The actress Ella Balinska (26) is the voice of the protagonist Alfre “Frey” Holland in the new 80€ game “Forspoken” (PS5, PC). Online, some gamers expressed sharp criticism of the actress and especially her character: The game has a “cringy” atmosphere, is embarrassing and cringeworthy. In an interview, the actress is confronted with this.
What is the criticism of the character? We have already dealt with the reaction to Forspoken on MeinMMO. The game is viewed critically in terms of gameplay (65% Metacritic), but much of the criticism specifically targets the main character Frey and how she comes across:
- Frey is a “typical” New Yorker, is pulled into a fantasy world and reacts with irritation, astonishment, and biting comments.
- The character is seen online by some as “mean and shitty” – she would just complain, curse, and ruin the whole atmosphere.
- The character is repeatedly referred to as “cringe”, “embarrassing”, or “cringeworthy”.
This is what the actress says about the criticism: In an interview with The Verge, Balinska says:
I think people always have either a positive or negative reaction to something they see and are not used to. And that’s completely okay because it’s the way we perceive change.
Forspoken is such an extraordinary game, with a fantastic protagonist who is so brave, so uncompromising, and so reluctant in the best possible way that the viewers are not used to it.
How does the actress view her character? At the end of the game, Frey has the option to return home to New York or stay in the world and fight:
Frey is actually one of those people who just talks. But the moment she faces something real, she understands what she has to do. She is someone who stands up for the people in Athia. I know I have the option to go home, especially with this character. But I think I would stay.
The actress is proud of her work in Forspoken
And what does she say to gamers? To gamers, she says she loves the gaming community for engaging so deeply with every game they play.
Despite all the criticism, the actress is simply proud of her work in Forspoken. She talks about how she discovered video games at the age of 8:
I am really proud of what I do. Right now, I am speechless. When I started playing video games, I sat downstairs with the son of my mother’s hairdresser while she got her hair done. Now thinking about him picking up the game and seeing me play there is incredible. And I hope it inspires other people: If you work hard enough and dedicate yourself to something, something truly amazing can happen.
Journalist believes: Forspoken is a “very cringy game”
What else was discussed in the interview? The author of the interview on “The Verge“, Ash Parrish, addresses some topics that came to her mind regarding “Forspoken”:
- Forspoken was not intended as such, but it is an “incredibly cringy game”.
- In the media, there’s an atmosphere of “Black women will save us” – Black activists in the USA would bring about political change.
- However, in Forspoken, a Black heroine refuses to save the world. The author can understand this well. Faced with the choice as Frey, she would not save the fantasy world, but would return to New York where her cat is waiting for her.
The author rejects the idea of “Black women will save us”. That is only a mechanism by which people avoid taking responsibility for changing the world themselves.
The author also believes that much of the criticism directed at Balinska and her character arises because she is Black. She can relate to this from her own life: The behavior of Black women is scrutinized in a way that is not the case for other individuals and characters.
For example, “Ellie” from The Last of Us is just as vulgar and bitter as Frey, but people would die for her.
The actress is not confronted with these thoughts nor does she provide a statement that can be found in the article.
More on the topic:
Forspoken: New 80€ game receives terrible user reviews on Metacritic – Suffers from “Buffy Syndrome”
