The MOST Divisive Cutscene… || Stardew Valley 1.6 Lore and Theory

That was also my interpretation of the scene. George might not be close to Penny, but he certainly saw her growing up and her circumstances. He did help to raise Alex, and his own daughter too, so he has this experience that some people might lack.

I wish there had been a "I know you mean well, but you should have asked first" option for the first set. Having to choose between black or white (or feign ignorance) in a situation that actually has nuance is frustrating. Yes, I'll get upset if you grab my cane for any reason other than me dropping it, because that's my extra leg and I need it to get around without pain, but that's also a teaching opportunity.

Also, whether a tomato is a fruit depends entirely on context (botanical vs. culinary) because the same word can mean different things in different technical fields, but a "vegetable" is any edible part of a plant, including edible fruits. The answer is both.

YIPPIE 🎉WIFE UPLOAD

I genuinely believe that people do not understand how guilt ridden and ashamed men who happen to have become disabled or were born such feel when they have to depend on others for small tasks that they were used to doing themselves. Men are creatures of habit and their primary instinct is to do what they can to survive, like knowing how to cook and how to fight. The minute that their ability to work, to contribute to their communities and provide for their loved ones is taken from them, especially against their will like traumatic circumstances, the sudden sense of helplessness, as a man, is destructive to their mental health and sense of purpose in life.

Someone, like George, is a reflection of the impact that wars, like WWI and WWII, have had upon those who survived and becoming crippled can impact the person's sense of bodily autonomy and sense of independence. In every cutscene I've experienced in-game involving George, as much as I understand everyone around him means well, I also understand that their efforts is treating him as if he were a child and incapable of doing things for himself. He has no agency beyond the television he watches and even then, he doesn't have control over the food he eats because Evelyn insists on following Harvey's advice, which further upsets George after spending his young life in the trenches likely eating military rations.

What further presses this point home is that the people who try to help him a predominantly women who don't have the same hang ups that men do and their instinct regarding survival favors co-operation and social competition to manage resources within the home and community which makes them excellent at distribution of capital as resource managers, including the social skills needed to rely on the assistance of others or provide assistance (because women need maternal communities for the raising of families). Their reality isn't the same as George's and thus, the distinction between the reality of old vs young, woman vs man is clearly marked.

I also know that wheelchairs are an extension of a person's independent, like an extra limb so in many cases, its disrespectful (and sometimes dangerous) to simply shove the person around without asking their permission, yet another aspect of being disabled that many non-disabled individuals will never understand until they experience it personally. I felt in many cutscenes that while they care about him, I wanted to still tear their hair out because I can understand George's frustrations and want his loved ones to get "it".

You get an elderly man who spent his youth expecting to serve in the military, who would of married and been the sole breadwinner of the household who has a sudden turn of events that has him dismissed from service and is suppose to retire back to civilian life. You're abandoned by the nation you served and you're not put to any further use by it, so you're now providing for your household using social benefits. You're also a veteran whose witnessed death and also killed someone else's son and this further isolates you from community because you've seen things that no young person has seen nor should see. You can't talk to your wife because you're scared if you did, she'll see you differently and you'll lose your marriage over what happened while in service. Furthermore, you're wheelchair bound and stuck home most days, unable to cook for yourself and stuck in front of a TV. You have a grandson who is consistently bragging about his gains and his goals regarding sport, all things you can no longer do and the nostalgia hurts because you can't relate with your grandson over these basic interests of manhood and coming of age.

You then have Penny, a woman whose had to grow up being forced to parent the very mother who should of been parenting her and nurturing her. She takes on the role of a default "mother" but with none of the natural processing that enables her to develop the maturity that comes with it and thus, she can be somewhat childish in her responses to people, particularly other adults like George because, again, she's operating on the assumption she needs to consistently parent otherwise nothing will get done. So, when assisting George, she simply defaults to a habit she's used to having with Pam which is to brute force the issue and get it over with, even if she meant well because she's just used to having to be rather bossy.

You get a woman whose been turned into parent and a man whose been robed of his bodily agency. The two obviously don't understand the others perspective and as such, their interaction is one of pure misunderstanding from positions of trauma that the other doesn't know about.

Personally regardless of my age I'd get upset too if someone helped me by doing something for me that I could have even with some struggle done fine by myself, I hate basically giving Penny a sugercoated "you're right and George is wrong" response to make our friendship go up as if I don't also agree with George even though Penny meant well.

I’m going to be honest, I wish there was an option to say “I know you meant well, but you really shouldn’t push someone out of the way, especially if they’re in a wheelchair.”

penny is a good example of someone who can be toxic without being cruel or mean.
she wants the world to be pure and nice when it's not and if you go against that way of thinking, she does not like it.

The only real issue I have with that scene is that Penny moves George out of the way without asking and also kind of shoves his chair, which no one should do. She should ask if he needs help first.

Is this older dialogue? I always choose the option that loses friendship because I think Penny needs to be called out here regardless of intent, but I wouldnt choose it if it were this harsh.

Now I will admit Penny is a character I'm not really interested in. I think she's kind of boring and I didnt realize she was romanceable at first because I never talk to her outside of quests. So my progression with her is always pretty slow. Still her actions in this cut scene always bothered me and her disliking when you tell her she's done wrong rubs me wrong in the same way Sam's egg cutscene does. With Sam you can argue that he's immature, but Penny has lived next to George and is always trying to help the community. She should understand where she went wrong here.

Another reason why George react differently to ours attempt to help in 6 heart event might be because we help him in his own home but Penny did it in poblic place where eweryone can see and this kind of situation is much more embarassing when people are watching.
About Penny, she has more cutscenes when she get mad at us for choosing honesty instead of being on her side, or when she do something to help people without considering how it make them feel. I think she is in similar mental state as Shane with her hard life situation and family history but because her coping mechanism is "being useful and helpfull to community at all cost" instead of drinking, her reactions are so confusing. She appear as perfect villager, kind, helpfull, with job and friends, but react like someone with trauma and abandonment issues. It make people think she is overreacting or act weird in heart events.
I personaly don't like her but not because I think she is bad person or bad writen character, I just play cosy games to NOT deal with real life problems like this.
What do You think about Penny 8 heart event? It's another controversial one and I feel like lack of polite way to refuse the speach is big part of the controversy.

She shoved the wheelchair out of the way, you saw it roll away and George was startled. She did not gently wheel him out of the way. This is why this people don't like this scene. If she had wheeled him out of the way then people would have felt differently.

Honestly, completely agree. No notes, well done!