Indonesians, especially Jakartans, were pretty psyched when they heard that a scene in the HBOMax Series “The Last of Us” was going to be set in their home city. But, that excitement was shortlived when they found out the scene was heavily filtered with a yellowish hue, and it was not even set in Jakarta, but rather Bandung. 

The scene itself was set in the second episode of the video game adaptation of the same title. However, upon a closer look by the shrewd Indonesian “netizens” soon found out the scene that supposedly depicted Jakarta, was instead filmed in Bandung, West Java. 

A Twitter account by the name of @moviemenfes uploaded a Tweet saying “I’ve been wondering which part of Jakarta this is? And as usual it has a dirty yellow filter on it haha,” the account said. 

Another user by the name of @umenumen responded by posting two pictures of the same location, one was a screenshot from “The Last of Us,” meanwhile the other was taken from Google Maps, without the filter. 

 

 

 

 

 

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“The Last of Us” is an adaptation of a popular video game of the same name that was developed by Naughty Dog and originally released on the PS3. Pedro Pascal stars as Joel, a grizzled survivor of a virus that almost wiped out humanity, and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, a young girl that is being escorted out of the city for mysterious reasons. 

Meanwhile, Christine Hakim, one of Indonesia’s most accomplished actresses, plays a scientist from the Ministry of Health who discovers the Cordyceps fungus that causes the plague. The scene of the actress is shown as an opening with a duration of about 8 minutes.

Even though it was only for a short time, Christine Hakim's appearance in the second episode of The Last of Us, which was released on January 22, 2023, succeeded in impressing the viewers.

Many are proud of Christine Hakim because she succeeded in giving a strong impression through her appearance. However, a number of netizens asked us not to be overproud because Indonesia is presented in a negative context.

"If America is making a series/film in Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, or South Asian countries, why do they always have to use the yellow filter? It hurts my eyes," commented the account @hermioneera as quoted by Matamata.com

"There is Indonesia in a negative context because the fungus that causes zombies is from Indonesia. Plus, the color grading is yellow, like a lot of pollution and heat," added account @MichaelBelinsk5.

"There used to be an editor who discussed the color grading of each country in a film. It turns out that it's true that the country isn't the four seasons plus a developing country, the color grading is a bit yellow, indicating it's hot and not very advanced," said account @taufanjiee.

"Chosen by Indonesia because cordyceps mushrooms are more relevant in Indonesia, especially since Bogasari is one of the largest flour factories in Indonesia and the climate is suitable. HBO also wants to add story slots that aren't in the game. Of course, this is all fiction," said the account @valbdg trying to explain.