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

[Vault101]

Um... I don't recall the issue being that Lara actually gets raped, but that the Trailer tried to evoke the "White Knight" instinct in viwers so they would want to play the game and be able to "defend" Lara from rapists.

People were upset because one of the strongest female characters in gaming was being threatened with rape by the pre-animated trailer, not that she was actually going to get raped in the game.

So yeah, I think you are misremembering what the actual controversy was.

Edit: Um, yeah, I think a LOT of you are misremembering what the actual controversy was.

I see

another thing that annoys me iis that since Lara is seen as a "strong" female protagonist...ANY indicent of her being seemingly "weak" was sort of blown out of proportion as sexist....when I feel (as I said) it all makes sense thematically and in in context

weakness is a GOOD thing..more game charachters should have it

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I see

another thing that annoys me iis that since Lara is seen as a "strong" female protagonist...ANY indicent of her being seemingly "weak" was sort of blown out of proportion as sexist....when I feel (as I said) it all makes sense thematically and in in context

weakness is a GOOD thing..more game charachters should have it

Oh, agreed.

Notice I never got on board with the Lara controversy. I even made some dick-jokes in the Conan plays Tomb Raider thread.

Still, the fact that they immediately equated "weakness" and "men trying to rape her" is a bit disturbing. There are other ways to portray weakness in an otherwise strong character.

I could give examples, but I'd just be gushing about Parasite Eve (the first one) again.

Edit: I was just noticing that people seemed to be misremembering what the original controversy was. How would anyone have known there was a rape scene in the game months before it was released? They were reacting to the scene in the trailer, as noted previously. I'm only repeating that here in this edit because I wanted it to be clear why I'd posted.

 

[Rednog]

So....you're telling me that so far we've had none of the giant outcries in the last 6 months of misogynistic games actually pan out. And yet when even the smallest hint of something questionable comes out people call for the developers' testicles on a spike. Go figure.

 

[Vault101]

So....you're telling me that so far we've had none of the giant outcries in the last 6 months of misogynistic games actually pan out.

can you re-explain that? what do you mean?

Edit: I was just noticing that people seemed to be misremembering what the original controversy was. How would anyone have known there was a rape scene in the game months before it was released? They were reacting to the scene in the trailer, as noted previously. I'm only repeating that here in this edit because I wanted it to be clear why I'd posted.

well the trailer showed what did happen in the game, I think it was accepted as in game footage

 

[Kurt Cristal]

To anyone upset with the 'alleged' rape scene, here's a checklist:

1) Shut up.
2) Go watch "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Either version.
3) Play the game.

In that order.

Still offended? I don't think so.

 

[thewatergamer]

I see

another thing that annoys me iis that since Lara is seen as a "strong" female protagonist...ANY indicent of her being seemingly "weak" was sort of blown out of proportion as sexist....when I feel (as I said) it all makes sense thematically and in in context

weakness is a GOOD thing..more game charachters should have it

Oh, agreed.

Notice I never got on board with the Lara controversy. I even made some dick-jokes in the Conan plays Tomb Raider thread.

Still, the fact that they immediately equated "weakness" and "men trying to rape her" is a bit disturbing. There are other ways to portray weakness in an otherwise strong character.

I could give examples, but I'd just be gushing about Parasite Eve (the first one) again.

While I agree with the whole weakness is a good thing
I Will say (And you said it perfectly) Rape was not the right way to portray Laura
Even though in my opinion the "handling" Wasn't the thing that I freaked out about (not a tomb raider fan here but do like Laura as a character)
I think most people freaked out about that dev making that post
And I say the freaking out was very well justified
Laura croft is one of the few strong female characters left
After Samus got wrecked in Metroid Other M
I think people may be concerned that Laura might be following suite
Once again though I had a problem with what the Dev said it was pretty sexist and was not a good move to denounce Laura like that

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

well the trailer showed what did happen in the game, I think it was accepted as in game footage

Yes, but the outcry was over the trailer attempting to motivate gamers to buy the game so they could "save Lara from rape" - which was judged to be a rather sexist and fucked-up motivation.

After all, you don't play God of War to prevent Kratos from being raped. (and yes, that example is meant to be absurd)

Again, I don't think this controversy deserved the press it got. Is it kinda sexist? Yeah. But compared to other issues, I don't see why it got the press it did. There are worse examples. Lots of them.

 

[Rednog]

So....you're telling me that so far we've had none of the giant outcries in the last 6 months of misogynistic games actually pan out.

can you re-explain that? what do you mean?

What I mean is that we've had all these outcries over trailers, developer interviews, etc where a hint of sexism was presented in a yet unreleased game. And people were absolutely losing their shit in each instance, and none of the stuff that people flipped out over was actually that bad. I mean the amount of omfg how dare this male use rape as a plot device he should lose his job, the game should sink, he's a misogynistic bastard! And it turned out to really be nothing of concern.
I don't know I think I'm just a little irked at the gaming community and how over reactionary. We get all these articles from different groups condemning video games when this kind of stuff hits the general public, but we never get the articles that are like "hey, we overreacted, it didn't end up being bad."

 

[KevinR1990]

Okay, I'm usually content to lurk, but I feel compelled to voice my opinion on this.

The advertising for this game did a terrible job of portraying Lara Croft. Every review I have read suggests that, by halfway through the game, Lara is back to being the badass heroine that we know and love. However, the trailers all hyper-focused on the early parts of the game, where Lara goes through abuse that would make John McClane say "whoa, girl, take it easy", with one of the main set-pieces in one trailer featuring the unstated but heavily implied threat of rape. (The developer's comments about it only made it worse.) Stripped of context, it made the game look like the Lara Croft Torture Experience. Since advertising is, by design, what most of us had to go off of, I don't feel it was unjustified to cry foul over what appeared at first glance (and second, and third) to be a game about breaking Lara physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.

Compare the E3 trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd6kVMZgT4g] for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Nathan Drake is frequently in trouble, yes, but he also gets his moments to shine and act like a badass, making fearless leaps and getting into raging gunfights. In the Tomb Raider trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3HfmcDRbn8], on the other hand, all we see is Lara getting abused, captured, tied up, attacked by wild animals, begging for help, and of course, that scene. The first minute feels like a torture-porn horror movie. Only near the very end do we get hints of the tomb-raiding badass that Lara spends much of the game as.

I commend Crystal Dynamics for delivering a game worthy of the Tomb Raider name, and curse their advertising department for so grossly misrepresenting the game they were trying to sell, whipping up a needless controversy in the process.

 

[Vault101]

snip

I feel like somtimes being over sensitive to thease things can be more harful than sexism itself

Compare the E3 trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd6kVMZgT4g] for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Nathan Drake is frequently in trouble, yes, but he also gets his moments to shine and act like a badass, making fearless leaps and getting into raging gunfights. In the Tomb Raider trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3HfmcDRbn8], on the other hand, all we see is Lara getting abused, captured, tied up, attacked by wild animals, begging for help, and of course, that scene. The first minute feels like a torture-porn horror movie. Only near the very end do we get hints of the tomb-raiding badass that Lara spends much of the game as.

it depends on how you interperet it, I understood what they were going for...survival, struggling and overcoming adversity..finding the strength within yourself to keep going even when youve been kicked down for the 10th time blah blah blah that kind of thing

mabye thye mishandled it but I think part of the reason was seeing a girl get hurt was part of it

compared to uncharted...as I said uncharted is not as realistic as tomb raider...nathan drake isnt surviving...he's just plodding from one set peice to another having adventures...overall it feels more shallow

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

I don't think it was bad at all but I'll say one thing it was very 'odd' that the guy acted like that and then killed her.
The scene was fine though I think. I love the game, just finished it. It's a great new Lara in my book.

 

[Vault101]

I don't think it was bad at all but I'll say one thing it was very 'odd' that the guy acted like that and then killed her.
The scene was fine though I think. I love the game, just finished it. It's a great new Lara in my book.

I'd say its because they would not have an ACTUAL "pres x not to be raped" sequence,the interesting thing is if you get the QTE's right then you wouldn't know otherwise.....(I actually let it go just to see what would happen)..but if I were to explain the guys behaviour...mabye he gets off on strangling her more than he would raping her?..not that it matters

I'm not that far through (and judging by the fact you've finished it doesn't seem very long) but the only tiny "nitpick that isnt really a nitpick" is that her father is mentioned in the typical "your father would be proud" thing, I don't know if that fits with the original Lara croft but it brings about the "I want to do this because of my daddy" implying that a women wouldn't have the ambition/autonomy to chase suchs things herself without a strong male figure to...

....ah fuck it, I'm over analyzing

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

I think it's okay for wanting to follow in your parents footsteps (Rhinna Pratchett IS the writer lol

To be fair the guy giving the presentation way back when was a total douche. I'm not surprised everyone spazzed out.

 

[Zhukov]

snip

I think it's okay for wanting to follow in your parents footsteps (Rhinna Pratchett IS the writer lol

Heh, I'd be willing to bet Rhianna Pratchett is really sick of being compared to her dad.

"It's written by Rhianna Pratchett."
"Who?"
"She's Terry Pratchett's daughter."
"Ohhhh. Cool."

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

I think it's okay for wanting to follow in your parents footsteps (Rhinna Pratchett IS the writer lol

Heh, I'd be willing to bet Rhianna Pratchett is really sick of being compared to her dad.

"It's written by Rhianna Pratchett."
"Who?"
"She's Terry Pratchett's daughter."
"Ohhhh. Cool."

Yup lol. Although my love for Terry Pratchett is boundless and now his daughter is awesome too <3
She said he played the first Tomb Raider and died loads on the T-Rex rofl.

 

[Vault101]

Yup lol. Although my love for Terry Pratchett is boundless and now his daughter is awesome too <3
She said he played the first Tomb Raider and died loads on the T-Rex rofl.

this thing is written by pratchetss daughter?

well thats cool XD

I know...as I said its one of those things that bothers me enough to notice but doesnt bother me enough to actually "be bothered"

 

[elvor0]

Excuse me people. But...

-snip-

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.

Or the actual rape scene from Clockwork Orange: If you've scene it, you'll know that that's properly uncomfortable.


The whole thing isn't even allowed on youtube so it sort of undermines my point but it'll have to do, but I mean it's not exactly /that/ horrific, but if it was more along those lines I could maybe understand the "controversy", but even then, they're the villains. They do villainous things...because y'know they're the FUCKING VILLAINS.

 

[Brainwreck]

It's not about the scene.
It's about how the studio threw it in a trailer (unless trailers are made by 3rd parties and the studio has no say over what gets put in?) and then handled the ensuing debacle with the all the grace of a cancer trainwreck.