I wanna start by saying that the offense taken by some players about Sarah's place in this story (specifically her death) is laughable for many reasons. The foremost of which being that the people who are offended are only those too dense to realize that the subject matter pretty much agrees with them. They are upset because they think that the groups resignation to the death of sarah, as well as the rationalization that it was "better for the group", is morally wrong. And you know what they're right on that point. But that's the point the GAME is trying to make as well. If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is a story about Moral Decay. As the series goes on, we watch the characters sacrifice more and more about what used to make them human back before the world went batshit. Sarah's death is another touchstone on that descent. It's to show that we are now operating in the State of Nature. The story doesn't want you to be happy that Sarah got eaten. It only seems that way because that's how less thoughtful fans reacted to the death. The story wanted you to feel hurt at that death because it shows how fall we've fallen. This isn't the kind of world where we can help those who need help, this isn't the kind of world where "right" means anything anymore. This is a world about staying alive. And that fact is supposed to make you feel upset.
The Walking Dead and it's creators AGREE with you that the group more or less giving up on her is a bad thing. They use that bad thing to show you the kind of world this is now. To put it in idiot-tumblr speach for you. Telltale's The Walking Dead is not an "ableist" game. But the fucking zombie apocalypse IS ableist. Think of it this way; To Kill a Mockingbird handles themes of Racism and other prejudices, but To Kill a Mockingbird is NOT a racist or prejudiced book.
This is pretty basic 7th grade level reading comprehension shit here, people. To be honest, the fact that any of you HAVEN'T picked up on a motif of moral degeneration after all the shit we'd seen before that is a little disgusting.
Thanks for your opening sentence - your edginess sure puts me to shame.
It's already been made abundantly clear in the original post, as well as numerous fans, that the uproar has come about for several reasons:
That the handling of Sarah's death in Episode 4 was illogical, insensitive, and didn't have any emotional resonance that made her loss meaningful.
That killing off a vulnerable, sympathetic character like her actually gave credence to the multitudes of vocal fans who viciously hated her for existing and enjoyed seeing her die horribly. Treating her as irredeemable validates this unsympathetic mindset, one that is anathema to the empathy that the first Season pushed for.
The discussion of Sarah by both the Playing Dead host and the Telltale representatives in the infamous interview was rather vile, as it was essentially a bunch of grown men laughing about wanting to kill off a girl for "not being normal." There's no way around it - that's fucked up, yo.
I find it amusing that you're citing "7th grade level reading comprehension" here, as I don't believe you yourself are applying it to this thread. I'm certain you haven't even taken a look at anything beyond the title of this thread and already leaped to conclusions, rather than considering the discussions people have had about this issue.
Ok [ cracks knuckles ] here we go.
I wanna start by saying that the offense taken by some players about Sarah's place in this story (spec… moreifically her death) is laughable for many reasons. The foremost of which being that the people who are offended are only those too dense to realize that the subject matter pretty much agrees with them. They are upset because they think that the groups resignation to the death of sarah, as well as the rationalization that it was "better for the group", is morally wrong. And you know what they're right on that point. But that's the point the GAME is trying to make as well. If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is a story about Moral Decay. As the series goes on, we watch the characters sacrifice more and more about what used to make them human back before the world went batshit. Sarah's death is another touchstone on that descent. It's to show that we are now operating in the State of Nature. The story d… [view original content]
Thanks for your opening sentence - your edginess sure puts me to shame.
It's already been made abundantly clear in the original post, as … morewell as numerous fans, that the uproar has come about for several reasons:
* That the handling of Sarah's death in Episode 4 was illogical, insensitive, and didn't have any emotional resonance that made her loss meaningful.
* That killing off a vulnerable, sympathetic character like her actually gave credence to the multitudes of vocal fans who viciously hated her for existing and enjoyed seeing her die horribly. Treating her as irredeemable validates this unsympathetic mindset, one that is anathema to the empathy that the first Season pushed for.
* The discussion of Sarah by both the Playing Dead host and the Telltale representatives in the infamous interview was rather vile, as it was essentially a bunch of grown men laughing about wanting to kill off a girl for "not being normal." There's no w… [view original content]
Except it maybe kinda definitely did resonate, and the loss of her was perhaps the most meaningful thing about her place in this story. LIKE I JUST SAID, it conveys the depths that our group of main-characters are at. They don't want to help the poor girl who probably just needs someone to try harder to relate to her. That's a powerful moment. I don't think I'll ever be able to call our "good guys" good ever again after seeing that. Carlos died, and without him there to protect her, his daughter didn't last a day. Imagine if after Lee died Omid and Crista just gave up on Clem. It'd tear at you. That's what I felt when Sarah was eaten, screaming for help, and half the group acted like it was a weight off their shoulders. This story is a tragedy. Tragedies are about failure. They're about people not doing the right thing.
Or it could just show that the CHARACTERS are unsympathetic. Ya know, like a plot point. WE know that she wasn't irredeemable because when it came down to it, she really did WANT to live. She screamed for help, but the protagonists wrote off her death in their minds as a mercy. That's supposed to say something about THEM.
I know that half the people who play the game were happy when she died. And to be honest, I don't care about those people. Over half the people who watched Breaking Bad never once questioned if walter white was doing something wrong. Over half the people who saw Wolf on Wall Street felt compelled to get into finance after seeing it. People read Othello and never question his misogynist hypocrisy of him killing Desdemona "out of love for her". There will always be people who misinterpret art. I don't think the artist should be forced to focus on teaching stupid people right from wrong, but use the mutual understanding of an intelligent person's sense of right and wrong to tell a compelling story.
3.yeah, the interview was shitty. But i mostly put it on the show host being shallow-minded and the two telltale employees going along with the jovial tone of conversation, as humans are wont to do. Is it it ok? No. Does it condemn the series in my mind. Of course not. Let's also not forget that they are talking about a fictional character so it doesn't make you a monster to momentarily detach from their pain. The evidence of their compassion is in the art itself.
Something that stands out to me from the interview though is when either Mark or Jason asks him if he would've let her die if he had been Lee. His kneejerk response is that Lee would've saved her. Because, to us, Lee is a hero. Lee did what we failed to do. He kept someone helpless safe. He helped her find strength. He helped her to not be afraid. But all the heroes are dead now. So there is no one to look after the helpless.
As for my opening sentence, haha. Yeah, that was dumb. Just bein' silly because god forbid we have a li'l fun on this forum about video games.
Thanks for your opening sentence - your edginess sure puts me to shame.
It's already been made abundantly clear in the original post, as … morewell as numerous fans, that the uproar has come about for several reasons:
* That the handling of Sarah's death in Episode 4 was illogical, insensitive, and didn't have any emotional resonance that made her loss meaningful.
* That killing off a vulnerable, sympathetic character like her actually gave credence to the multitudes of vocal fans who viciously hated her for existing and enjoyed seeing her die horribly. Treating her as irredeemable validates this unsympathetic mindset, one that is anathema to the empathy that the first Season pushed for.
* The discussion of Sarah by both the Playing Dead host and the Telltale representatives in the infamous interview was rather vile, as it was essentially a bunch of grown men laughing about wanting to kill off a girl for "not being normal." There's no w… [view original content]
Alright. I'll give you credit for that. I just thought your first sentence set a silly tone for the rest of your initial post.
It might be a valid point to argue, as some people on this forum have, that the protagonists are not "saints." It's brought up by the way some of them treated Clem in the first episode, by the hints in Episode 2 that Alvin and Carlos did things that angered Carver during their escape, and by Bonnie's judgment of them in Episode 3. But I feel that if "Amid The Ruins" really was trying to present the group as morally grey, it was not executed very well.
The 'pragmatic' decisions of whether or not to let Sarah die and whether robbing Arvo was justified were not endorsed by the group, but by a stranger. When Jane reminds Clem that leaving the group is always an option, Clem can say that "They're good people. They've kept me safe." While this might be justified by saying that she's still a young kid struggling to build her moral compass, I believe the only character who's really portrayed as (trying to be) heartless is Jane. Luke, Kenny, and Rebecca all show regret for the people they've lost, which makes their detached reaction to losing Sarah (or Carlos for that matter) seem all the more jarring. Even Bonnie and Mike, who don't show any regret for dooming Carver's community, show their compassion for Clem because of their awareness of her age.
You could chalk that up to lazy writing, which I would agree with. I also find it interesting that apparently Greg did not see Clem as having the potential to be a hero - that once good people like Lee were gone, there would be no hope for another to arise.
I'll address them in order.
* Except it maybe kinda definitely did resonate, and the loss of her was perhaps the most meaningful thing … moreabout her place in this story. LIKE I JUST SAID, it conveys the depths that our group of main-characters are at. They don't want to help the poor girl who probably just needs someone to try harder to relate to her. That's a powerful moment. I don't think I'll ever be able to call our "good guys" good ever again after seeing that. Carlos died, and without him there to protect her, his daughter didn't last a day. Imagine if after Lee died Omid and Crista just gave up on Clem. It'd tear at you. That's what I felt when Sarah was eaten, screaming for help, and half the group acted like it was a weight off their shoulders. This story is a tragedy. Tragedies are about failure. They're about people not doing the right thing.
* Or it could just show that the CHARACTERS are unsympathetic. Ya know, like a plot po… [view original content]
The thing is, the game didn't treat them not saving her as a plot point, they don't even mention it. Not to mention that it contradicts their personalities not to save her. Luke went after her earlier and stayed for hours while trying to talk her out of it, Bonnie tried to defend you and Sarah when Sarah started freaking out in the herd, and my Clem did quite a lot of heroic things this season, such as charging towards Carver to save Alvin.
I'll address them in order.
* Except it maybe kinda definitely did resonate, and the loss of her was perhaps the most meaningful thing … moreabout her place in this story. LIKE I JUST SAID, it conveys the depths that our group of main-characters are at. They don't want to help the poor girl who probably just needs someone to try harder to relate to her. That's a powerful moment. I don't think I'll ever be able to call our "good guys" good ever again after seeing that. Carlos died, and without him there to protect her, his daughter didn't last a day. Imagine if after Lee died Omid and Crista just gave up on Clem. It'd tear at you. That's what I felt when Sarah was eaten, screaming for help, and half the group acted like it was a weight off their shoulders. This story is a tragedy. Tragedies are about failure. They're about people not doing the right thing.
* Or it could just show that the CHARACTERS are unsympathetic. Ya know, like a plot po… [view original content]
Don't forget that Luke angsts quite a bit on the walk back from the trailer park about his inability to save Sarah on his own. He does care, even if I find it frustrating that the writers deemed it more important for Clem to listen to Jane talk about her sister rather than spend more time consoling Sarah.
The thing is, the game didn't treat them not saving her as a plot point, they don't even mention it. Not to mention that it contradicts thei… morer personalities not to save her. Luke went after her earlier and stayed for hours while trying to talk her out of it, Bonnie tried to defend you and Sarah when Sarah started freaking out in the herd, and my Clem did quite a lot of heroic things this season, such as charging towards Carver to save Alvin.
Comments
Ok [ cracks knuckles ] here we go.
I wanna start by saying that the offense taken by some players about Sarah's place in this story (specifically her death) is laughable for many reasons. The foremost of which being that the people who are offended are only those too dense to realize that the subject matter pretty much agrees with them. They are upset because they think that the groups resignation to the death of sarah, as well as the rationalization that it was "better for the group", is morally wrong. And you know what they're right on that point. But that's the point the GAME is trying to make as well. If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is a story about Moral Decay. As the series goes on, we watch the characters sacrifice more and more about what used to make them human back before the world went batshit. Sarah's death is another touchstone on that descent. It's to show that we are now operating in the State of Nature. The story doesn't want you to be happy that Sarah got eaten. It only seems that way because that's how less thoughtful fans reacted to the death. The story wanted you to feel hurt at that death because it shows how fall we've fallen. This isn't the kind of world where we can help those who need help, this isn't the kind of world where "right" means anything anymore. This is a world about staying alive. And that fact is supposed to make you feel upset.
The Walking Dead and it's creators AGREE with you that the group more or less giving up on her is a bad thing. They use that bad thing to show you the kind of world this is now. To put it in idiot-tumblr speach for you. Telltale's The Walking Dead is not an "ableist" game. But the fucking zombie apocalypse IS ableist. Think of it this way; To Kill a Mockingbird handles themes of Racism and other prejudices, but To Kill a Mockingbird is NOT a racist or prejudiced book.
This is pretty basic 7th grade level reading comprehension shit here, people. To be honest, the fact that any of you HAVEN'T picked up on a motif of moral degeneration after all the shit we'd seen before that is a little disgusting.
Thanks for your opening sentence - your edginess sure puts me to shame.
It's already been made abundantly clear in the original post, as well as numerous fans, that the uproar has come about for several reasons:
I find it amusing that you're citing "7th grade level reading comprehension" here, as I don't believe you yourself are applying it to this thread. I'm certain you haven't even taken a look at anything beyond the title of this thread and already leaped to conclusions, rather than considering the discussions people have had about this issue.
I'll address them in order.
Except it maybe kinda definitely did resonate, and the loss of her was perhaps the most meaningful thing about her place in this story. LIKE I JUST SAID, it conveys the depths that our group of main-characters are at. They don't want to help the poor girl who probably just needs someone to try harder to relate to her. That's a powerful moment. I don't think I'll ever be able to call our "good guys" good ever again after seeing that. Carlos died, and without him there to protect her, his daughter didn't last a day. Imagine if after Lee died Omid and Crista just gave up on Clem. It'd tear at you. That's what I felt when Sarah was eaten, screaming for help, and half the group acted like it was a weight off their shoulders. This story is a tragedy. Tragedies are about failure. They're about people not doing the right thing.
Or it could just show that the CHARACTERS are unsympathetic. Ya know, like a plot point. WE know that she wasn't irredeemable because when it came down to it, she really did WANT to live. She screamed for help, but the protagonists wrote off her death in their minds as a mercy. That's supposed to say something about THEM.
I know that half the people who play the game were happy when she died. And to be honest, I don't care about those people. Over half the people who watched Breaking Bad never once questioned if walter white was doing something wrong. Over half the people who saw Wolf on Wall Street felt compelled to get into finance after seeing it. People read Othello and never question his misogynist hypocrisy of him killing Desdemona "out of love for her". There will always be people who misinterpret art. I don't think the artist should be forced to focus on teaching stupid people right from wrong, but use the mutual understanding of an intelligent person's sense of right and wrong to tell a compelling story.
3.yeah, the interview was shitty. But i mostly put it on the show host being shallow-minded and the two telltale employees going along with the jovial tone of conversation, as humans are wont to do. Is it it ok? No. Does it condemn the series in my mind. Of course not. Let's also not forget that they are talking about a fictional character so it doesn't make you a monster to momentarily detach from their pain. The evidence of their compassion is in the art itself.
Something that stands out to me from the interview though is when either Mark or Jason asks him if he would've let her die if he had been Lee. His kneejerk response is that Lee would've saved her. Because, to us, Lee is a hero. Lee did what we failed to do. He kept someone helpless safe. He helped her find strength. He helped her to not be afraid. But all the heroes are dead now. So there is no one to look after the helpless.
As for my opening sentence, haha. Yeah, that was dumb. Just bein' silly because god forbid we have a li'l fun on this forum about video games.
Alright. I'll give you credit for that. I just thought your first sentence set a silly tone for the rest of your initial post.
It might be a valid point to argue, as some people on this forum have, that the protagonists are not "saints." It's brought up by the way some of them treated Clem in the first episode, by the hints in Episode 2 that Alvin and Carlos did things that angered Carver during their escape, and by Bonnie's judgment of them in Episode 3. But I feel that if "Amid The Ruins" really was trying to present the group as morally grey, it was not executed very well.
The 'pragmatic' decisions of whether or not to let Sarah die and whether robbing Arvo was justified were not endorsed by the group, but by a stranger. When Jane reminds Clem that leaving the group is always an option, Clem can say that "They're good people. They've kept me safe." While this might be justified by saying that she's still a young kid struggling to build her moral compass, I believe the only character who's really portrayed as (trying to be) heartless is Jane. Luke, Kenny, and Rebecca all show regret for the people they've lost, which makes their detached reaction to losing Sarah (or Carlos for that matter) seem all the more jarring. Even Bonnie and Mike, who don't show any regret for dooming Carver's community, show their compassion for Clem because of their awareness of her age.
You could chalk that up to lazy writing, which I would agree with. I also find it interesting that apparently Greg did not see Clem as having the potential to be a hero - that once good people like Lee were gone, there would be no hope for another to arise.
The thing is, the game didn't treat them not saving her as a plot point, they don't even mention it. Not to mention that it contradicts their personalities not to save her. Luke went after her earlier and stayed for hours while trying to talk her out of it, Bonnie tried to defend you and Sarah when Sarah started freaking out in the herd, and my Clem did quite a lot of heroic things this season, such as charging towards Carver to save Alvin.
Don't forget that Luke angsts quite a bit on the walk back from the trailer park about his inability to save Sarah on his own. He does care, even if I find it frustrating that the writers deemed it more important for Clem to listen to Jane talk about her sister rather than spend more time consoling Sarah.
Well seeing I have autism I can relate to Sarah.she was nice,so yeah...
So....fuck Greg.
Greg Miller > Sarah
Just a side note, my little cousin acts like Sarah. She doesn't have any disabilities; she is just over-sheltered. It does happen, you know.
What you just posted was false my good ma'am.
I love how in denial you are.