Sarah Hater Haters
I just have something to say about the fanbase in general
I personally didn't like Sarah (despite this I still chose the save option for both of the opportunities in Episode 4). However, whenever somebody brings up that they don't like Sarah on this forum, they get downvote brigaded by people who seem to be interpreting the post as saying, "I hate autistic people! Burn in hell, Sarah! HAAHAHAH!"
I just thought I'd put my two cents in. This is supposed to be a forum for discussion but every poster that says they don't like Sarah gets downvoted to oblivion and labeled as a terrible person. I don't think she's like Sansa Stark, a character that gets hated on but has substance worth defending. I just thought she was generally boring and kind of a redshirt. She also annoyed me quite a bit, admittedly. I wasn't cheering when she died and thought it sucked that she died the way she did. I'm just trying to ameliorate these discussions cause I'm kind of getting sick of how one-sided the fanbase is on this. It's just coming down to people saying, "I'm right! You're wrong!"
(And no, I'm not trying to make this a thread saying, "I know I'm gonna get downvoted but..." that ends up with a lot of upvotes. I'm just trying to say that the downvote button isn't an "I disagree" button and should only be used if a post is adding nothing to a discussion. I don't care if this gets downvoted or upvoted, I just want to get responses to know some people understand my POV)
Comments
Was this really worth making a new thread about?
shrug
I thought so, considering I'm getting sick of people silencing anyone with a reasonable amount of dislike for a fictional character
It's... not just about a fictional character for a lot of people. It's about what she represented and what kind of message her death and the Playing Dead interview sent. A lot of people are getting defensive because it's feels like a personal attack. If you think they're overreacting, then so be it, but when a large group of people is upset about something, there's clearly a problem.
Personally I don't mind if someone doesn't want to like Sarah, but 99% of the time their reasoning is something ableist. Not everyone is courteous enough to say "Sarah just didn't interest me but I respect you if you like her." Most people feel the need to excuse themselves with "she's a liability, she couldn't survive, she's bringing the group down" and when you relate to Sarah, when you see yourself in her, when you know you would be LIKE her in a hypothetical situation like that, that's really frustrating and really hurtful to see, because video games are meant to be an escape and people like Sarah are told in real life enough that they're not capable.
It's... a lot more complicated than just telling people to stop hating on a fictional character.
That just comes with not liking a popular character. I've been to numerous video game boards, and it's the same everywhere. If you go against popular opinion, then you're going to get a little heat.
This isn't about "hating the Sarah haters". Anyone who doesn't like her as a character is entitled to their opinion. But if you hate her because she was "useless", or because "she's stupid", that's where we're having a problem.
Telltale treated Sarah's character as an important one, she was well-developed and a large focus of the story. Until episode 4, she was much more than "hopeless", "useless", or a "liability". She was an important and developed character with good and bad qualities. Not a throwaway red shirt.
I agree, there are so many sensitive users on this forum that don't respect opinions, it gets very annoying really fast.
@samipod42 well, what skoothz said. And i don't mind if people don't like Sarah, but some of their reasonings or things they say, make me wonder how they would view that kind of person in real life. If they saw someone like her, and judged them just based on them being a little different from them. If that makes any sense, because maybe I'm just talking crazy.
I didn't see the Playing Dead interview
I mean, I do respect the opinions of people who like Sarah, but I just expect the same in return. A lot of Sarah fans (or a lot of the vocal ones) are INSANELY antagonistic
True, but I feel like a lot of people who don't like Sarah get labeled that way even though they don't feel that way
I mean, choice doesn't add much to the game but it does to the experience. A fun aspect of choice is that there is no right or wrong one. People who left Sarah behind are being bombarded with hate. Just because someone left her behind doesn't mean they think she's a burden. What if you were playing as Lee and Clem told you she wanted to stay in the hotel and try to convince Sarah? I bet more people wouldn't let Clementine try. Some people just have survival on their minds. I always try to play the game as the nice guy but if I was in that situation in real life, maybe I would've left her behind (I can't know, though)---not because she's a liability, but because she did not want to leave and she wasn't responding at all
Plus, some people could've left her behind to respect her wishes of wanting to die
She is a liability, though. That's undeniable. So was Larry with his heart, Lily with her mental problems, Kenny...being Kenny. There are liabilities everywhere in TWD world
I saw a playthrough where someone just has the priority of making sure Clementine survives. They voted to leave Kenny behind in Episode 3 and nobody cared. When he didn't try to calm down Sarah in the herd (he didn't want to talk and give himself away), everybody attacked him
Watch it. Then you'll understand why people are upset.
People cared when Larry died. They cared when Lilly was left behind. The story treated these events as hugely emotional and consequential. Sarah's death had none of that.
I honestly don't even know what you're talking about here.
But the excuse about her not being fit to survive is rather honest and kind of the point when it comes to the season's themes as a whole. While I shouldn't have to clarify this, I have no problem with the character however, or people with disabilities. I'm pretty weak myself as well and my own parents are disabled, though not in the same manner (as it's things like arthiritis).
Anyhow, everyone's different. Some people can handle the Walking Dead's world and some can't. Some would just want release and some can't be saved, while they might put others in jeopardy. There is no form of discrimination meant, just true, hard cold facts about the walking dead's world and our own if such a situation ever occured which . . . won't.
There really is nothing more to it than that. It doesn't mean I or others hate others like that in real life.
When it comes to the 'but it shows how one might act in such a situation', I'd like to remind people this is a video game. But you do somewhat have a point.
The thing is that people and pyschology (spelling?) are funny things. You might say you'd stick around and help people now, but when it actually comes down to it and your life is on the line, you might do something that you think you wouldn't.
Really, humanity is rather . . . well, I'll leave it there. But yeah, just because we might say that Sarah wasn't fit for the world, it doesn't mean we hate her or have anything against people who might have disabilities in real life. I'd like to say I'd help anyone, but when push comes to shove, who knows? I've never been put in a dangerous situation. Hell, one might think they'd be courageous and just freeze or do a runner. So unpredictable without actually being put in a situation.
PS: And again, it feels stupid saying this because it's a video game, but I kept her alive when I was able to.
PS 2: Grow up people with the dislikes.
PS 3: There is one thing though that I just thought of now. It's possible that if she didn't lose her father, she might not have froze, broke down or been a liability. Guess we'll never know, but based on how she was at Carver's camp when trimming the plants? I'd lean towards saying she wouldn't be able to handle things. Or if she could, it would take . . . quite a while.
Bye Sarah, give my regards to Carlos when you see him.
Far too many sensitive users. The problem with users here is that they read FAR too much into a characters personality. It's not "Sarah is the way she is because she's Autistic." one because that's a silly argument, even if she did have it, if Carlos didn't treat her the way he did she'd still be more capable than she was and two because it hasn't been stated or inferred by Telltale in any shape or form. It's more "Sarah is the way she is because she's a young girl unprepared for the life of the apocalypse and hasn't been in any survival situations before, as Carlos has kept her from it." We have evidence of that from the way we see Carlos treat her, e.g. keeping her in the Cabin almost 24/7 and replying with "not now Sarah." most of the time.
People need to take the characters at face value, whether they 'identify' with them or not, because ultimately their personalities, strengths and weaknesses aren't decided by us, it's how Telltale writes them in. If Telltale write in that Kenny used to be a Space Cowboy, then it's canon. Despite how stupid it is :P
I'm not really talking about the story, though. I cared when Lilly and Larry left the story. I didn't care when Sarah died (but I WAS NOT cheering). Sarah's death didn't have a hugely emotional thing. That's my problem. Telltale failed to get a reaction out of me because I didn't like her character
And as for Episode 3, when Kenny gets beaten by Carver, Luke says they have to leave Kenny behind. The guy doing the playthrough wanted Clem to survive so he agreed that they needed to leave Kenny. Nobody in the comments cared. When he didn't try to calm Sarah down in the herd (because doing so would require Clem's cover possibly being blown), everybody was pissed
I agree. I didn't like Sarah that much. Honestly, IMO, she was just kinda there most of the game. But I felt sorry for her. I was as gentle and encouraging as possible to her, and I protected her as much as the game would allow me. Same with Nick. I liked him a lot LESS than I liked Sarah, because, fact is, he was actually kinda mean and violent. But I still didn't want him to die, and I saved him in ep 2. And sometimes I'd like to say I didn't love Sarah and Nick, in order to make points in other discussions. But I don't say anything because I know it would be counterproductive considering how rabid most people are in their admiration of those characters. Instead of getting my point across, I'd just get called an ableist, which I'm NOT. I hate all the "survival of the fittest" bullshit. I believe the strong are meant to protect the weak. But that doesn't change the fact that I didn't love Sarah and Nick.
The IGN interview was horrible. I fully concede. But I think people are reading too much into it. You can't tell what went on behind the scenes of Amid the Ruins from one interview.
This is exactly what I mean. Larry was obviously not liked by anyone. But when he died, we still felt bad. His death was treated with huge consequence and emotion. You were made to feel more bad when a cranky old racist died than when an innocent fifteen-year old child did. Her death was poorly done, there's really no way around that.
I don't see how they developed her....
the only real sensitive people are the those character lovers...clem lovers and sarah lovers....
you guys need to get laid with those fictional characters.
Your pedophilia is showing.
YAY yet another thread about Sarah. Just have to face it, anybody that disliked the character can't even say her name without being flamed as an awful person for disliking a fictional character in a video game meant to be played for entertainment. Many of you Sarah lovers say that you downvote because of certain reasons but I've seen otherwise. Maybe all of you aren't the same but the ones that just downvote because your opinion isn't that of theirs then it's just dumb. I flat out hated Sarah. Not because of things that happened around her but because I was never invested in her. She did not entertain me or grasp me as a character for me to care about so I honestly didn't care when she died. I'm not going to say I hated for reasons I'm making up. Fact is I found her character to be annoying and I didn't feel like she added anything to the plot. Telltale wanted to make you care about her and stuff but to me it failed horribly as I never did care for her. So blame it on the character or the writing of it either way I couldn't stand her.
Also I have an autistic little brother who I would do anything for and actually work with him every day so save your "horrible person" speech for somebody else because it's not gonna hold any weight to me.
The problem is that Telltale Games and Greg Miller see Sarah's death as a blessing is very gruesome.
EDIT: Basing in the "survival of the fittest" theory
EDIT2: Sarah's death had been more like another unfortunate death in the world of TWD but it came this interview shows that are insensitive the group of TellTale Games and Greg Miller.
I said nothing that would indicate pedophilia. Seriously..if you were sarah..i would of have left you to die in the house....and tell you to close your eyes.
Must rewind episode 4 and you'll notice that no one mourn her death that was a forced to satisfy her haters.
You summed up my thoughts perfectly. The downvotes on this are just proving your point. She just had a peruse to piss me off
Her death or her character?
Her death or her character what?
In episode 4, they didn't really bother much on her, no. But before that, she was very focused and in depth.
I didn't say I had a problem with Sarah, people with disabilities etc. and simply pointed out that some people can't cope in the world while being a burden on others. Which is a fact, even in today's world (like in war zones and there would be plenty of people without disabilities who wouldn't cope too), which there is nothing wrong with stating, I daresay I'd quite possibly be one of those people too.
Yet look at the dislikes I got. People are so stupid and immature. I don't care about the dislikes either, but it's a reflection of the community here that's getting to me and I've had it really. People also need to live in the real world at times.
PS: A perfect example would be that, in today's world, even a soldier might break down when faced with horrible things. We've all heard of ptsd. And I should clarify that just because a person has a disability doesn't mean they're not fit for the walking dead's world. It's just that in Sarah's case, she did exactly as Carlos said she would.
Sarah hater comments are not the only ones that get down voted, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and can like or dislike if they please, I for one push the like button on almost every comment I read, mostly because I have respect for that person's opinion. Also, the fan base is one-sided on allot of things, what I dislike is the fact that many that wanted Sarah to die, actually blame Tell Tale for the fact that she died in vain, despite the fact that the employees even brought the fan base into their decision to kill Sarah off. You can't blame people for disliking or misinterpreting someone else's opinion, we're only human, at least when someone down votes your comment, you know that they took time from their life to read it.
No offense, but I think the fandom(at least the Tumbr fandom, holy shit they're mad) is overreacting over that interview. If they disliked Sarah, they are allowed to do so, and are allowed to express their opinion. I sincerely doubt they disliked her for being mentally unstable. I didn't really like Sarah either but it had nothing to do with her disabilities, I just didn't like her personality. And in the end, it's a fictional character in a fictional universe. People really shouldn't be taking it so personally, He never said "all mentally disabled/unstable people are useless and should die", but that seems to be how people are interpreting his opinion really.
I don't know why it is, but a lot of people in this fandom are extremely offended all the time by other peoples' opinions.
Opinions being hated all the time can make other people fear of being hated for their opinions, it's sad because many opinions are actually rather interesting.
The down voting seems random at times to me. I think people might actually be down voting/ trolling on both sides to try to get a reaction out of someone. I mean I seen at least some what logical arguments on both sides get down votes that didn't make sense to me. I will be honest though I only used the down vote when someone said anything that completely outright offensive which is rarely. I've up voted a lot more on both sides of the issue than I ever down voted.
You not liking Sarah for your reasons isn't a reflection of everyone who doesn't like Sarah.
Fictional portrayals and how we reaction to fiction is a reflection of real life. In the end, it really isn't just a fictional character. It's a reflection of real people in real life.
I think it's mostly because people are afraid that those opinions will be read by Telltale and end up influencing future episodes/seasons.
Yeah, just look at how they handled Kenny's return. Pandering to a vocal fanbase if I've ever seen it.
I did not care when Larry died and I certainly did not care when I left that murderer Lilly behind. Their exit was no more emotional than Sarah's death. Thanks for proving that it doesn't automatically translate to bad writing simply because you don't agree with the way the writers presented someone's death.