Hating On AJ is Illogical
I'm just scrolling through all of these depressing and idiotic forums that is TWD at the moment, and one thing really urks me about people on this forum.
The hate for AJ.
One word. Stop.
He's a poor defenseless child who has done literally nothing to get people hurt intentionally. Now people will be like "but he got Clementine's finger smashed by a door."
Okay. Explain to me how you would feel as a child when a motherly figure leaves you in a car telling you something you can't understand. You would cry. You would have no idea that that could attract walkers because you have no idea what walkers are.
Give him a break.
Please and thanks.
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A whole thread for that? XD
I needed to speak my mind cause it's so annoying. Just my opinion, like everything else on this forum.
It seems I'm forever doomed to repeat myself when it comes to this topic...
As I said quite recently... "You're misinterpreting the "hatred" for AJ, like most people. We don't dislike AJ because he's a baby, nor did we have any sort of malice against the character, really. It's that we hate how the character is used. How Clementine is forced to have a bond with him, despite having little to no relevant reasons for doing so, how he's used to create the Kenny vs Jane fight, and how, we as the players, have yet to be able to build a connection with him, outside of being expected to think he's "adorable" from the few minor scenes we've seen in season 3. Most people just feel indifferent to him. We don't have any particular reasons to love or hate him, and that's where the issue lies. Had Telltale's writers spent the time to give us an actual cause to care for AJ, other than him just being a baby, it'd be much easier to have concern for his welfare when they decide to use him as a plot device. Instead, they just throw him in whenever they want "drama" and expect us to give a shit. It's bad writing."
I've yet to find anyone who actually hates AJ, as it's virtually impossible to have any sort of feelings towards him really. He's just a blank slate. It's the bad writing that constantly engulfs it's self around him that we hate.
Couldn't have said it better. Nice to see when people totally sum up your feelings on something intelligently
It's not hate, people are just giving their criticism of the character, I seen people level heavy criticism on Clementine for season 3, I may not agree with them but I don't consider it hating on her. People do have a right to their opinions.
Well, people have been creating threads to talk about Javier getting laid, so talking about hate on a child is fine I think.
I think people are just not very empathetic when it comes to AJ. Most people dont remember what it's like to be a baby. Maybe in this season, we will get to see more of him, and people will be able to bond with him like they did with Clem.
Who hates on AJ?
I have literally seen nothing about that.
Were you around when he was first born?
Not caring =/= Hate
Wasn't there already a thread about this? OneWayNoWay already touched on the majority of what was covered in that thread I believe. In this narrative, AJ is little more than a plot device. Even in Season 3, we are given no time with him aside from a relatively short flashback. We, as viewers, have nothing invested in AJ, therefore he's simply liability tacked onto a character others have become invested in.
Had we been given a significant investment in Season 2 in AJ's parents, then perhaps I could follow the logic behind an instant bond with AJ, but we are not. Had AJ been the product of other characters we had previous investment towards, I could understand an instant bond with AJ as well. That is not the case. Therefore we are left to establish the only reasoning behind AJ's value is 'because he is a baby'.
That argument would have more merit with an older protagonist left to care for him, whether it is one that previous had children that were lost, or was of a more maternal/paternal age ( such as Lee, even an older teenage Clem ), but that is not the narrative that we're given. There will be individuals, like yourself, that empathize with him on a deeper level. There's nothing wrong with that, but neither is there anything wrong with the apathy (not hate) others feel towards AJ.
You asked others to place themselves in AJ's perspective. I'll ask you to place yourself in Clem's perspective. You're 11/12 years old, given a newborn to care for because every adult abandoned it ( yes, Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo abandon the baby, and child intending to leave them with nothing ) or died ( everyone else ). You've lost your own parents, all of your surrogate parents ( Lee, Christa, ect ), and you're in a world of undead flesh eaters on foot. Clem is a really lucky girl to be capable of just keeping them both alive. Food is scarce. The baby is a constant threat to luring walkers. As a plot device, AJ is a source of anxiety, stress, and very logically a sense of animosity could even develop. She is still a child that should be taken care of, not a child that should be taking care of someone else.
What is being expressed by others is their own sense of immersion, not a deep rooted hatred for the innocent.
I actually didn't even know about these forums until around 2 weeks ago.
I just played these game alone haha.
Ahh, okay. Consider yourself lucky, lol. To give you an idea, I seem to recall a big brouhaha about people saying they would throw him to walkers so they can escape. It was bad lol.
Still would.
AJ was a complete waste of time. The conflict between Alvin and Carver over Rebecca didn't need a child.
Still not funny.
Yeah, nine months worth, amirite?
kill me
They hate AJ becuz he's black :P
Still. Not. Bitten.
...Except AJ...
Clem is also black and people don't hate her. Race has nothing to do with it.
Pretty sure he was baiting/joking.
She doesn't look black, though. It's like she's made to be as appealing as possible or something.
No, I think Clem looks asian/black, and who cares if she looks cute and appealing, she's the protagonist and should look nice.
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Not an oxymoron at all.
Thanks for your reply, you've shown tremendous insight.
Not this again. She looks black to me, just lighter skinned. Im not even going to touch the second part of that statement.
Goofball.
No prob, Bob!
Seriously though, I didn't mean to sound like I's pickin on ya, but that was too much to ignore.
Recently, you've been making things sounding like you're picking on me, including implications in that thread (which weren't true) you never responded back to. Nor did you ever give any valuable feedback on why Clem shouldn't look good, it's a video game, do you really care if the protagonist looks good, if anything it's a good thing.
...it was a joke.
I thought she looked more white in season 1, but I still could tell her ethnicity, but season 3 it's definitely clear that she's African-American/Asian in my opinion.
Yeah sorry bout that, mate.
What implications?
To be fair, that was me being sardonic about a logically obvious factor of her appearance. Basically, since she's a main character throughout the games with the first of which being about looking after her, it makes sense to make her look and act as appealing as possible to please a wide audience. There was once a time where kids in major roles of stories were a dreaded element, after all.
Pretty much.
I should clarify, more projections than implications, you were calling me a cynic, hypocritical, etc, in another thread which both weren't true.
Definitely, they made a character most of us like, and they did a good job of doing it. If they were more realistic she'd be dealing with acne, puberty shit, and probably would appear be unclean, but I much prefer not dealing with all of that stuff like most of the other characters don't anyways (Kate mentions bloody underwear but obviously they won't show that). I'm fine with her being that morals high, intelligent, cute, etc person we all grew to love, plus her aesthetic seals it in this season, I love how they included her dangling two hairs from her hat and when you notice all the symbols she's acquired throughout the seasons it piles up nicely. Plus now she's fully equipped for survival, but I think I'm already going too in depth for a simple reply.
Oh yaeh, that talk about Sarah! That wasn't aimed oat you(and I doubt you really fit into that Crawford mentality to begin with), but rather numerous comments around the web expressing that mindset in a needlessly dogmatic manner. One of those things where you hear negativity so much that anything resembling it makes you flinch, you know?
Yeah. Personally, I'm one of those people who raised a concerned eyebrow at first("Uh...this is still Clementine, right?") but I'm hoping the next episode and all afterwards will further address/fix the issues some have been having with her by filling us in on what happened.
I do. Granted it's not because of the color of her skin but...
but you named yourself after Clem, and this entire series revolves around her too.
Please stop reminding me of my cringe worthy mistake in name choosing from 2 years ago like everyone else does. I'd like to go one day without somebody saying "Well you named yourself after Clem therefore you can't hate her" or "Why did you name yourself after Clem then?" It was 2 years ago and I beat myself up for it daily, alright?
2 years ago, you had the good opinion of liking Clementine :^).
That's possible. They very well could have had other ideas initially that didn't involve the final choice between Kenny or Jane, which obviously didn't make it into the finished game. But, if you just look on at the role AJ does actually play in the finished game, he's only really there, in the last episode, to serve heavily as what leads to the fight. While it mightn't necessarily have been the original plan, it is what becomes of his concept.
You're right, though. More likely than most, the writers didn't intent for him to be used that way at the start.