Action – Interactive Digital Narratives

Coinciding with the relaunch of the massively popular Tomb Raider franchise in 2013, the protagonist of the series, Lara Croft, was redesigned as well. Lara is one of the most famous women in videogame history, notable for her infamous bust line and barely-there outfits. Even though Lara is one of the first female action heroes, her choice of “lingerie as armor,” as Anita Sarkeesian refers to Lara’s wardrobe choices, is impractical and makes no sense for a woman rushing into battle.¹

In her first appearances, Lara Croft showed quite a bit of skin and had extremely large breasts

It seems that Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix sought to create a more realistic and feminist Lara Croft in the relaunch of the series. In the game, the protagonist is in much more appropriate outfits. In Tomb Raider (2013), Lara is dressed in long cargo pants and a tank top, with a greatly augmented bust. Lara is also less sexualized by being covered in dirt. This decision makes sense in the narrative of the game as Lara encounters a shipwreck that lands her on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean.

For the 2013 relaunch of the series, Lara Croft was redesigned as a gritty, dirty, and clothed action heroine

While Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix would likely get commendation for their choice of Lara’s wardrobe in the 2013 version of Tomb Raider, I doubt Sarkeesian would be fully accepting of the game. In one of the earliest cutscenes in the game, Lara is immediately characterized by her sexuality, reminding the player of her desirability and attractiveness. Before the player gains the ability to have Lara shoot a handgun, a cutscene is presented that shows one of the island’s inhabitants finding a hidden Lara. Before Lara wrestles the gun out of the man’s hand, he strokes her side and then sniffs her hair in a distinctly sexual way.

Yes, in this scene Lara proves her ability by fighting off her would-be attacker, but that simple caress immediately clues the player in to Lara’s sexuality. While there is no violence in the scene, the implications of the caress are immediately understood. From the inclusion of this touch, Lara must be thought of by the player as a sexual object. An action hero, but still a sexual object. In this sense, the developers have taken a page from the book of the non-player sex object trope coined by Sarkeesian.² Even though Lara is an action hero, dressed in a more appropriate garb in Tomb Raider, she is still sexualized by non-player characters. This in turn sexualizes Lara to the player in a distinctly anti-feminist way—through the threat of violence.

Sources

Lingerie Is Not Armor – Tropes vs Women in Video Games. By Anita Sarkeesian. Perf. Anita Sarkeesian. YouTube. Feminist Frequency, 6 June 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
Women as Background Decoration (Part 1). By Anita Sarkeesian. Perf. Anita Sarkeesian. YouTube. Feminist Frequency, 16 June 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

Image Sources

http://tombraider.wikia.com/wiki/Lara_Croft_(Original_Timeline)

http://tombraiding.com/video-games/the-new-tomb-raider-games/tomb-raider-2013/

Lara Croft, the titular tomb raider in the infamous Tomb Raider series, is perhaps one of the most famous women in video game history. However, in the 2013 revamp of the series, Lara is not the gritty action hero that fans know and love. Tomb Raider focuses on Lara’s origins, namely Lara’s first expedition as an archaeologist, when she searches for the lost island of Yamatai. In her search for the island, Lara and her crew encounter a storm that shipwrecks them on a mysterious island. This shipwreck is what truly sets the game in motion. Stranded on an island inhabited by dangerous men, Lara has to develop the skills to survive.

The character quickly switches from a brainy archaeology student planning an expedition to a survivor. This desire for survival coincides with Lara developing skills and abilities to help her survive on the island, including combat skills to battle the dangerous locals. At this point in the game, Tomb Raider relies on a common trope used in action video games from The Legend of Zelda to Kingdom Hearts: as the protagonist advances through the story, they gain more experience which unlocks more skills and abilities that help them battle their way through the game.

Throughout Tomb Raider, Lara gains abilities, such as shooting a bow-and arrow, that advance her story.

Typically, this narrative decision increases the immersive nature of the game in which it is used. The protagonist gains more abilities as the player becomes more familiar with the game mechanics. New skills are acquired in a way that makes sense within the game world. This could be done by having the protagonist go through a tutorial where a character teaches the protagonist the skill, or could rely on pre-existing facts learned about the character. For example, in The Legend of Zelda series, it makes sense the Link gains more combat abilities as he advances through his quest—he’s the heroic knight of the tale.

In Tomb Raider, however, this decision really made me question the game’s logic, and actually pulled me out of my immersive playing experience. Lara is introduced as an archaeology student, yet in one of the game’s first missions, Lara salvages a bow-and-arrow from a corpse and uses it with ease. Lara also picks up a gun and is able to take out the island’s threatening inhabitants with the ease of an expert marksman. In reality, I have my doubts that an archaeology student would be so well-versed in combat techniques. Especially since there is no mention of Lara ever learning these skills. In the game, Lara simply picks up the weapons and is immediately an expert at them.

Lara (too) quickly transitions from an archaeology graduate into a seasoned killing machine

Image Sources:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/tomb_raider/b/xbox360/archive/2013/02/25/tomb-raider-review.aspx

http://www.gamesradar.com/tomb-raider-review/

Category: Action

The Clothed but Still Sexualized Lara Croft

Lara Croft- the Novice Adventurer?