The Office’s Rainn Wilson criticises The Last of Us of ‘anti-Christian bias’

The Office star, Rainn Wilson, has criticised HBO’s The Last of Us for feeding into an “anti-Christian bias in Hollywood.”  

Wilson was referencing episode eight of the hit post-apocalyptic drama that follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as a fungal infection pandemic infects the population.

In the episode, the character David (Scott Shepherd), a cannibal pastor, kidnaps Ellie and tries to manipulate her into joining his community.

On Monday (13 March) Wilson tweeted: “I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood.”

I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the David character in “The Last of Us”
started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain. Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) March 11, 2023

“As soon as the David character in “The Last of Us” started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain.”

He added: “Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?”

Wilson then clarified that he’s not a Christian, but still took issue with the show.

“Most Christians that I know are kind, accepting and loving and seeking to make the world a better place.”

“Of course it’s true that the evangelical/political coalition is doing a great deal of damage to our country,” he furthered.

“Banning books – banning freedoms – denying inconvenient science, taking a grotesque anti-LGBTQ+ platform… But most Christians that I know are kind, accepting and loving and seeking to make the world a better place.”

“They should also be honored in the media,” he concluded. 

But most Christians that I know are kind, accepting and loving and seeking to make the world a better place. They should also be honored in the media.

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) March 13, 2023

Wilson brings up the topic of LGBTQ+ inclusivity, the show has been targeted with homophobic review-bombing by angry homophobes.

But his comments were then picked up by Fox News, something Wilson regretted happening.

Here’s a couple of funny things about the anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. My opinion tweet was picked up as front page news by @FoxNews. Talk about bias. An organization created as a corporate shill to create division solely for profit based on culture-war outrage. Print that!

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) March 13, 2023

The series has been praised for its depiction of LGBTQ characters and storylines. Episode 3 centred the gay love story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett).

Meanwhile, episode 7 touched on Ellie’s romance with her best friend Riley.

The Last Of Us is available to stream now on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic.