EL 250 How far is too far Ms. Croft?
In one depiction we see Lara Croft as a sex object, in the other we see her as a strong female. The role of Lara Croft is characterized as a contrast. Being built as a strong woman may gain the female community while as a sex object gains a male perspective. Gender roles in video games are of designation. I can see what graphic designers go through in order to get an audience. I can remember playing the first Tomb Raider, the lead character, Lara Croft, was built and sexy as most of my friends saw her, but I saw her as a video game character. One that had the role of taking on certain adventures. I guess that's what they mean in the saying "sex sells". Ses sells video games as well as it does anything else.
Comments
I think what concerns me the most about Lara Croft is that she was created by male game designers. I would feel much more comfortable calling her a "female role model" had she been spawned from the mind of a female gamer designer and we knew the intentions of Croft’s creation were no to elicit a response from men.
Posted by: Leslie Rodriguez | January 13, 2010 10:41 AM
I see her both ways too, Jeremy. Regardless of her sex appeal, she's always been a strong female character. I'm not saying it isn't wrong that male game designers created her as sex appeal, but they definitely lucked out that so many female gamers look up to Lara. Sure, they might not have realized she was a sex icon when they were first playing Tomb Raider--I know I never did, but even after finding out that she was created to entertain men in more ways than one, I still feel no problem in playing Tomb Raider games, simply because she is such an amazing character. I'm sure Tomb Raider would've been successful with a male lead, but there's no way it would've been as successful as it is today.
Posted by: Jessie Krehlik | January 14, 2010 11:57 AM