Zaire Lanier: And She was Less Than a Dog [On Naughty Dog's Treatment of Black People in The Last of Us] (UPDATE: Zaire Lanier hired as writer at ND!)

[Neoxon]

It's no secret that I love The Last of Us series. It's one of my favorite games, and it does so much well, but with The Last of Us Part 2, I am once again struggling with how Naughty Dog represents Black and Brown bodies in the TLoU universe.

I do enjoy how the TLoU universe repeatedly puts Black people front and center. It means a lot to see myself represented in a beloved franchise. Black people exist in the apocalypse, and they don't feel like stereotypes. They feel just as human. They laugh, they love, they hurt, and bleed just like me. Then, as inevitably as I will one day, they die.

That is where the similarities end. None of these characters have a happy ending (or as happy as one can get in this situation). When they die, it feels like we are only encouraged to get close to these characters so their death can be a catalyst for someone else's story.

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The topic has been discussed before here on Era, & I'm glad that Naughty Dog's anti-Blackness is being covered more often. And even then, this is a great article that's worth the read. Check the link below for the rest of the article.

Source: Medium

 

[Deleted member 56803]

This thread will end politely and no one will be angry at all

 

[Zebesian-X]

Was JUST reading this. It's a great article, she's a big fan of the series but doesn't pull any punches.

 

[entremet]

As much as I do like the games, they're very fucked up at parts. Nora's death was very disturbing.

 

[Khanimus]

Said it before, but this game (and the previous entry's) racial politics are an absolute fucking mess.

 

[Savinowned]

Incredible article. I would love to hear Neil comment on this from the two games.

 

[Khanimus]

Incredible article. I would love to hear Neil comment on this from the two games.

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This isn't the first time people have taken issues with it, and he absolutely won't say shit.

 

[krazen]

Said it before, but this game (and the previous entry's) racial politics are an absolute fucking mess.

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Yup. Great games, but showcases how many non-minority/aware folks fall into their own pre-programmed biases. Like pretty sure ND thought having a near unkillable black brute as an "inclusive" part of the gamw because he's a character of color as opposed to a breathing stereotype.

 

[Kill3r7]

As much as I do like the games, they're very fucked up at parts. Nora's death was very disturbing.

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It was more than disturbing. Even if you ignore the race aspect of it, it was glorified torture porn.

 

[EntelechyFuff]

I was just reading the "anti-blackness" thread the other day. What really jumped out to me was surprisingly the games treatment of Isaac.

His death is so gratuitous. Not visually of course, but it doesn't even serve the story in any way. It's almost a "poochy returned to his home planet" degree of character removal.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Absolutely something to drag ND on. They need to do better than this.

 

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

I refuse to believe no one at ND did not see issues with representation of colored people. I am sure the consultants that they hired for minority representation pointed it out but for one reason or another they did not change it.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

It was more than disturbing. Even if you ignore the race aspect of it, it was glorified torture porn.

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Honestly, the sheer glee with which the Last of Us games revel in violence has made me less and less interested in them as time goes on. The fact Naughty Dog consistently fucks up in regards to race only makes it worse.

 

[Khanimus]

Yup. Great games, but showcases how many non-minority/aware folks fall into their own pre-programmed biases. Like pretty sure ND thought having a near unkillable black brute as an "inclusive" part of the gamw because he's a character of color as opposed to a breathing stereotype.

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"Oh you done fucked up now. An extremely large black man is here to fuck you up." - every movie/tv show/game wanting to lazily shorthand some shitty racial coding for a fight

 

[SoulsHunt]

That makes me think of something. Are all Arabs dead in this apocalypse world ? It's a shame no one care about this aspect.

 

[ZeroX]

I think I mentioned it in the OT, to me it seemed intentional that Ellie beat a defenseless woman of color to death. Like Ellie was supposed to be disgusting in that moment, and who the violence was perpetrated against was a big part of that (hence the pregnant woman the next day). That said I think it's clear ND didn't quite think it all through - the article mentions that this section is interactive/a QTE while the pregnant woman isn't - especially relative to other racial elements in the game.

 

[entremet]

Honestly, the sheer glee with which the Last of Us games revel in violence has made me less and less interested in them as time goes on. The fact Naughty Dog consistently fucks up in regards to race only makes it worse.

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I think that was the point. That universe just shows the worst of humanity. But I didn't enjoy it at all. Since it is interactive entertainment it has a visceral quality that is beyond film or literature.

 

[Phellps]

That scene with Ellie killing Nora sticks out like a sore thumb to me. It's not just the violence, but I can't not look at it as "White girl brutally beating black woman to death". And it's bad because the game severely lacks any other black character that doesn't end up dead or is seen in a more positive light. I felt rather uncomfortable with that scene.

This thread will end politely and no one will be angry at all

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How is this post any good, though?

 

[JuniperAndSage]

Still pissed that I put myself through playing that game.

 

[toastyToast]

I gave them the benefit of the doubt with the first game and the three-peat of decent (within the scope of an apocalypse) seeming black characters getting bodied but what I saw in the second game was a bridge too far

I was just reading the "anti-blackness" thread the other day. What really jumped out to me was surprisingly the games treatment of Isaac.

His death is so gratuitous. Not visually of course, but it doesn't even serve the story in any way. It's almost a "poochy returned to his home planet" degree of character removal.

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"Oh neat! They got Jeffrey Wright. Can't wait to see more of him."

He dies within seconds of seeing him in person for the first time...

Oh yeah they brought that big black dude from Heavy Rain back lmao

If this is inclusion, I want out

 

[Onlywantsapples]

ngl, I felt kinda grossed out, by the end of TLOU part 2 when I realized some of my favorite minority characters in the game were killed off meanwhile, Tommy's white ass has 3 near death experiences (including one where I literally thought he was actually dead), and he's somehow still kicking by the end.

It comes off as the ND team going "alright we need to have a black character, we need to have an Asian character"

"oh how do we write said characters, and how do we treat them in the story?"

"who cares!"

 

[Kill3r7]

Honestly, the sheer glee with which the Last of Us games revel in violence has made me less and less interested in them as time goes on. The fact Naughty Dog consistently fucks up in regards to race only makes it worse.

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I can deal with the gratuitous violence but there were a series of events leading up to Nora's murder where the player is being shown torture works to extract useful information from a victim. This recurring theme kept popping up through TLOU2. Anyhow, I don't mean to derail.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I think that was the point. That universe just shows the worst of humanity. But I didn't enjoy it at all. Since it is interactive entertainment it has a visceral quality that is beyond film or literature.

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Yeah. I just don't enjoy engaging with it. There's a difference between shining a light on how bad humanity can be, and taking joy in it, and I can't always tell which side of the fence TLOU falls on.

 

[Zebesian-X]

This isn't the first time people have taken issues with it, and he absolutely won't say shit.

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Yeah and even though I'd rather him say something than nothing… at this point it'll take more than words. Need to show you've changed through your future output.

Post UC 4 was the time to say "oopsies we'll do better next time" but TLOU 2 was much worse lol

 

[Deleted member 85465]

Yep, the game has pretty bad treatment and depictions of minorities, which are also most of the supporting cast, one of my main gripes with the game.

Like they all get killed/tortured and there is not even a passing mention by the main characters of some kind of regret or loss, its awful (Jesse, Nora, Manny, etc.)

Someday I will finish it... maybe (got the the climax of Abby's day 3.)

 

[thankyoumerzbow]

ngl, I felt kinda grossed out, by the end of TLOU part 2 when I realized some of my favorite minority characters in the game were killed off meanwhile, Tommy's white ass has 3 near death experiences (including one where I literally thought he was actually dead), and he's somehow still kicking by the end.

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tommy's immortality sucks so much is unbelievable, specially when every black character is doomed just for existing

 

[ZeroX]

Tommy's white ass has 3 near death experiences (including one where I literally thought he was actually dead), and he's somehow still kicking by the end

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I always read Tommy surviving as a punishment more than anything

 

[ChippyTurtle]

Interesting post, thanks for making the thread.

 

[Arex]

I still love the game, but yeah, it's not just black people, they definitely could have had at least some of the minorities (Jesse ;_; ) survive the game instead of all of them being dead and Tommy somehow still alive :|

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

It comes off as the ND team going "alright we need to have a black character, we need to have an Asian character"

"oh how do we write said characters, and how do we treat them in the story?"

"who cares!"

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It's exactly this.

They thought through the "representation on screen" part, but no one paid attention to the really troubling themes that ended up organically occurring (because the actual studio is unfortunately not very diverse).

ND strikes me as a studio that loves being an "industry darling", so I'm curious to see if their inevitable 'solution' to this pattern will be a lazy "our next game will have a Black main character!" or they'll actually take steps to widen and diversify the talent internally.

 

[Weiss]

I don't really have any meaningful commentary myself, I just really like the article.

 

[Jeffram]

Naughty Dog definitely needs to consider how they treat PoCs more than they are now.

I will say, that none of the killing in the last of us is supposed to come off as heroic, it's meant to be ugly and disgusting. When it comes to the Last of us, I don't think you can distil the argument down to simply a character being murdered or not. Most named characters are murdered, even the great white male hero.

I think that the one saving grace, accross the franchise, the most vile people are white males (David, and The rattlers mostly) and while almost every character in the last of us is flawed (a piece of shit) in their own ways, I think the highlights for the most "good" characters are Sam, Henry, Jesse, Dina, and Lev. They are all PoCs.

The "brute" archetype in Uncharted 3 is some straight bullshit though.

 

[MinusTydus]

Nora was torture porn. That's not opinion, that's fact.

That being said, this thread's getting a staff post and a lock within 48 hours. Probably 24, tbh.

Also, Tommy survived because plot armor. Dude gets shot through the damn eyeball, and survives with no doctors, no surgeons, no medical assistance available. Oh, okay.

 

[ezekial45]

Yeah, participating in Nora's torture/death was not great at all--and not in the way that Naughty Dog thought it would work. The game never set the precedent for that type of scene in that way, and there was never anything like it after that. It was just weird and totally unnecessary. I hated that part.

I still enjoyed the game a lot overall, but this post from Lanier is totally right. ND needs to do better. PoCs should not be props for shock value. It's just gross, and it ultimately undermines their vision and just rubs their diverse audience the wrong way.

 

[Asriel]

Still pissed that I put myself through playing that game.

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Same. I loathe TLOU2 for the very reasons listed in the article.

 

[BloodHound]

Incredible article. I would love to hear Neil comment on this from the two games.

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This has been ongoing at Naught Dog for over a decade. No one will be commenting on nothing lol.

 

[Berserker976]

Very interesting read. I think the aspect of criticism I agree the most with is the inclusion of the black Seraphite miniboss. I think it plays into some very damaging stereotypes, and I would fully support that npc's model being changed. The rest... I'm ambivalent about. I absolutely understand the frustration in getting diversity, only to see it undercut by these characters inevitably dying. However, it's worth noting that's the fate of most of the characters in the series. Death is ever present in The Last of Us' universe, and even those who don't end up dead in the games hardly get any sort of "happy ending".

I will say I was particularly disturbed by the anecdotes of players feeling glee when forced to killed Nora. I absolutely don't think that was part of the game's intent though.

I would really like to see Naughty Dog be more mindful of the points raised in this piece in the future. While I'm sure it wasn't the writers' intent to enable players to feel glee in brutalizing a woman of color, it's important that they recognize that it happened anyway.

 

[AnimaRize]

This is important and needs to be talked about. And I wish more people would get angry at this but then I see which game is in question and I know someone will defend this shit.

 

[SofNascimento]

That makes me think of something. Are all Arabs dead in this apocalypse world ? It's a shame no one care about this aspect.

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I've wrote and erased an answer to this a few times so I'll only say this: I think this post is a disservice to the article and I believe that if this is what you thought about reading it (or the title) then you could try a little harder.

 

[boomtrick]

Very interesting read. I think the aspect of criticism I agree the most with is the inclusion of the black Seraphite miniboss. I think it plays into some very damaging stereotypes, and I would fully support that npc's model being changed. The rest... I'm ambivalent about. I absolutely understand the frustration in getting diversity, only to see it undercut by these characters inevitably dying. However, it's worth noting that's the fate of most of the characters in the series. Death is ever present in The Last of Us' universe, and even those who don't end up dead in the games hard get any sort of "happy ending".

I will say I was particularly disturbed by the anecdotes of players feeling glee when forced to killed Nora. I absolutely don't think that was part of the game's intent though.

I would really like to see Naughty Dog be more mindful of the points raised in this piece in the future. While I'm sure it wasn't the writers' intent to enable players to feel glee in brutalizing a woman of color, it's important that they recognize that it happened anyway.

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I agree with most of this.

That said I think the issue is that treating the POC characters like the way they are in the last of us 2 kinda hits a sore spot since POC characters are rare in gaming to begin with.

If we lived in a world where POC main characters was a common thing and the online gaming community didn't have an alt right slant then I don't think people would have issues with this game specifically.

 

[Deleted member 64609]

I remember the first black NPC I saw in TLOU2 being a corpse

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I agree with most of this.

That said I think the issue is that treating the POC characters like the way they are in the last of us 2 kinda hits a sore spot since POC characters are rare in gaming to begin with.

If we lived in a world we're POC main characters was a common thing and the online gaming community didn't have an alt right slant then I don't think people would have issues with this game specifically.

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The reaction to TLOU2 is also heavily influenced by Naughty Dog's repeated previous issues with race in previous games, including casting a white woman to play a Black South African character and then despite being called out for it, casting the same actress again when the character reappeared in the sequel.

Naughty Dog's very obvious blind spot as pertaining to black issues in games basically makes their "whoopsie" moments in TLOU2 feel a lot less forgivable.

 

[Chumunga64]

at least chloe frazier and nadine ross are two minorities that made it through their franchises alive

...voiced by claudia black and laura bailey

 

[Deleted member 68874]

Yeah. I just don't enjoy engaging with it. There's a difference between shining a light on how bad humanity can be, and taking joy in it, and I can't always tell which side of the fence TLOU falls on.

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After the Brother Scar with a hammer fight the article mentions, it was pretty clear to me that the game takes joy in its violence rather than trying to shine a light on it.

 

[boomtrick]

The reaction to TLOU2 is also heavily influenced by Naughty Dog's repeated previous issues with race in previous games, including casting a white woman to play a Black South African character and then despite being called out for it, casting the same actress again when the character reappeared in the sequel.

Naughty Dog's very obvious blind spot as pertaining to black issues in games basically makes their "whoopsie" moments in TLOU2 feel a lot less forgivable.

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I totally forgot about that. Great point.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Naughty Dog is a studio made up of predominantly white cishet men and the manner in which their black characters are written and depicted throughout the story and the treatment inflicted upon them is disturbingly problematic. It's racist and accepted in the games industry though because the people who play these games, including the majority on this forum, are perfectly okay with it.

They don't deserve a free pass on this and the studio can continue ignoring/downplaying these issues at their own peril.

 

[SoulsHunt]

I've wrote and erased an answer to this a few times so I'll only say this: I think this post is a disservice to the article and I believe that if this is what you thought about reading it (or the title) then you could try a little harder.

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Uh what ? I just said reading it made me remember that fact.

 

[Femme Man]

Never understood the hype or praise for this franchise and the racist aspect of it always turned me off. Thank you for this thread.

 

[JEH]

at least chloe frazier and nadine ross are two minorities that made it through their franchises alive

...voiced by claudia black and laura bailey

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they were the best people for the role! /s

 

[Aly]

Great article. Thank you for posting it. Its a big problem I have with TLoU.