The World Has Changed Since The Last Of Us Games Debuted (& Why That Matters) – Looper

For better or worse, film and television have often adapted to the world-changing events that have altered audiences’ perspectives and the fears that have grown from them. 9/11 saw thrillers shift to threats hiding in plain sight, with an increase in espionage stories (“24,” the “Bourne” franchise”), whereas horror has been a genre that has adapted to invoke audiences’ real-life fears for decades. The threat of nuclear war sparked greater talk of postapocalyptic worlds and creatures created from the fallout of such. On “The Last of Us,” there’s a keyword that has already been used more than once that might have unsettled fans who didn’t expect it.

It’s easy to split fact from fiction the second we see Joel (Pedro Pascal) running from a part-mushroom-looking mutant, but some of the most notable fear-inducing moments have employed the word “pandemic.” Breaking down the fungus that has consumed this world might be fantastical, but using terminology that has become far more prominent in our language since COVID will undoubtedly spark a reaction. It’s not the first time horror has applied these kinds of observations. John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was considered an allegory for the AIDS epidemic back in the ’80s, where the most intense scene is the iconic blood test, revealing a threat that is uncovered from a Petri dish (via Inverse). “The Last of Us” could push similar buttons not just now but also in the show’s finale.