- Log In/Sign Up
- KOREAN
- P-ISSN1229-4632
- E-ISSN2733-5925
- KCI
ISSN : 1229-4632
Gender Diversity and the trouble of Identification in The Last of Us Series
Abstract
This article aims to examine how the gender diversity of game characters affects the relationship between the game player and the character in The Last of Us series, which has been appreciated as one of the most cinematic games. In other words, I would like to ask the correlation between the video game characters’ identity and the game player’s agency. In particular, The Last of Us Part 2, in which two women, Ellie and Abbey, appear as player characters, received a hate attack from the fandom, which mainly consist of male gamers. This is because both of Ellie’s body and Abby’s, which exceed and deviate normative gender system. However, The Last of Us Part 2 is also designed to make a player’s agency instable and cause the trouble of identification. This game, which has lower degree of freedom in the choices of narratives and actions of player characters, compels players to play as and identify both Eli and Abbie who are hostile each other. It allows players to experience the gender differences among/within women, female masculinity, and multi-layered game bodies (character’s, actor’s, player’s, game machine’s, etc.). A player/Ellie/Abby can complete the game to the end only when they accept the instability of subjectivity and failure of their identity and acknowledge that it is impossible to overcome the trauma of the subject for others’ pains. The Last of Us Part 2 navigates the ethical coexistence of different actants only possible when revealing vulnerability and finding traces of oneself from strangers.
- keywords
- 더 라스트 오브 어스 파트2, 동일시와 비동일시, 플레이어 행위자성, 젠더 다양성, 여성의 남성성, 영화적 게임, 비디오게임, 게임 서사학, The Last of Us Part 2, identification and disidentification, agency, gender diversity, female masculinity, cinematic game, video game, game narratology
Reference
「더 라스트 오브 어스」, 너티독, SIE, 2013.
「더 라스트 오브 어스 파트2」, 너티독, SIE, 2020.
전경란, 『디지털게임, 게이머, 게임문화』, 커뮤니케이션북스, 2009.
자크 랑시에르, 오윤성 역, 『감성의 분할: 미학과 정치』, 도서출판b, 2008.
제인 베넷, 문성재 역, 『생동하는 물질』, 현실문화, 2020.
주디스 버틀러, 양효실 역, 『불확실한 삶』, 경성대학교출판부, 2008.
주디스 핼버스탬, 유강은 역, 『여성의 남성성』, 이매진, 2015.
de Lauretis, Teresa, Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film, and Fiction, Indiana University Press, 1987.
Huizinga, Johan, Homo Ludens: a Study of the Play-Element in Culture, The Beacon Press, 1955.
김수아, 「온라인상의 여성 혐오 표현」, 『페미니즘 연구』 제15권 2호, 한국여성연구소, 2015, 279-317쪽.
송두헌, 「컴퓨터 게임 내 성차별과 여성 혐오에 관한 세계적 연구 동향」, 『한국정보통신학회지』 제18권 1호, 한국정보통신학회, 2017, 25-35쪽.
Girina, I van, Cinematic Games: The Aesthetic Influence of Cinema on Video ames, University of Warwick, Department of Film and Television Studies, 2015.
Heron, Michael, Pauline Belford and Ayse Goker, “Sexism in the Circuitry: Female Participation in Male-Dominated Popular Computer Culture,” Computers & Society, Vol.44 No.4. Nov 2014, pp. 18-29.
손아람, 「‘라스트 오브 어스 2’ 비디오 게임의 윤리학」, 『한겨레』, 2020.9.9.
오시영, 「95 vs 3.8, 라오어2 게임에 엇갈린 평가 왜?」, 『IT Chosun』, 2020. 6.23.
오지현, 「라스트 오브 어스2, PS4 마지막 불꽃 vs 희대의 망작?」, 『서울경제』, 2020.6.27.
Coles, Amy, “The rampant body-shaming of Abby in The Last of Us Part II shows gamers still can’t accept a realistic female lead”, Independent, 2020.6.9.
Kain, Erick, “Two Warnings About ‘The Last Of Us 2’ User Review Scores,” Forbes, 2020.6.22.
Sakellariou, Alexandra, “How Accurate Last of Us 2 Is To Real World Seattle”, ScreenRant, 2020.8.13.
Tassi, Paul, “‘The Last Of Us Part 2’ Haters Use Abby’s Workout Schedule To Try To Disprove The Existence Of Her Arms,” Forbes, 2020.8.2.
Yang, George, “The personal experiences that Lev and Yara’s actors brought to The Last of Us Part 2,” Polygon, 2020.7.31.
‘나무위키’ namu.wiki
‘위키피디아’ ko.wikipedia.org
‘metacritic’ www.metacritic.com
‘Reddit’ www.reddit.com
‘Wikipedia’ www.wikipedia.org
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations