Tomb Raider: dear god...."the rape scene"...

[Vault101]

Well I just played few the first few minutes of the new Tomb Raider game, and I just witness the dreaded "rape scene"

so heres how it played out

[i/]Lara and her companion are captured ,they are dragged away and are met with more of their captured crew. The guy man-handling Lara (with her hands tied behined her back) pushes her up against a tree....he gets a little too close for comfort..touches her face...then one of the crew escapes....he shoots at them smacks lara in the face with his pistol and growls at her not to move as he goes off to find them[/i][footnote/]assuming its the same scene I think it plays out differently than to the trailer[/footnote]

this all happens within less at least less than a minute or so....and I think my description makes it sound even worse than it actually seems

so yeah....rape scene?

ok let me back up for a moment, I know I may be making a strawman here of people who had "issues" and I know that I actually [b/]do not[/b] want to drown this game in gender controversy and I may even regret bringing it up

but the fact is I'm liking this game so much I really do feel the need to defend it, because I think (so far) its really good and worth defending


some people might object to it in that the amount of shit/abuse lara takes (in the first minute or so she lands on and gets impaled by a stick...I almost laughed at how seemingly sadistic the game is)

but if we take her gender out of it its more or less "realistic" (for a video game) you compare eit to uncharted and Nathan Drake goes throgh what SHOULD result in more inury..but doesnt..in fact if yo examine the sequence of events its pretty unrealistic what he's physically capable of doing

hell survival seemed to be a prominent theme in the game...and thats whats going on here...survival

oh and I dont remember anyone complaining when at the start of uncharted 2 Nathan drake is seriously injured and trying to escapse a train wreckage....haing over a cliff

just sayin

so whats my point? firstly I think people were SERIOSULY over reacting back when the controversy hit

second (in my personal opinion) this is not sexist...its un-sexist, I GET what they are trying to do here, Laras struggles make us empathise, is ti because of the fact shes female? well what about Mass Effect 3? shepard struggles at the end there....its somthing that doesnt have to do with gender

anyway I apologise for bringing up gender but again I really do feel the need to defeind this game

oh and I admit I'm barley any of the way through so if there is some incident that somhow invalidates everything I just said then I accept that...and kindly ask you don't tell me about it (y'know...spoilers)

EDIT: Zhukov said there was more too...shall investigate further, but still stand by my point

EDIT2: ahh there it is..the scene from the trailer...yeah It is kind of "rapey" but honestly? given the context I'm fine with it..and it you fail the quick time events Lara doesnt get raped but strangled

 

[Zhukov]

Play for just a leeeedle bit longer. It gets a tad worse in the rape department.

Although, granted, not anywhere near bad enough to undermine any of your points.

Yeah, that controversy was stupid.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Play for just a leeeedle bit longer. It gets a tad worse in the rape department.

Although, granted, not anywhere bad enough to undermine any of your points.

Yeah, that controversy was stupid.

Thing is, the controversy was never really about the scene itself. It's about the way that dev described it. You kind of got the feeling he was typing with one hand, if you take my meaning.

 

[Vault101]

Play for just a leeeedle bit longer. It gets a tad worse in the rape department.

Although, granted, not anywhere bad enough to undermine any of your points.

Yeah, that controversy was stupid.

dammit! why'd you have to go and discredit my entire thread in the first post!?

Thing is, the controversy was never really about the scene itself. It's about the way that dev described it. You kind of got the feeling he was typing with one hand, if you take my meaning.

was that the "protect Lara" thing? or was there more to it than that

eather way I'm not sure making this thread was a good Idea...I would much rather we all forget about it and enjoy the game

 

[Wraith]

Oh, Vault, you are becoming my favorite Escapist forum goer. Well, actually you're tied with Daystar, but that's not fair because Daystar is practically everyone's favorite.

OT: Thanks for letting me know that the controversy was silly. When it first sprung up, I found it to be very unnecessary and in some cases stupid. Though, I found the complaints towards what the dev said to be slightly valid in certain respects.

 

[Sixcess]

How the scene plays out is entirely irelevant.

The problem is that CD decided to put it right in the middle of the fucking trailer, then they decided to talk about it in an extremely creepy way.

Thing is, the controversy was never really about the scene itself. It's about the way that dev described it. You kind of got the feeling he was typing with one hand, if you take my meaning.

Exactly.

It was their choice to put it in the trailer. It was their choice to talk it up. They wanted to be edgy and adult and score some easy headlines and I'm glad it blew up in their faces.

 

[Vault101]

How the scene plays out is entirely irelevant.

The problem is that CD decided to put it right in the middle of the fucking trailer, then they decided to talk about it in an extremely creepy way.

It was their choice to put it in the trailer. It was their choice to talk it up. They wanted to be edgy and adult and score some easy headlines and I'm glad it blew up in their faces.

hmmm....ok I can accept that, what bothered me was I go thte impression alot of people were tkaing things out of context but...ok

to be fair I think the actual game itself should be jugded rather than the publicity/marketing (I mean just look at the "girlfreind mode" and "you mum hates dead space 2" controversy)

speaking of which Laras death scenes are kind of.....dead spacy...

 

[Sixcess]

to be fair I think the actual game itself should be jugded rather than the publicity/marketing (I mean just look at the "girlfreind mode" and "you mum hates dead space 2" controversy)

For the most part I'd agree with you, but I do feel that this game's marketing was grossly mishandled pretty much from the word go. CD and/or their PR people never seemed to realise that they were dealing with a pop culture icon - one of a tiny handful of video game characters who is widely recognised by appearance and by name even by people who don't play video games.

It's the reason why similar, or worse, scenes in the likes of Mafia 2 and Far Cry 3 passed almost unnoticed within the gaming media and entirely unnoticed in the wider media. Tossing around the word 'rape' in any context related to the most famous female video games character in the western world* was an incredibly ill advised thing to do.

*[sub]with apologies to fans of Samus, Femshep etc. None of them come close to the mainstream recognition level of Lara Croft.[/sub]

 

[SonicWaffle]

Play for just a leeeedle bit longer. It gets a tad worse in the rape department.

Which is really the worst department to work in, other than Human Resources.

Yeah, that controversy was stupid.

So many of them are. People just like to get angry about stuff, however ill-informed about it they actually are, and we end up with these flash-in-the-pan "controversies" that are really quite unimportant. I think it probably comes down to the internet, and the speed at which we receive and spread news. Without a forum or some other mass-sharing system, people would hear news and react at their own pace, but now all it takes is a few people to scream controversy and it'll snowball into a massive flamewar.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Oh, Vault, you are becoming my favorite Escapist forum goer. Well, actually you're tied with Daystar, but that's not fair because Daystar is practically everyone's favorite.

AHEM.

I know I'm not around much, and when I am I have very little of value to say, but come on; surely I'm your favourite Escapist?

Tossing around the word 'rape' in any context related to the most famous female video games character in the western world* was an incredibly ill advised thing to do.

*[sub]with apologies to fans of Samus, Femshep etc. None of them come close to the mainstream recognition level of Lara Croft.[/sub]

AHEM.

I know I'm not in many games, and when I am I may look suspiciously like I have a penis, but come on; surely I'm the most famous female video game character in the Western world?

 

[Andrewebyy]

Play for just a leeeedle bit longer. It gets a tad worse in the rape department.

Which is really the worst department to work in, other than Human Resources.

LOL! I always thought Human Resources is not that bad.

 

[krazykidd]

So , all the whining and moaning and complaining and shit slinging was for nothing? Well that sounds exacly like the gaming community and i'm honestly not surprised . The gaming community ( not the escapist , the comunity in general )is a bunch of imature whiny little brats . That make a fuss over everything .

I personally wouldn't mind if she got raped . People get rapped in book , music , poems, movies , real life , why shouldn't they in games ? It's an unfortunate part of real life, and people have to deal with it . And not pretend it isn't there . Because even if you pretend , it's still there .

 

[Shadowstar38]

Excuse me people. But...

Spoiler: Deliverance

Spoiler: Pulp Fiction

The scenes in Tomb Raider didn't even make me flinch. But these made me feel entirely uncomfortable. Until such time that something like this pops up in a video game, I will continue to be unfazed and label people as overreacting.

 

[Dryk]

It was their choice to put it in the trailer. It was their choice to talk it up. They wanted to be edgy and adult and score some easy headlines and I'm glad it blew up in their faces.

If you want to be truly edgy you just don't mention it at all. Trailers have a nasty tendency to ruin any dramatic moment that appears in them.

 

[SonicWaffle]

The scenes in Tomb Raider didn't even make me flinch. But these made me feel entirely uncomfortable. Until such time that something like this pops up in a video game, I will continue to be unfazed and label people as overreacting.

But video games are interactive and a herp de derp derp. We can't have rape or violence in games because people are much more likely to emulate an act they have only experienced via the medium of a small button-covered lump of plastic than one they've simply witnessed, because that small button-covered lump of plastic teaches them just how easy rape and murder are! It's really easy to sexually assault someone, turns out you just have to keep pressing the X button.

 

[StashAugustine]

I know I'm not in many games, and when I am I may look suspiciously like I have a penis, but come on; surely I'm the most famous female video game character in the Western world?

I don't always appear in video games.
But when I do I have a penis.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I know I'm not in many games, and when I am I may look suspiciously like I have a penis, but come on; surely I'm the most famous female video game character in the Western world?

I don't always appear in video games.
But when I do I have a penis.

No I don't, honestly. It just look that way. I have a very abnormal vagina which, when I wear trousers, gives the impression that I'm totally rockin' the balls look.

[small]I have honestly lost the plot today, I don't know why I keep writing these odd posts[/small]

 

[Shadowstar38]

The scenes in Tomb Raider didn't even make me flinch. But these made me feel entirely uncomfortable. Until such time that something like this pops up in a video game, I will continue to be unfazed and label people as overreacting.

But video games are interactive and a herp de derp derp. We can't have rape or violence in games because people are much more likely to emulate an act they have only experienced via the medium of a small button-covered lump of plastic than one they've simply witnessed, because that small button-covered lump of plastic teaches them just how easy rape and murder are! It's really easy to sexually assault someone, turns out you just have to keep pressing the X button.

Don't even get me started on how much of a pain in the ass rape and murder are.

First you have to scope out a victim(hopefully one you don't know) for a minimum of 3 months to get down their habits and rituals. Then you have to think of a good night to grab them. Make sure no witnesses are around.

You have to find somewhere to do the deed because you sure as hell can't take them to your house(unless you have a cabin in the woods somewhere. Even then, you have to have a basement or something that's only accessible through a secret door).

Then there's the whole issue of where to hide the body. And you're going to have to clean your car out to make sure there's no random strands of his/her DNA.

And an alibi. Everyone always forgets to get a close friend for those. Its the most critical part of getting away with the whole thing.

God...just get a girlfriend guys. Its way easier.

(doesn't remember what this conversation was about)