Presenters: Christy Headrick, Jon Headrick, Jerek Headrick
In the realm of entertainment, why do we search out painful stories? Why do we suffer with protagonists by choice? We will use the phenomenal story of “The Last of Us” as a lens to see what good tragedy provides.
An audience seeks:
– Character building – trials and tribulations test the strength and fortitude of Joel and Ellie
– Conundrums – the need to help and accept help from others (especially those that may be unlikable), doing what is right or doing what is practical, do we find meaning in our lives or do we create meaning for ourselves?
– Comeuppance – the joy in seeing the bad guys reap what they sow (there are several examples of this throughout the story; the Fence that ends up dead because he tries to sell a dead battery- twice, when Kathleen and her group are killed by Cordyceps, when Ellie kills David.)
– Catharsis – emoting with characters and finding relief both mentally and bodily
“The Last of Us” provides all of these things through action, dialogue, music, and cinematography.