The last of us part 2
This article was updated on 7/5/20.
While there has been a very vocal contingent of so-called “fans” of The Last of Us Part 2 angered by Abby’s role in the game, some of that poison has spread to real life. The actress who plays Abby in the game, Laura Bailey, posted some screenshots of the messages she has been receiving, including violent threats against her and her family. Warning: disturbing language:
It’s both scary and weird, since most of the messages are acting like Bailey it’s actually Abby, the character he plays in the video game and that the main character he kills is also real. Bailey, an actress, didn’t even have a role in writing his character, not that writers should be threatened either, but this is all horrible and incredibly silly.
However, one good thing that came out of this is a huge influx of support for Bailey, a fantastic actress who has voiced characters like Kait Diaz in Gears 5, Mary Jane in Spider-Man, Black Widow, Catwoman, Supergirl, Chun-Li, Akali, dozens and dozens and dozens of characters. Her initial bullying tweet has been retweeted 28,000 times, and she followed up with a message of thanks for the support.
Laura Bailey
Abby has been a character hated by a contingent of people since before the game’s release, even when leaks revealed that (slight spoilers from the beginning of the game) she kills Joel, the impetus for the entire Ellie revenge story. But the point of the game is that you have to empathize with Abby to a certain extent as you learn her story and spend a lot of time playing as her, a point that many seem to lose or reject. Personally, I really liked what they did to Abby at the end of the game (I wrote a full article about it), and this kind of reaction is maddening to watch.
Of course, this is not the first time that something like this has happened. Actors and especially actresses are harassed by things that their characters do all the time. It especially reminds me of what happened to Anna Gunn, the actress who played Skyler White in Breaking Bad who was wild by fans for the things his character did. It is almost exactly what is happening here.
But it’s nice to see so much support for Bailey. Before all of this happened, there was a much more pleasant movement on social media that Abby was happening, where women posted “flexible” shots to counter men’s complaints that Abby was “too unrealistic” in the game.
Bailey is a great actress and I hope that the people who have made these threats will be banned and investigated, if possible. We will see if it develops further, but for now, it is just another sad day where women are harassed and threatened online for extremely stupid and terrible reasons.
Update (7/5/20):
The story continues to unfold as more and more industry figures support Laura Bailey in the wake of these threats. Although there have also been some setbacks on the other side. Yes, in the world we live in there are two sides to “Should a voice actress receive death threats for the things her character did?” problem.
But it’s mostly support, as we see here from Neil Druckmann, director of The Last of Us Part 2, who is no stranger to annoying fan abuse over how the game went:
And here is Hermen Hulst, Head of Studies at PlayStation Worldwide:
Ashley Johnson, voiced by Ellie, Abby’s bitter rival in the game, also expressed her support for her real-life friend:
Outside of the gaming industry, James Gunn also expressed his support for Bailey, in addition to analyzing the real problem with these kinds of conversations:
After writing about this, this is also what I have seen to some extent. While 95% of people stop by and say “this is horrible and ridiculous”, there is 5% who come in and say something like “well Abby I was terrible for X, Y and Z reasons. “Or I even heard conspiracy theories about Bailey inventing these messages to gain support and drive a narrative of” abusive players. “What an absolutely absurd and delusional idea. Almost as delusional as those who sent those messages first of all, and that really worries me.
In the end, I hope Bailey can take away his support instead of his anger, but again, this is something that happens to many, many creatives in high-profile properties, and women are often far more affected than their counterparts. male. This has to end, and highlighting and stopping this type of harassment is key to that happening.
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