Poll: Lara and the Tomb raider controversy

[Martin Toney]

So, by now I imagine you've come into contact with the controversy surrounding the new Tomb Raider game. An attempted sexual assault on the main character, beatings and being stabbed are just a few of the things to happen to Lara in her latest outing (Or first, if you want to be chronologically correct).
With the game being a prequel, it's fairly easy to see what angle the studio is taking with regards to character development. They want to portray the now innocent Lara as a young, vulnerable explorer to add some impact to the story. Personally I think making her weak and emotionally fragile is a wise decision, purely because it allows her to break the mould of being a big chested curvy piece of eye candy, which frankly is what put me of the Tomb Raider games in the first place.
After all, nowadays we have all played as a super soldier charging the front lines of the enemy, we have all played as the interstellar bully, dropping the hammer on the unsuspecting foes of the enemy, so why not play as the weaker character for a change?
But seeing her being tossed about the place by larger stronger men isn't sexist or politically incorrect. It's realistic, which in turn leads to a better connection with the character, thus creating a better game.
I for one am glad to see a developer break the chains of convention and try something new. But that's just my opinion, what's yours?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Of course it's sexist, female protagonist only?!
What the hell are you playing at here, you saying only women can be heroes or something??
I demand a gender option!

 

[Thaluikhain]

As I understand it, much of the problem is about the way the PR people handled their announcements, and even then, criticism of it seems to have been blown out of proportion, either because it was a slow news day, or so people could dismiss the people concerned about their new game as cranks.

Again, as I understand it, part of the problem was that there was something in the announcement of the gamer "playing with" Lara, rather than "playing as" which you'd normally see, and that this implies that a gamer can identify with a space marine/whatever, but not with a woman. This isn't a new observations, it's just something brought up again.

As for sexual assault, that is something that happens extremely often in the real word (something like 1 in 3 women will be sexually assaulted at least once during their lifetimes) and it makes sense to see it in games depicting teh real world, but "attempted rape as backstory" sorta seems to be the default choice for many writers who can't think of any other motivation to give female characters. Likewise, IIRC, the PR people announced it in a way that reflects badly on the,/society as a whole.

It seems to me that it's not the game being criticised per se, it's the way the thing was handled being indicative of a larger problem, and the game just sparked the debate about it.

 

[Erana]

Putting a vulnerable young character in a dangerous and violent situation is always... well, volatile, and I honestly don't think anyone can judge it until the public has gotten their hands on the game.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I voted no.

But I'm white, male straight and non-religious.

I know nothing of -isms.

EDIT: I don't think its sexist but the Trailer did make a wee bit uncomfortable.

 

[Ledan]

Funny thing is: if it was young Nate nobody would complain about it being sexist. Well, they would complain that it was Nate and not a new female character. Nobody would even complain about the attempted rape.

I say that they are doing a fine job. I will buy this game. Its a hard concept to show of in a single trailer or demo, because the changes in her character will be very gradual.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It's sexist because they think that a male audience can't relate to a strong female character and they have to make 'protecting' her the main focus.

Also that Lara Croft was a great power fantasy for women and now she has been reduced to being beaten up for the benefit of the male audience.

It's hard to judge until the game comes out though.

Funny thing is: if it was young Nate nobody would complain about it being sexist. Well, they would complain that it was Nate and not a new female character. Nobody would even complain about the attempted rape.

I say that they are doing a fine job. I will buy this game. Its a hard concept to show of in a single trailer or demo, because the changes in her character will be very gradual.

They would never do it with a male character though because apparently male characters don't have to go through a traumatic experience to be tough...

Edit: Please stop quoting me I have reiterated my stand point many times in the thread.

 

[Total LOLige]

If it was a film nobody would be making a fuss about, it's just silly.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I don't even care anymore. Maybe we should just have more games where men get raped to shut everyone up.

Oh, and if people want to complain about sexism, maybe we should complain about the constant films where one of the rewards at the end of the male hero's quest is to "get the girl", or where the girl's just shoehorned in as a shitty love interest for the main characters. Not whether or not an early Lara Croft surviving an attempted rape or what some dumbass developer said is sexist.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

There's nothing wrong with the story of "a weak, inexperienced girl goes through trials and tough times to develop as a person, becoming tougher, experienced and losing her innocence"

The problem is that, from what we have seen so far of the game, it seems to be handling this in the same way as the Saw/Hostel films, ie. focusing on the suffering and pain of the girl to a disturbing degree, and not so much letting the character grow, as beating her down again and again and again, and at every step she just gets beaten and broken in sickeningly specific detail, undergoing experiences that don't create a stronger person, but destroy a person. How many people grow stronger because they are almost raped? How many girls discover a strength they never knew they had to fight off their attackers and live their life anew as strong independent women? It doesn't happen like that. Rape is not really something that you can use as a "and this experience made our heroine a much stronger person". It is a despicable act that will hurt a person physically and mentally, it is emotionally scarring, not reaffirming of your inner strength.
I just find it really wrong that they wanted to create a game where a young, weaker Lara finds her feet and gets involved in the Tomb Raiding scene, but couldn't think of a better way to chart her growth as an individual than "then she gets almost raped and kills the guy in the struggle!"

It's the execution of the plot I'm most worried about.

 

[Doclector]

It's ridiculous. Simply, utterly, ridiculous. Yes, somebody tried to rape her. If the trailer is anything to go by, it didn't end very well for him. This kind of stuff is allowed to be in games, it just shouldn't be glorified, and what's with people saying she's a sex object, or "typical, weak woman", in that situation, EVERYONE would be "weak", that's what the game is about, the characters baptism of fire.

Of course it could end up being handled horribly, but it all seems like a pre-emptive "jump on the sexism bandwagon" move to me.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Did I miss something? Is the new Tomb Raider game already out?

Or is the poll missing the "I like to actually play games before forming strong opinions about them" option?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Is the concept itself interesting and could it make for an engaging gameplay experience; Yes.

Do I think Crystal Dynamics (or any other game developer) has the subtle expertise to pull it off; NOOOOOO!!!

 

[Martin Toney]

Don't be silly, you can have a valid opinion about a well established character before the game is released, don't flame on a valid argument please I try and keep my threads civil and sensible.

 

[Able Seacat]

They would never do it with a male character though because apparently male characters don't have to go through a traumatic experience to be tough...

What about Jenson in Deus Ex: Human Revolution? He got pretty beat up at the start of the game. Though I guess you could argue he was already strong to begin with.

I?m definitely interested in the game but as others have said it depends on the execution.

 

[Jynthor]

Did we really need another thread about this? I lost count.

 

[lacktheknack]

Does "New Lara"'s depiction discriminate against women in general?

No? They just show a scared girl trying to survive?

What were we talking about again?

The dev's comments are a different story, but I don't hold that against the game.