The Queer Narrative in the Transmedia Proposal of HBO’s “The Last of Us” Series and the Fan Film “All We Lost”

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Queer narrative; transmedia; The Last of Us; fan films

Abstract

Currently, television fiction linked to video-on-demand channels, such as HBO or Netflix, is embracing narratives that explore and expand the representations of queer characters on screen. In this context, there are transmedia narratives that elicit fan participation. Therefore, this article has analyzed the queer narrative in the transmedia proposal of HBO’s series “The Last of Us” and the fan film titled “All We Lost.” From an interpretive paradigm and through a qualitative approach, a content analysis guide was applied based on four categories of analysis: character construction, conflict, context, and transformation arc from a gender perspective. The fan film and episode 7 of the series were analyzed. The products were selected for covering the narrative line of Ellie, an LGTBIQ+ character in both productions, and for containing events that contribute to the visibility of her gender identity. Narrative theory in audiovisual stories was used, considering gender as a cultural construct, where the audiovisual as a cultural product also intervenes and strengthens gender identities. The main result of the research shows a significant difference between the canon and fan-made products regarding the narrative treatment of queer identities. These non-binary identities play by the rules of the patriarchal world to survive. However, fan-made products normalize the queer character, without highlighting differences between binary and non-binary characters. Finally, the paper promotes the narrative analysis of transmedia audiovisual products from a gender perspective among students and/or professionals in audiovisual communication. It also contributes to the Communication and Gender line through the narrative analysis of audiovisual products.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Oscar A. Aybar-Cabezudo
AU  - Melissa Huamán-Huillca
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/10/22
TI  - The Queer Narrative in the Transmedia Proposal of HBO’s “The Last of Us” Series and the Fan Film “All We Lost”
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and Applied Technologies 2025 (ICOMTA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 26
EP  - 36
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_4
ID  - Aybar-Cabezudo2025
ER  -