them more character than you normally see in games. Because they want even killing that normal NPC to be impactful.
As far as psochological trauma goes. I think this can be true when handling any serious subject matter. Whether it be violence, bullying, emotional/physical abuse etc. As such it's just important that it's important that people know what they're getting into prior to playing or viewing a piece of media. In which case, I can't see how anyone could just stumble onto PII and not know what they're going for.
As far as whether it's necessary for storytelling. It certainly can be. I brought up a list a movies earlier like I Saw the Devil, No Country for Old Men, Eastern Promises etc. These are all movies that are extraordinarily violent, but that violence is important to the storytelling. It's not handled like a John Wick or a MCU movie. Where there are all these cool setpieces where people are being shot or beaten. It's very slow, messy and awful looking. But that's violence. And part of the reason why that type of violence is shocking is because people are used to violence like those other movies. Where it isn't portrayed to be as awful as it actually is.
Compromising the vision, yes.
If it didn't hit the mark, that's one thing. But acting like it's violence just for the sake of it?
I sure hope we don't find ourselves in an apocalypse anytime soon lol. Ya know, cause there will be a lot of that ^
The level of violence only bothers me in the sense that I know I'm going to have to listen to people claiming that the game is mature because of said violence.
I'd definitey call it excessive considering the motive, but the level of authenticity plays a factor too. The fact that they're using a hammer (as opposed to a sharp tool) actually makes it even more excessive since the scene revolves around the gore by that point.
I haven't mentioned Read Dead Redemption 2 and claimed it's acceptable there or any other game; I've only referred to The Last of Us.
But once again, I don't really see the point. You're saying the scene is supposed to convey desperation, a religious cult-leader's desperation for blood?
I'm going to just say I don't find that very convincing method of conveying desperation, personally speaking. An antagonist with sociopathic behavior is a completely arbitrary and made up motive that has no bounds in a ratonal world. It's not inherently a bad premise, but in a game like TLOU I find that premise incredibly lacking when you're already in a ruthless world with constant threats and all different hurdles that is in the way of survival.
Desperation to me--especially in the context of a zombie-apocalypse--is giving up all hope in order to survive. Take a scenario where someone is bitten in their hand and as a result is on the verge of dying/becoming infected, and in order for this person to survive they need their arm to be severed. Or take a scenario where you simply need food or other supplies and you're ready to do whatever it takes to acquire those. That, to me, says more about desperation than some irrational lust for blood, and I think a violent scene in that case is warranted and effective in presenting how cruel their world truly is.
And I don't think it makes sense either. A world where you have to fight for your survival 24 hours a day, you'll more than likely become more primitive and focus more on what's important. I absolutely think there's something that can be said about a person's well being considering the tough circumstances, but for the most part I think people's behavior would lean towards that of a wild animal rather than a sociopath who kills and tortures for personal enjoyment.
What an absurd proposition. Traumatized people rarely, if ever, knows beforehand that they're prone to being traumatized. That's the thing with trauma--it's induced by shock or an acute stress reaction. You can't just tell these people "you should know better" because they simply can't.
I don't have a problem with Saving Private Ryan. It's a completely different premise and is effective in conveying a gruesome war environment.
Having these kind of set-pieces is a two-way street where premise/motive and authenticity meet, and if the former is absent I'll absolutely question the purpose of it. I'm not saying we should ban all form of violence/gore, I'm suggesting we can do better than this.
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For having seen and read an incalculable amount of horror stories (fantastic or not), I can't stand most documented violence, even just written. I hate these twitter trend when people mock others getting slammed or injuried and avoid all videos of this kind.
That's called empathy when in fiction it's called projection. So when it's perfectly normal to preserve the sensibility of everyone regarding graphic representation, or to question the economical exploitation of sex and violence, there is no need to mistake it with reality.
Documentary is like chili peper - it burns until you rince your mouth abundantly, and stays in your mind like a memory.
Fiction is like wasabi - it's hot but just at the moment of the chewing, you remember it like a dream.
If Dracula came out in 2019, people would complain about his work promoting violence against women
Cool, but it would be more useful and interesting to hear your answer to the question, rather than rehash a trite, snarky and - in this context - unwarranted observation about the fan base.
Society has broken down. In such instances morality becomes aspirational. The Last of Us depicts this world so I don't have an issue with the violence. It makes me uncomfortable, but that's the point. So far Naughty Dog haven't gone too far or made it cheap.
As for the comment about killing her girlfriend for cheap stakes - I wouldn't say that is cheap at all. There must me a stimulus to the next part and that seems like one that would put Ellie in the mindset we've seen so far.
As for the comment about killing her girlfriend for cheap stakes - I wouldn't say that is cheap at all. There must me a stimulus to the next part and that seems like one that would put Ellie in the mindset we've seen so far.
The absurd proposition is that someone could start the game without knowing what it entails, especially given the context of this thread. It's the same as going to see movies like The Exorcist or A Clockwork Orange, or starting to watch series like The Walking Dead, expecting them to be jolly feelgood rides, void of disturbing elements. They were marketed in a similar manner as TLOU2. The premise of the argument is ridiculous.
As it has already been pointed.
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