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*WARNING: potential spoilers for The Last Of Us
It's becoming a common refrain in media in the past few years: a new adaptation of another media invokes a majority positive opinion for adding (or keeping) the diversity of characters, and a vocal online minority of mostly White, male fans critique the new adaptation for that same diversity.
This was seen in some fans' reactions to the release of HBO's The Last of Us, an adaptation of the games by the same name.
In short, between part one and two of the game version, the game creator added in a lot more realistic diversity to the game characters and the adaptation continued on with that tradition in the new series.
Cue the online racist backlash from fans who are angry about, among other things: Chilean actor Pedro Pascal playing the main character who is White in the game, the casting of Joel's in-game daughter Sarah as a bi-racial actress, and the promised possibility of another character Ellie preserving her character storyline as a lesbian.
When asked about the backlash in an interview, Pascal was nonchalant.
"You can't make everybody happy."
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann outlined his reasons for switching to a more diverse chast of characters and how he pleased he is with the HBO show.
"I saw this story as kind of a love letter to the United States, especially the landscapes. America has its problems, but its superpower is that it's a melting pot of every kind of person from every walk of life. It was important that the show capture that."
There was excitement for the adaptation, with some long-time fans of the game working on opening their minds.
\u201c@agentbizzle Im stoked for it. Game adaptations don\u2019t have the best track record but the consensus so far is that this may be the best one by a long shot.\u201d— Brian Altano (@Brian Altano) 1673549327
\u201c@agentbizzle This is the second review I\u2019ve read. The first was 10 minutes ago, and the reviewer was nooooot feeling it. \ud83d\ude02 With that being said, I think we\u2019re all use to the games. Definitely have to alter my expectations a bit. Can\u2019t go into a tv show with video game expectations. \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d— Brian Altano (@Brian Altano) 1673549327
\u201c@agentbizzle Haven\u2019t seen it yet, but that\u2019s good news. Thinking of it as a parallel universe: different choices and direction, but still reaches the same endpoint. Either way, looking forward to it.\u201d— Brian Altano (@Brian Altano) 1673549327
Many fans were quite aware of the potential backlash from racist fans online, and were not having it.
\u201cI'm scared for the Last Of Us because I don't want it to fall victim to internet Incels and racists who are complaining that one kid is now black and the other isn't "attractive"\u201d— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Pluto He/Him \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Pluto He/Him \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1673516149
\u201cthe casting for the last of us adaptation is genuinely incredible and anyone who is complaining is racist! \ud83e\udd2a\u201d— lil pochita (@lil pochita) 1673013283
\u201cSo tired of all the racist and dismissive people on the casting of \u2018The Last of Us\u2019.\n\nPeople need to learn that looks aren\u2019t everything, and should stop critiquing before the series even premieres.\n\nok, love you, bye. \ud83e\udd0e\u2728\u201d— josh he/him \ud83e\udd0e (@josh he/him \ud83e\udd0e) 1670183084
\u201cwhy are all the comments on every official post about the last of us show on instagram hating on the show and the cast. what is wrong with you people. hold your judgement until the show comes out, have some respect, and also don't harass a child or be racist???\u201d— sam (@sam) 1672722618
And, well, if you know anything about the game, the focus on Joel's daughter Sarah is a very weird argument.
\u201cSo weird watching racist people get fake upset about Sarah being a different ethnicity in the Last of Us TV show when anyone who has played the games would tell you that it's not gonna matter beyond the first ten minutes of the show anyway\u201d— Cas, M3gan's number 1 friend (@Cas, M3gan's number 1 friend) 1670364575
Others are just excited to be able to share a video game they like with audiences who watch TV.
\u201c@agentbizzle When my non gamer wife sees me playing The last of us, she calls it the backpack game . So when the show was announced I was like you're watching the backpack show with me. This tweets got me excited.\u201d— Brian Altano (@Brian Altano) 1673549327
The Last of Us premiered Sunday, Jan. 15 on HBO and HBO Max.