We [the class] have been talking a lot about Lara Croft on my blog the past couple of days and this is due largely in part to the fact that she is the topic of my term paper. I posted two very distinct pictures of Croft on my blog in order to get a general response from my classmates. The first was a promotional photo that someone added a caption [Babe In Toy Land] to and made into fan art (note the use of the word Babe). The photo featured a model dressed as Croft with a gun barrel pointed at her lips, and she was looking rather seductively at the camera [almost as if she was looking at you]. The issue that this photo raised was whether or not Croft was aware of her own sexual presence. In the end we concluded that the game designers control what we think about Croft. —Leslie Rodriquez —Who wears the pants in Lara Croft’s house? (Roamer’s Zone)
A good collection of links to a range of opinions about Lara Croft, the virtual heroine of the Tomb Raider series. The comparison to Barbie and the analysis of trans-medial representations of pop femininity takes this blog entry beyond the usual “is Lara Croft good or bad” essay.
It’s not hard to find moralists who disapprove of both Lara Croft and Barbie, or pro-power activists who welcome both icons of positive imagery. It’s even more interesting to study the nuanced positions of those who are pro-Barbie but anti-Croft, or vice versa.
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Actually, Leslie, the Mike who left that comment is not Dr. Arnzen, but someone else.
Check out his site -- I think you'll like it.
I agree, Leslie did a great job. Your comment did end up on her site. Leslie's had her blog for a while, and the "comment pending template" is a new feature in MovableType. I haven't figured out a way to automate adding that template to all the existing student blogs, so I guess we've all learned to live with it.
Thanks for the feedback Dr. Jerz and Dr. Arnzen.
I tried to post this at your student's site, but it gave me an error, saying that the "comment pending" template needs to be specified:
Wonderful post. A few years ago, my friend Mike Ward wrote an extended critical essay at PopMatters about the gamer's gaze in relation to Lara, and the rhetorical split between Lara's voice (addressed to the player) and Lara's body (obeying the silent commands of the player). It's an interesting essay, particularly in the ways it uses some of Laura Mulvey's ideas on the male gaze in relation to the game's third-person perspective, and I think it might intersect with what you're saying in really productive ways.