Y’know what bugs me? When supermodels get cast as the Everyman in movies meant to critique beauty standards.

I see so many comments that are like “that’s the point, it’s never good enough” and I understand what you’re saying, but also like??? By casting supermodels aren’t you literally reinforcing the beauty standards you’re meant to critique??? By only showing Hollywood skinny ladies on screen aren’t you literally doing exactly what you’re satirizing??? By presenting only the prettiest people aren’t you still making the kids watching your movie feel bad about themselves??? Aren’t you still causing body issues and eating disorders and reinforcing beauty standards???

David and the Infected

David mirrors the infected in The Last of Us HBO. His behaviors, his development, and even his hunting patterns. These parallels are all used by Craig Mazin and Ali Abassi to highlight just how much worse he is.

TWs: SA, Violence/Gore, and Religion

Something that TLOU HBO did that I loved was that they let Ellie be an actual, real fourteen year old girl.

I feel like so many shows just assume that teenage girls are inherently unlikeable, so they portray them as stupid, annoying pests who should never be take seriously. Sometimes if they don’t do that they’ll go in the opposite direction, making their teen girl characters distance themselves from the demographic by being so unbelievably charming, mature, and witty that it becomes impossible for real people, especially real teenage girls, to live up to it. (As great as The Last of Us Game is, it very much does that).

A lot of times that ‘perfect teenage girl’ philosophy also carries over to appearance, with teen girl characters always dressing and looking mature, stylized, and unrealistic.

(Not the main point of the post, but you can absolutely see how these portrayals harmfully affect real teen girls by making them feel like they aren’t worthy of love unless they conform to impossible standards) (is this getting about me? Pfffffft, nooooooo…)

But The Last of Us HBO doesn’t do that. It lets Ellie be a real teen girl with all her faults. It doesn’t portray her as annoying or idealized, it portrays her as a real person who deserves to be taken seriously, and that’s something that will always help the flawed-14-year-old still inside me. She’s awkward and abrasive and charming and funny and brash and sweet and it sees her not as a pest but as a person. Someone who doesn’t always look perfect or fashionable. She’s someone who cries and screams and gets flustered without it being something to make fun of.

Craig Mazin, the main writer for the majority of the show, doesn’t see being a teen girl as something inherently wrong. I think it’s because he has a now-adult daughter who it’s clear he adores. He wrote Ellie with so much respect and care, and it’s clear he loves the character (and is also a fantastic show runner)

Thank you, Craig Mazin