Game:

The Last of Us (2013)

Duration: 30:38

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This is the eighth segment of "The Rootwork Building: Interactive and Thematic Structure in The Last of Us."

PROJECT OVERVIEW: This video essay explores how The Last of Us uses game design to tell a fixed story. The game uses interactive structure to set a pattern that appears throughout the game's presentation. Understanding this pattern is important for understanding how the game tells its story. Understanding this pattern is also important for understanding the story itself.

THEMATIC STRUCTURE III: WOMEN'S ROLES AMONG THE FLAWED COMMUNITIES IN THE LAST OF US

Our eight segment analyzes women and their participation in each of the flawed ecologies in The Last of Us. The same structure of presentation emerges here as with other elements in The Last of Us. We consider the variety of roles available within both Boston's military and civilian populations, and we then watch the game retract women's presence entirely during Bill's Town while not actively erasing them within that male-only context. We consider how these ideas are remixed within the patriarchal social structure of Pittsburgh's fraternity. Later, we observe how the social structure of violent fraternity escalates in David's Town as we encounter a violent and morally corrupted patriarch, David. Finally, we observe how the Fireflies revise the roles available to women in Boston while also noting a possible design oversight that excludes women from combat when the player controls Joel.

NEXT SEGMENT: THEMATIC STRUCTURE III, PART 4

MEDIA NOTES:

* The title card music is "The Last of Us (A New Dawn)" (Gustavo Santaolalla) from the official soundtrack of The Last of Us. The introduction music is "The Smugglers" (Gustavo Santaolalla). The OST tracks used in "The Rootwork Building" were all legitimately purchased and have not been licensed for the purpose of this video.

* Visual and audio media in this video was recorded from The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony 2013).

* This video uses the public demo of "Headliner No. 45" by KC Fonts. This font is used here for personal purposes and does not violate the terms on which it was made available for download.

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