Everyday Hero | A Life is Strange Character Analysis

I played Life is Strange when it came out and it still manages to make me cry all these years later. Cheers!
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[@askgeminiandfriendshooray5612]

This right here! You have encapsulated all the important emotional aspects of the first *Life is Strange* that many analyses overlook. The focus of Max just failing to be there for others and then being haunted by it so much that she suffers *more* with time travel abilities while trying to change it is just so heartbreaking. You follow Max's realizations about her failures as a friend so well and explain it in a way we've never heard explained so succinctly before. We are so excited for your upcoming *Life is Strange* videos! (Spoilers below) I always liked how the "choosing Arcadia Bay over Chloe" ending choice creates a perfect book-end to the story because then it means that the main plot starts with Chloe being shot and ends the same way, only in the end Max is huddling on the floor in the back of the restroom, devastated by the fact that after everything she did, not only could she not save Chloe, but doing so created a massive destabilization of reality itself. And I always saw this as potentially Max never having time travel powers at all and just learning how to cope with the death of her friend she would never get to know. That she struggled internally by reliving moments, trying to find the perfect combination of actions that would have prevented Chloe's death and even going so far as to relive Chloe's Father's day of death in hopes that something that far back could change everything for the better...but it couldn't. *Life is Strange* is one of the best time travel stories not because it engages in wish fulfillment of someone managing to change the past, but because it teaches people that you can imagine "what if" and you can find peace in some re-imagining...for a time. But ultimately, after you finish the initial grieving process of losing someone, you can''t stay in the past or it'll eat you alive. You have to move on and help those who are still around you, because they need you and every moment you spend in the past is a moment you lose with people in the present.

[@WritingWomen]

@@askgeminiandfriendshooray5612 this is such a great supplemental to the video. I have always preferred the read of the powers as a form of wish fulfillment versus something literally happening.

[@dzrmgkva]

I kinda read time travel abilities as an anxiety, cause Max fixated on past and even sudden mistakes could trigger her relive events again and again until things are “right “.

[@WritingWomen]

@@dzrmgkva it’s so funny to me that it wasn’t till this replay of the games that I put those pieces together. Since the last time I’ve played it I went through a lot of therapy for my own anxiety and ptsd and the powers read completely different now.

[@Willcollective]

I always save Chloe, but I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about dead lesbian tropes since 2008

[@WritingWomen]

@@Willcollective I respect that. That’s an angle I’ve actually been thinking about since making this video. Specifically, How much your reading of an entire piece can be recontextualized by a different ending choice.

[@Willcollective]

@@WritingWomen I first read about the trope in a book of Buffy essays actually, called Buffy Goes Dark, in reference to Tara’s death. I also wrote my own essay about it using Life Is Strange as a launching point on the 10th anniversary of the game. The final line was: “If the Gods of narrative fiction require a sacrifice, take all of the straight ancillary characters. A literal drop in the bucket compared to the litres of queer blood wrung by cis writers.”

[@sittinginbushes]

I never liked doing "the right thing" in the games for the sake of it. that seems like a player's choice, not character's. and it strips away their flaws and struggles. that's why I stood up for Chloe, not David. that's why I let Chloe steal the money, why I agreed to kill alternate Chloe etc. etc and in the end saved Chloe. I may be wrong in my understanding of a character sometimes but I try my best to be loyal to them the sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending seems more plausible cuz Max's problem is that she always puts others above herself and never goes for something she wants. she tries to be a hero but she's not. she's just a girl and I think it's important for her to understand that and be selfish for once. as she said, Chloe is her number one priority. if Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe she betrays herself for others I think that saving Chloe is a perfectly human choice. if you were asked to choose a city over your best friend/love you've known since you were a child, would you? I think it's an unfair question. no one should be having so much responsibility on their shoulders, Max included

[@strehlowo]

this is so interesting. i like you're way of looking at it

[@ghosttoast9983]

There's absolutely no excuse for youtube to notify me of this upload 2 DAYS after it dropped. Do better KZbin, this is the kind of content people should be seeing

[@2NerdsOnaCouch]

this game was truly an emotional rollercoaster and so heckin sad, i balled my eyes out my first playthrough

[@Certified_Alien]

bro same and no matter how many times i repay it, there's definitely some tears running down my face.

[@Briarhearted]

Really great analysis! You brought up a lot of things that I didn't pick up on even after playing/watching this game several times. I always wondered what the significance was of the Everyday Heroes contest, it is kind of dropped for a few episodes, and I really like your take. I've also wondered why Max cut Chloe out and I never considered she was also grieving William a lot, too. I like what you said about Max having to learn to be there for people when they need her. This really makes Kate's inclusion and her potential suicide make even more sense to me. She doesn't just serve as a living insight into what Jefferson and Nathan were doing, she also serves as a Chloe parallel in a way.

[@N0ST4LG14]

i seriously thought this was some big channel and this video had thousands of views! the commentary was very good, will definitely check out your other videos sometime :)

[@samsrants]

i dont even know this game past the basic premise, and i loved this. your commentary is great, and i really appreciate the eye you have for narrative detail

[@deiov]

great video!, and for some reason i find the part at 15:22 funny.

[@xoxnataiie]

1:46 sigh…

[@mariaisabel-rb1gc]

WOOOO LETS GOO