In the games industry, the issue of gender equality has been
a hot topic. The way women are portrayed in games as well as art in general. Discussions
feature comments about the clothing they wear and the way they look.
Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider game has been talked about
as having an above average bust and complaints about the lack of clothing Lara
Croft has. In Contrast, Lara Croft has been said to be a good role model as she is a strong women in the tomb Raider games.
'Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons?' is a piece of text written by Anne-Marie Schleiner, where she talks about the issues of the portrayal of Lara within the games. She talks about how Lara is this idealised character for the male audience to enjoy.
"Lara Croft is seen as the monstrous off spring of
science: an idealized, eternally
young female automaton, a malleable, well-trained
techno-puppet created by and for the male gaze",
She says how Lara is just this object for the male audience to enjoy and that she is this unnatural human creation which no one is like. With what she has said in this statement, I feel that she is correct in this statement as in the image below, Lara Croft is this idealised character in the game which is completely unnatural with this tiny waist and large bust to appease the male audience during gameplay.
With this statement, we have seen the development of the character where she has become more 'normal' looking. When I refer to 'normal' I am aiming my comment towards the average female body type. Lara Croft has always had overly large breast, The creators of the 2013 character have tried to be more sensitive so that they don't come across as idealising the female body just for the male audience. they have gone for something more natural looking as she is more proportioned.
She later goes on to say "The
popular Nuderaider patch, a game add-on that strips Lara Crofts clothing is
evidence of this gender-subject configuration." This is from the older Tomb Raider game, but I think it shows us how Lara was being used as the selling point rather than the game, people seemed to play it just to enjoy what they saw rather than the game itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=59&v=xCe8-1dbXZc
http://lmc.gatech.edu/~cpearce3/lcc4725/blog/?p=8160
“So it’s not her point of view; we actually get to look at
her. [Zoom in focus on face] Very smart decision, Square Enix.”
“Those are tight pants… and I’m a guy that’s right behind
her.”
“Those pants are tight. I love you! I love you!”
“Laura is incredibly attractive, and this game makes you
fall in love with her and then lose her, over, and over, and over, and over…”
And then, the most exemplary quote of all:
[Conan pauses for a moment] “… I’m just looking at her for a
bit. Whoever made this game is a genius, because you have an organic reason to
always be behind her and close.”
From the comments made during the video, it shows us that despite the the creators being more sensitive in the creation of Lara Croft, she is still looked at as this object from the viewer. I feel it is something we are never going to escape because people objectify women in games because traditionally in games, the main character is male and I feel that the success of the game have thrived off of the character being female and people enjoying the look of the character.
Another game where females are represented incorrectly is in Grand Theft Auto 5. The problem isn't with the game, it's more to do with the players on the online mode for the game. In online mode, players are able to create their own character, pick their own gender and dress them how they like. This is where the problem lies as I have seen female characters created and they are wearing as little clothing as possible as chosen by the player. I have seen this whilst whilst online mode and some of the female characters created, have been created by male players. Male players are playing as female characters, with little clothing to appease themselves?
"The cinema offers a number
of possible pleasures. One is scopophilia. There are circumstances in which
looking itself is a source of pleasure"
From Mulveys piece of visual pleasure and narrative cinema, she talks about how film creators are putting the viewer in the position of looking at women for the viewers pleasure. Scopophilia refers to sexual pleasure of looking, which refers back to the objectification of Lara Croft. Cinema is somehting that doesn't seem like it is doing it in such an obvious manner but it allows the viewer to be drawn in by the visual pleasures diplayed on screen. Women are used in films to sell it, they can sometimes use them to bring viewers in for the pleasure of looking.
The objectification of women in films and games and even adverts will go on for some time, we relly on using women as a selling point. If we create something which is more relateable to the average women, they are still looked at by some as an object. An example of this is when Connan played Lara Croft which had a revised character model but still objectified her. I feel that throughout past, current & future years of media, women will continue to be looked at as objects of pleasure because thats what we are seeing more and more of. Recently, there have been more sensative situation such as the Lara Croft remake and more recently the 'Supergirl' tv show. The creators said they wanted a more tamed look as the actress used is a more average body shaped women and the outfit used isn't revealling. Although I feel that objectification will never end as it has been around for years, I feel steps are being made to cancel out these problems.
Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey
Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? - Anne-Marie Schleiner
