The Last of Us: Part 1 from a Trauma Perspective
SPOILERS ahead for TLOU game and show!!!
On Sunday, March 12, 2023, The Last of Us season 1 finale aired on HBO. The episode starts off with the origin story of Ellie's entrance into a broken world. They gave Ellie's mother, Anna played by Ashley Johnson (the original voice actor for Ellie), a background sorry. However, I want to focus on this post on The Last of Us in a Trauma lens.
After the opening credits, we see a traumatized, and perhaps a dissociated Ellie. A line that really resonates with me said by Ellie after the rooftop scene with Joel, "after everything I've been through. Everything I've done. It can't be for nothing," after Joel tries to tell her they could walk away. In the previous episode, Ellie was sexually traumatized by David and we see the effects through, what I interpreted as, dissociation. This is a very common trauma response for someone who has experienced what Ellie experienced.
Then we learn that Joel's scar is from a suicide attempt. Opening up to Ellie about his daughter's death affected him and we learn that he tried to kill himself the day his daughter died. These two are trauma-bonding, but it's really the only way to connect with people because they are not given a choice. The show sets in an infected "zombie" apocalypse after 20 years of living in this brutal world. The season finale, particularly the multiple ways of interpreting Joel's answer to the tough question about Joel being honest, "okay."
Trauma is essential in this show. The trauma response was present since the first episode. Trauma, to me, is not what defines you, but what you do with it after. Joel lies, Ellie accepts the lie, whether we think she is telling the truth or not. This perfectly sets up season 2 and I'll end the spoilers here, similarly with the game, leaving you with a cliffhanger. I might be one of the few people who absolutely adored the sequel more than the original. Hot takes, but we’ll have to wait about part 2! Play or watch the game. I personally watched theRadBrad’s playthrough because he doesn’t talk during cut scenes!
