There was 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:huge backlash to Abby Anderson’s character design in The Last of Us Part 2 because she was considered by many gamers to be ‘too buff’ for a woman. That’s not surprising, given the venn diagram of the people who make these comments and those that get upset when female characters aren’t sexy is very close to a perfect circle. Most of the backlash came from it not being realistic fo♈r a woman t💎o be so jacked, whi♒ch as a person who lifts heavy weights, makes me laugh. I’m not huge, though I wo✱uld one day like to be, and I cannot lie and say that Abby’s arms did not make me gasp and squirm with envy every time she flexed.
I’ve witnessed many women performing amazing feats of strength in competition, while also being extremely jacked. I have trained with people who have capped delts, massive quads and broad shoulders – and that’s just the people directly around me, who somehow find the tཧime to get huge while holding down full-time jobs and having soc🥀ial lives. Strong women that look strong are everywhere.
Watch women’s sports and you’ll see what I mean. You’re going to tell me that world-class Olympic weightlifters Kuo Hsing-Chun and Mattie Rogers have unrealistic bodies? Does Rhea Ripley, a massive female wrestler, not exist in the real world? Is Abby not modeled after an actual bodybuilder and CrossFitter? Gamers who don’t have other hobbies apart 𝓀from complaining about women’s bodies might not understand this, but it’s all about genetic potential – not everyꦡ woman can get that huge, but under the right conditions, many can.
Abby certainly hadಌ the right conditions. In the game, we see that WLF’s base has plenty of food (calories are necessary to get jacked), a huge gym (strength training is crucial in accumulating that kind of size), and a training regimen that had her working out several times a week. Abby is clearly dedicated to getting strong, which would be necessary for survival and revenge. We know she’s been training seriously for years from her conversations with Owen, so it’s not unrealistic for her to be strong.
Her size is crucial to her character design, and it has to translate to HBO’s casting for the show. What makes Abby so terrifying in opposition to Ellie is her size in comparison to Ellie’s much leaner frame. We know that Ellie has to be fast and smart, because her opponent is 𓆏just as fast and smart, and she’s also far stronger. In hand-to-hand combat, Ellie doesn’t stand a chance – in the final fight, Ellie only has an upper hand against Abby because she’s already weak and half-starved to death, and Abby still manages to bite two of Ellie’s fingers off.
Being physically intimidating is part of Abby’s character. Her muscles are a testament to her single-minded dedication towards preparing herself to kill Joel. They are absolutely crucial to what makes her a good antagonist to Ellie’s protagonist, though I use antagonist loosely here, and I hope 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:HBO’s casting reflects that. We’ve seen from the first season that physical similarity hasn’t been super important in the casting so far, which I broadly believe is a good thing – after all, Be🥂lla Ramsey doesn’t look like game Ellie, and does a great job anyway. But in this case, the bodily similarity absolutely matters.
We’ve seen previously that criticism of the show’s female characters has not bothered the showrunners much, so I don’t think it’ll be fear of reprisal that stops them from casting a buff Abby – if anything, it’ll be convenience. Giving a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:smaller actress the role would mean losing a crucial part of Abby’s character, if that actress isn’t ready to take on the monumental role of getting insanely strong, but it would be far easier than finding someone who’s already big and has the acting chops to play a role like this. I’m praying they manage to find a gem of an actress that can truly channel Abby’s physicalit👍y – fingers crossed we get to see a really buff lady on screen.