It seems the original idea for The Last Of Us was weirdly misogynistic (some spoilers for the first game lie ahead).
Said idea was of a similarly virus-ridden post-apocalyptic world, but the game was entitled Mankind. Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann - writer of The Last Of Us - had conceptualized it so that only women were susceptible to the parasitic infection that brought about the end of civilization.
Similar to the story of the final version of the first game, in this one Ellie was also immune to the infection, but was simply the only female believed to be as such.
But, needless to say, Mankind was wholeheartedly rejected. According to Druckmann himself:
Thankfully, he took this to heart and made a concerted effort to rework the plot. His own daughter’s birth sent shockwaves through his own perspectives, too. Among other things, it pushed him towards his eye-opening realization that games must do better at representing female characters.
it was a misogynistic idea… A lot of the female workers at Naughty Dog came up and said, ‘I don’t like this idea. I understand what you’re trying to do—it is ultimately a story about the love of a girl—but the way it’s coming off is you’re having a bunch of women turn into monsters and you’re shooting them in the face.
We’re happy we landed this version of the game, thanks.
Source: Wired
