#so I’m not endorsing this opinion just speaking recreationally etc

[communistkenobi]

they changed the timeline of tlou for the show so it takes place in 2023 so I guess they’re explicitly drawing a parallel to the covid pandemic. which like obviously they would do that anyway it’s impossible not to, but it makes the initial infection breakout scenes with Sarah feel different than they do in the game. like I don’t think the game has a particularly good view of the state in general, but they still do that whole “society immediately collapses and riots start happening” social contract theory shit at the beginning, which does ultimately position the state as this necessary requirement to prevent the brutal nature of man from emerging or whatever. which has always been kinda stupid, but it feels a little bit more openly offensive in the show given that it’s set in the united states, the wealthiest and most powerful state on earth and the seat of global empire, and their ‘state response’ was to let a million people die of covid.

this is probably an uncharitable reading of the show and I’m not saying it’s what they’re going for at all. if anything I’m assuming they will be taking the standard progressive ‘we live in a society’ route and especially focus in on cops/the military as general antagonists (which is maybe where a very faithful adaptation is to the show’s benefit, since Sarah’s death scene plays out exactly like it does in the game). the beginning just felt like an especially fantastical version of what would actually happen, and feels naive in a way? especially re: infrastructure collapsing. positioning it closer to reality almost produces this uncanny valley effect, where the more it approaches the arc of history the more difficult it becomes to accept the overtly dramatic science fiction elements (at least for me personally).