Lara Croft's Appeal Goes Beyond The Sexy Body |
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When Lara Croft ushered into the gaming scene and into the big screen, I hated her. I thought, "Here's another full-bodied female who will forever redefine what 'beauty' really means." She was just another woman who'll steal the limelight from nice yet flat-chested girls like me. Considering the way her self-titled games sold, my fears were confirmed. Guys were so engrossed with Lara Croft. To a jealous (and admittedly ignorant) girl like me, I see that all the appeal lies in Lara Croft's generous chest and curvy body. But with the influx of other attractive gaming female characters (i.e. Bloodrayne), what makes Lara Croft so popular that the seventh installment to her games Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend is still selling like pancakes? Now here's a theory that will give you guys the right to defend yourselves and say, "There's more to Lara than meets the eye."
Film scholar and feminist Carol Clover came up with a theory in the 80s that explains the popularity with the male audience of the slasher horror films that were prevalent in those days. As explained in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, the Final Girl refers to the person (most of the time a woman) who lived to tell the tale, the one who was spared the serial killer's weapon. This concept can be seen in the movies The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Marilyn Burns, 1973), Halloween (Jamie Lee Curtis, 1978), Friday the 13th (Betsy Palmer, 1980), , and A Nightmare on Elm Street (Heather Langenkamp, 1984). In her theory, Clover explains that audience identification is fluid - whereas the first part of the movie sees the guys identifying with the killer, cheering him on as he slashes women apart, the final confrontation has the male population associating themselves with the Final Girl as she is masculinized with the phallic symbol of a weapon used to finish off the killer.Apparently, the same goes for Tomb Raider's Lara Croft. Sure, the front and back assets of Lara Croft lure the men in; but it's what she represents that make them clamor for more. Playing as a hot, curvy female battling all kinds of danger is a different kind of high for the male gamer. It gives them a sense of protecting the female character, and a sense of the character protecting them. She is not just a sexy character to ogle at, she actually becomes them in the process of the game.
Interesting thought. Now, here's something that will put this theory to test: if the final girl didn't look like Lara Croft, will the male audience identify with her? Go figure.
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Comments [refresh]
I play games to enjoy them.. i dont identify myself with the character....
For tomb raider, i like the puzzle/adventure style the game offers...not because lara looks sexy....
Seriously, how many of you have played TLs just because LC is sexy? i doubt not many.... and it is because we like games as they are
First off, Im a male and in no way do I find Lara Croft to be attractive. Sure she has been modelled to have ample knockers and a fine ass, but that is definately not the selling point for any game I buy.
I played Tomb Raider on the playstation 1, and the gameplay for me, did not satisfy what I was looking for in a game, and certainly if I did decide I was going to continue playing, I sure as hell did not base it on the "sexyiness" of the main character.
I particularly do not like the way you have generalised men by saying, "Guys were so engrossed with Lara Croft." Maybe this was good marketing on the publishers part that led to the significant sales or there could just have been a media frenzy because a woman is playing the main character (like yourself in this article).
When Halo or any other game hit the shelves, I didn't immediately become jealous of some presumably muscular and intelligent main male character and put the game down as crap. I played it and liked the gameplay and story behind the game.
Thats' what sells a game for me, not a woman nor equally not a man.
First I play the game because style and it's a great game. If I want to play a game with women that have curves I'll play D.O.A. As for movies did you ever see ALIENS where she fought a Queen Alien If I not sure but I do think a Queen is a female. (HELLO) and there is also Battlestar Galactica where Star buck is a female the head Cylcon is a female, Elektra is a female hero. The Messenger the story of Joan of Arc. Terminator 3 this time the machine is a female, do your history. And then for all you feminist out there. There is the Thing a horror movie with only guys because in the real world a women would freeze up. So all you feminist and Jack Thompson can leave this plant. And here's one to grow on games and movies like that are here to stay so you can eather get use to it or just get over it.
i don't think the article was meant to be a "feminist" article pinning down Lara Croft as a sexist game. this is the thesis of the article:
"Sure, the front and back assets of Lara Croft lure the men in; but it's what she represents that make them clamor for more."
The only ones with phallic obsessions are the people who make all encompassing noninformed judgements such as these. They constsantly focus on some sexual part of the female charaters and how no one(ahem themselves) can measure up to them. You should not place your self confidence on how much you measure up to something or someone else. Especially when it is fiction. Just look at the men in theses same games or even movies for that matter. I consider myself fit. I exercise regurlarly and eat healthy yet I can't begin to comare to these fictional men with there massive bicseps and gargantuious chest. The thing is I don't care. I don't care if they have big chest, good hair, perfect eyes, and are well endowed. Because I have enough confidence in myself to not have to mesure up to anything or anyone; fictional or not.
have gotten smaller actually, not to mention she looks plastic, so no one could possibly be getting off on this.
looks like a horse with tits. Not very attractive. You would think with newer technology they would make her look better, but nope.. they stretch her face out to an unusual size and shape.
Honestly, i dont play because of her.
they change her face to a human face and fix her ***s to look real, big but real, and then you can talk about what you were in the article.
These women need to stop.
Its so sad because all they are doing is stereotyping the male gaming population if not the entire male population as a whole with comments about how they are suprised that guys don't play these games for the chicks.
Its equal to if I were to say that all Feminist women were big lesbian dykes.
Don't we all love double standards? It seems that anything like that can only be considered a double standard is you are male, especially if you are a white (non-minority) male. WTF. This world if going to crap with is political correctness.
Can't call a black person the N word (yet they do it all the time with eachother) but its fine if black people call white people Crackers in a purposely derogitorry(sp?) way.
Great!
I was a big fan of the first couple tomb raider games, and it really had nothing to do with how lara looked. I saw an indiana jones type game with a cool female character. I had a great time playing this game. Its a shame about all the negetive opinions about the game and character. Most of them were based on the "cover art" of the game. An absolutely rediculous rendition of lara with giganticly enormous hooters. She only appeared that way in the marketing images, not in the actual game.
The Eidos marketing team, more then any other, needed to be taken out back and shot.