Is there a version of Godwins Law for invoking "wokeness"?
A long time ago I read a book (can't remember the name) by a producer that outlined all the things that work in a book that just don't work in a film/tv show. It could be updated for video games.
The TV show format would not allow enough time for this kind of evolution and audiences would have lost patience with the Ellie character had she developed as you described.
TLOU is by no means perfect as a show but a lot of the criticism I've seen boils down to "it's not like the game".
I think the last word should go to Ashley Johnson [1]
"I'm so proud that I got to play a strong female character who isn't a sexualised or a damsel in distress, or the opposite of that".
Ellie in the TV show embodies that perfectly. Just because it doesn't fit with your preconceptions doesn't make it "woke".
I think it says a lot about you that you think that's the case. The point of the quote is that far far too often the female lead in media is either sexualized or a damsel in distress, and often both. That you seem to think there's a problem with not doing that is, as they say, sus.
There's a big difference between well written "strong female leads", and terribly written hamfisted "girl boss" perfect characters, such as every woman in Ant-Man 3.
I find her to be a very believable character, especially for someone who has gone through the kind of trauma that is inherent to being born into a post apocalyptic future.
> she is a tough girl boss from the very start and isn't fazed by things most people would freak out at
She literally sees people get hanged all the time and their corpses burned because she lives in a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and people sometimes turn into monsters, both literally and figuratively. Death is not a thing that happens behind closed doors to her.
Her toughness is a projection, and her anger is a defense mechanism. She is a scared little girl living in a world where showing weakness is not ok.
She has a fascination will firearms because they represent the power she lacks but thinks will make her feel safe.
She has abandonment issues and so tests people by trying to push them away, hoping they won't go. She pretends she doesn't need anybody because she knows how badly she really does.
She's a much more nuanced character than you give her credit for.
Why isn't Joel's rugged blue-colar daddy type with a sorted past, but who's always right, considered to be a hack job?
Instead of "roll eyes", consider how you might have improved your comment by making a case how the "strong girl boss teenager" does, in fact, not at all fall under the general ideology of wokeism. You wasted a chance to convince other readers of your position.
Your remark about a "woke writer" was low-effort and lacked any support, and doesn't warrant a more thoughtful response.
If you want people to engage your remarks with more detailed responses, put more work into writing them instead of presuming to coach others on how to reply. For example, you can start by describing exactly what you mean by "woke" if it sincerely was meant to be anything more than an angry jab at people you disagree with.
I think you really missed so much of the point of the game. You really should go listen to the HBO podcast for the show where Neil Druckmann, one of the game's creators talks about many of the ways they chose to tell certain parts of the story in the show.
If you think Ellie was "weak" in the game you're so dead wrong it's not even funny. She's strong from the get go, whether you notice it or not.
