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https://nerdist.com/article/the-last-of-us-episode-4-melanie-lynskey-good-evil-kathleen/
The Last of Us‘s fourth episode introduced an entirely new figure to the franchise, Melanie Lynskey’s Kathleen. The character’s first scene presented her as someone worth rooting for, a leader of free people interrogating a man who betrayed others to the fascist group Kathleen helped overthrow. By episode’s end, it wasn’t clear she’s any different from the coldblooded FEDRA she deposed. How should we feel about someone like that? That question is one of the biggest The Last of Us is asking. But the answer is not a matter of determining where the line between good and evil lies in a godforsaken world. It’s a matter of whether or not those concepts even exist when humanity doesn’t.
Kathleen didn’t get the information she wanted from her former doctor, but their conversation revealed a lot about what led both of them to that moment. FEDRA made people like him sell out friends and neighbors by giving them an unimaginable choice: their life or someone else’s. Some inevitably chose their own, even a doctor sworn to protect others from harm. That’s how Kathleen’s brother ended up beaten to death inside a FEDRA containment unit. A man named Henry gave him up.
The doctor wouldn’t tell her Henry’s location, even when Kathleen put a gun to his head. Unlike when FEDRA did the same thing, he didn’t believe Kathleen would kill him. He thought the woman he helped give birth to would never sink to FEDRA’s amoral depths. The doctor had faith in her as a good person. Minutes later, when he was of no immediate help, Kathleen shot him. She didn’t give him final chance to save himself or say goodbye to his loved ones. He died alone in that containment unit same as her brother.
Keeping a doctor around would have been wise, just as letting him live would have shown mercy. But in that moment of anger and sadness over her friends’ deaths it was possible to understand and possibly even forgive Kathleen for her ruthless vengeance. But everything else that followed showed just how wrong the doctor was about her. She’s no better than FEDRA. Kathleen used those deaths as an excuse to launch a massive manhunt for Henry. She lied to her people that Henry must have called in “outsiders” to hurt them. But we know it was her people who attacked Joel and Ellie without provocation. She leads a group that murders innocent victims for supplies while they drive around in armored trucks painted “We The People.”
If there was any remaining reason to sympathize with Kathleen and her cause that ended when we learned why Henry is hiding from her: he’s protecting a child named Sam. We don’t know their exact relationship (on the show) yet, but Sam’s drawings told us plenty. Sam needs Henry, his very own superhero. That might be why Henry sold out Kathleen’s brother in the first place. His purpose in this wasteland is to protect Sam, same as Bill’s purpose was to protect Frank and Joel’s new purpose is to protect Ellie. No one faulted Bill for burning people alive to keep Frank safe. Nor would anyone fault Joel for killing the men who ambushed him and Ellie. Can we fault Henry for handing someone over to FEDRA if it meant staying alive for Sam’s sake?
We know Joel wouldn’t. In this episode he told Ellie why he fights on in a world he thinks is hopeless. “You keep going for family. That’s about it,” he said. Joel is no different from Kathleen and her group when it comes to how you protect your own, either. “We did what we needed to survive,” Joel told Ellie about his past actions. It’s how he recognized the “I’m hurt” scam. He used to use it himself. And since he wouldn’t answer Ellie when she asked if that included killing innocent people, we truly know why Tess said her and Joel are not good people.
Learning about Joel’s prior actions probably won’t make many viewers stop liking him. Especially because we know what happened to him and his daughter. It’s easier to forgive and empathize with him because of what we know of his life. But anyone who has survived this world—from Kathleen and her doctor, to Henry and the soldiers of FEDRA—all lost people, too. No one survives the apocalypse without scars that fundamentally change them as people. Are they really any different from Joel? Is it fair to root for or against them when we can’t deny there’s no difference between perceived heroes and perceived villains?
What’s the ethical difference between FEDRA killing individuals to keep the QZ safe versus a group that murders innocent people for their food and supplies so they can live? Is their a distinction between a grieving sister who seeks vengeance and a man desperate to keep his vulnerable brother safe no matter what that takes? And what does morality matter when the world ensures all of our choices lead to someone’s death? The Last of Us isn’t asking us to answer these questions because no one can when right and wrong no longer exist. Instead the show is asking us to confront something much darker. It’s asking us to confront the fact that when humans face annihilation our humanity will die long before we do.
We’ll probably never face that truth because of a Cordyceps infection. But we might because we launch bombs powerful enough to wipe out most of mankind. Or because we won’t make sacrifices today to save our own planet’s future. Whatever the reason, The Last of Us is making clear people like Joel, Kathleen, and Henry that the only way to avoid living in a world without ethics or morals is to act with them when we still have the chance.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post Melanie Lynskey’s THE LAST OF US Character Makes Us Question Good and Evil appeared first on Nerdist.
The Last of Us‘s fourth episode introduced an entirely new figure to the franchise, Melanie Lynskey’s Kathleen. The character’s first scene presented her as someone worth rooting for, a leader of free people interrogating a man who betrayed others to the fascist group Kathleen helped overthrow. By episode’s end, it wasn’t clear she’s any different from the coldblooded FEDRA she deposed. How should we feel about someone like that? That question is one of the biggest The Last of Us is asking. But the answer is not a matter of determining where the line between good and evil lies in a godforsaken world. It’s a matter of whether or not those concepts even exist when humanity doesn’t.
Kathleen didn’t get the information she wanted from her former doctor, but their conversation revealed a lot about what led both of them to that moment. FEDRA made people like him sell out friends and neighbors by giving them an unimaginable choice: their life or someone else’s. Some inevitably chose their own, even a doctor sworn to protect others from harm. That’s how Kathleen’s brother ended up beaten to death inside a FEDRA containment unit. A man named Henry gave him up.
The doctor wouldn’t tell her Henry’s location, even when Kathleen put a gun to his head. Unlike when FEDRA did the same thing, he didn’t believe Kathleen would kill him. He thought the woman he helped give birth to would never sink to FEDRA’s amoral depths. The doctor had faith in her as a good person. Minutes later, when he was of no immediate help, Kathleen shot him. She didn’t give him final chance to save himself or say goodbye to his loved ones. He died alone in that containment unit same as her brother.
Keeping a doctor around would have been wise, just as letting him live would have shown mercy. But in that moment of anger and sadness over her friends’ deaths it was possible to understand and possibly even forgive Kathleen for her ruthless vengeance. But everything else that followed showed just how wrong the doctor was about her. She’s no better than FEDRA. Kathleen used those deaths as an excuse to launch a massive manhunt for Henry. She lied to her people that Henry must have called in “outsiders” to hurt them. But we know it was her people who attacked Joel and Ellie without provocation. She leads a group that murders innocent victims for supplies while they drive around in armored trucks painted “We The People.”
If there was any remaining reason to sympathize with Kathleen and her cause that ended when we learned why Henry is hiding from her: he’s protecting a child named Sam. We don’t know their exact relationship (on the show) yet, but Sam’s drawings told us plenty. Sam needs Henry, his very own superhero. That might be why Henry sold out Kathleen’s brother in the first place. His purpose in this wasteland is to protect Sam, same as Bill’s purpose was to protect Frank and Joel’s new purpose is to protect Ellie. No one faulted Bill for burning people alive to keep Frank safe. Nor would anyone fault Joel for killing the men who ambushed him and Ellie. Can we fault Henry for handing someone over to FEDRA if it meant staying alive for Sam’s sake?
We know Joel wouldn’t. In this episode he told Ellie why he fights on in a world he thinks is hopeless. “You keep going for family. That’s about it,” he said. Joel is no different from Kathleen and her group when it comes to how you protect your own, either. “We did what we needed to survive,” Joel told Ellie about his past actions. It’s how he recognized the “I’m hurt” scam. He used to use it himself. And since he wouldn’t answer Ellie when she asked if that included killing innocent people, we truly know why Tess said her and Joel are not good people.
Learning about Joel’s prior actions probably won’t make many viewers stop liking him. Especially because we know what happened to him and his daughter. It’s easier to forgive and empathize with him because of what we know of his life. But anyone who has survived this world—from Kathleen and her doctor, to Henry and the soldiers of FEDRA—all lost people, too. No one survives the apocalypse without scars that fundamentally change them as people. Are they really any different from Joel? Is it fair to root for or against them when we can’t deny there’s no difference between perceived heroes and perceived villains?
What’s the ethical difference between FEDRA killing individuals to keep the QZ safe versus a group that murders innocent people for their food and supplies so they can live? Is their a distinction between a grieving sister who seeks vengeance and a man desperate to keep his vulnerable brother safe no matter what that takes? And what does morality matter when the world ensures all of our choices lead to someone’s death? The Last of Us isn’t asking us to answer these questions because no one can when right and wrong no longer exist. Instead the show is asking us to confront something much darker. It’s asking us to confront the fact that when humans face annihilation our humanity will die long before we do.
We’ll probably never face that truth because of a Cordyceps infection. But we might because we launch bombs powerful enough to wipe out most of mankind. Or because we won’t make sacrifices today to save our own planet’s future. Whatever the reason, The Last of Us is making clear people like Joel, Kathleen, and Henry that the only way to avoid living in a world without ethics or morals is to act with them when we still have the chance.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post Melanie Lynskey’s THE LAST OF US Character Makes Us Question Good and Evil appeared first on Nerdist.
Here’s the first entry in the ‘Hidden Gem Anime Series to Enjoy’ series for you all to enjoy in the new year of 2023: The Case of Hana & Alice. I randomly came across this animated film while looking through the Tubi app and jotting down some of their anime offerings. I glimpsed and saw an animated film with two girls. After watching, I knew I found a gorgeous and offbeat film about random happenings and friendship that I wanted to write about.
What is it About:
When Alice transfers to a new school, she soon hears about a local urban legend: a male student who disappeared the previous year and is suspected to have been killed by his fellow students. The new house that she and her mother have moved in is the one he used to live in. To make matters worse, she now lives next door to a supposedly haunted home now occupied by a reclusive girl who ends up being one of the classmates of said student whose name is shrouded in mystery. Her name is Hana, and with Alice’s help, they decide to investigate this “murder case.” Yet, their lack of detective skills, bad timing, and overall carefree attitudes prove to be obstacles in solving the case and means for a great adventure in the making.
It is important to note that The Case of Hana & Alice is based on existing material: not manga but a 2004 film titled Hana to Arisu. Directed by Shunji Iwai, a Japanese film director, writer, and documentary maker perhaps best known for his filmography centering Japanese youth, especially young women .( Fun Fact: he was a writer for 2018’s Fireworks, which was based on his 1993 live-action TV drama Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?) While the original live action film runs more rom-com than mystery, Hana and Alice was first introduced with a big emphasis on their friendship and the hi-jinks they get involved in due to a boy. Here in this animated feature also directed by Iwai, the two titular characters do the same with a different narrative lens: solving a mystery and in a different format: animation.
Get in Loser, We’re Solving a Mystery:
Folks that The Case of Hana & Alice could appeal to include:
- Folks who are looking for coming of age anime
- Folks looking for anime based on existing works such as film
- Folks who are looking for anime centering on girls and their friendships
- Folks who are looking for a single, self-contained animated film, not a series
- Folks looking for an oddball but charming piece of animation to watch
What Makes this Film Standout:
Here’s the thing, The Case of Hana & Alice is a slow starter. It is a film that took me by surprise. It is an animated film that is subtle until it isn’t. Fourteen-year-old Tetsuko (who will soon be nick-named Alice in her new town) is experiencing an upheaval: she’s moved with her mother to a new town in the boonies. They have moved there without her father as her parents have called it quits. She’s starting at a new school where she doesn’t know anyone, and she instantly finds herself the target of a group bullies.
Alice is just trying to get her bearings in a new place and survive. It is when she is given the seat of a student that she has been told was murdered, she realizes nothing will change if she keeps her head down. Determined to find out what happened, Alice begins investigating the death and the strange happenings around it. The audience and Alice may see a glimpse of Hana just a few minutes in but the two don’t speak and truly interact for the first time until about forty minutes in, when the rising action leads to their meeting face to face for the first time, finally.
What can NOT be understated is how The Case of Hana & Alice points to being hilarious, bizarre, oddball, and heartwarming all in one film. It is a difficult thing to categorize this film: sure it’s drama but not quite slice of life. The girls set off to solve a mystery, but there’s more to the story than that. Unexpected encounters, random acts of kindness, and failed stakeouts all find their way to these two girls, and it all colors the overall narrative.
There’s something really beautiful to behold in the silliness of losing rock paper scissors and having to dance down the center of a train car to an unassuming audience. Watching students scream and chant a not-exorcism in the classroom with no adults anymore makes more a bizarre and hilariously unexpected scene. The ante is upped when Hana and Alice leave home to find out more about the missing boy and what’s become of him. Every leg of the journey to uncover the truth leads them further from the truth and closer to the true heart of the matter. The film deals with guilt, speculation, gossip and failure with steady hands. Hana and Alice are just teenagers caught up in something bigger than them but also a mystery that is much closer to home.
The Case of Hana & Alice features rotoscoping, a technique used in animation to trace over live-action motion picture footage frame by frame. This was a surprise to see and honestly made me fall down a rabbit hole to see what films I had watched that used rotoscoping. I found a plethora of films and not just animated! Everything from early Disney films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to a favorite of mine, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
I really, really love the visual look of this film. At times, the lines are simple, minimalist even. But combined with the backgrounds? The film features these really stunning, water-colored inspired backgrounds. There’s a depth to some backgrounds like Alice’s bedroom and the front of Hana’s house that are too beautiful to not drink in with my eyes that I recommend you taking a closer look at. Some of my favorite scenes in the entire film are the ones where Hana is in motion: the dancing and running scenes in particular. There’s a measure of grace and sophistication spread throughout especially the scenes where she’s sprinting with purpose, like this one. Simply put, The Case of Hana & Alice is worth watching and dissecting for the artwork and animation alone.
The Case of Hana & Alice heavily emphasizes the weird and offhand everyday life of teenagers and the shenanigans they get into when they put their minds to accomplishing something: Whether that is solving a local mystery, trading stories on whose mom is more embarrassing, or changing your social status at school by reinventing yourself. This is a film I’d recommend watching to see why stories about the friendships between girls are always worth watching. Iwai ‘s animated version of Hana and Alice is a charming addition to the animated film. It is also an animated offering that serves as a reminder that the most offbeat stories have characters to belong in them and lessons we can all learn from them.
You can find The Case of Hana & Alice streaming on the Tubi app.
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The post Hidden Gem Anime Series to Enjoy: ‘The Case of Hana & Alice’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.