Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?
Leslie Rodriguez's blog How far is too far
Ms. Croft? was an interesting look at a game character that I grew up playing. To me, Laura Croft represented a smart,
kick-ass female archeologist (albeit more like relic hunter). I could envision myself on her adventures, and
it was fun. Her appearance was just
stylish to me but never sexual. But now,
most of the fan pictures, like Exhibit A, are male fantasies of her as a sex
icon. While it is not an issue to me how
some portray female characters (boys will be boys), I do think that the gaming
industry should limit how much influence these "fantasies" have over future
sequels and games. While Laura Croft has
become more lifelike in recent Tomb Raider games, was it really necessary to
make her swim around in an itsy-bitsy bikini when a full wetsuit would have
been more appropriate and accurate? I
agree with Rodriguez that the gaming industry is still immature. However maybe the industry is just in the
adolescence stage and will progress into adulthood soon.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL250/2010/01/rodriguez/
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Leslie Rodriguez on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: Jeremy - My post was indeed fr
Susan Carmichael on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: Thanks for reading my post, Le
Jeremy Barrick on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: I can understand the point of
Leslie Rodriguez on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: Susan, great post! I still st
Susan Carmichael on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: Thanks for reading my post, Le
Jeremy Barrick on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: I can understand the point of
Leslie Rodriguez on Would the Real Laura Croft Please Stand Up?: Susan, great post! I still st
Susan, great post!
I still stand by the claim I made in 2006 regarding the immature nature of the video game industry. In a way it can be related to the immature nature of certain cinematic endeavors. I reference specifically the portrayal of Megan Fox in Transformers 2. You will notice how in the sequel her character seem much more sexualized and has little validity to the plot other then as eye candy.
I think it would be an interesting idea to compare Lara Croft with some of the current female heroines in video games. Specifically, I think of Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4.
I can understand the point of view coming from a female as well as a males point of view towards the game. Leslie took the standpoint from a female perspective which she puts the gaming industry as "immature", agreed.
Thanks for reading my post, Leslie. I think that you are onto something good by comparing Lara Croft with Ada Wong!
Jeremy - My post was indeed from a female pov, but I prefer to be identified in this case as a female gamer making these observations. I think at the time of my original posting (2006) the idea of marketing games like Tomb Raider to a female audience had no yet evolved.
Susan - In addition to the comparison of Ada Wong and Lara Croft another interesting thing to examine would be the types of games/characters that females are attracted to playing. I had very interesting conversation with my officemate about playing Mortal Kombat and Tekken. I asked her is she was more inclined to play female characters because she identified with the gender, or powerful characters that would help her win the fights. She took a moment to think about her response and decided on female characters. Ideally she liked to play the powerful female characters, but the trend in fighting games is that the female characters are never as strong as the males. Just food for thought.