LARA CROFT & FEMINISM

It once seemed as though the only female characters appearing in heroic cultural products were either facile or second-rate. An even when they were proactive characters they were actually villainous: Catwoman being the most nefarious example. Whereas by contrast a “moral” life was lead by such heroes as Spiderman, Batman and Superman.

These male superheroes an others, have appeared on the silver screen to further their impact. But why have few films been made about their female counterparts. Like a NEW film about Wonder-Woman, or sequel to Supergirl an similar? Instead, women are continually portrayed as menial sidekicks to the routine and predictable male hero. Until Lara Croft.

Her appeal is her serenity and ability to work through difficult situations, on both the monitor screen an cinema screen.  It is said that what makes Lara Croft a role model for women of all ages, is her smartness, courage, and concern for the state of the world. Lara is the only successful female in the media scene who's dependent on no one but herself, as via her education and self-sufficiency. Lara Croft battles ancient traps through foreign landscapes an nasty villains, whose only goal is to stop her progress. With regard to her rivals like Witchblade, Vampirella, the X-Mens 'Storm', or Trinity from the Matrix, their supernatural powers may be charming, but they are of course, unattainable to any female viewer. Lara Croft, on the other hand, through physical strength and the use of her brain, serves as a lesson to women: one must be fit in body and mind in order to battle the patriarchal, money-based system in which we live.

Historically there is some precedence to ms Croft, like Minerva of ancient Hellenic times, who grew from her father’s head, and therefore has his brains and insight to achieve what she wants. Then there's the legend of  Isis: a young woman who could conjure the spirits of the sky to aid her in solving crimes.

Bear in mind that Lara has already been impersonated by several flesh'n'blood women without danger to her virtual dominion - British models from Natalie Cook to Lucy Clarkson have all stepped into her boots for promotional appearances, over the course of Lara's 'live' career. But Lara Croft is a virtual character, a platonic idea, thus a human actress can give a better or worse account of that ideal, but she can never fully embody it, still less outstrip it. In that sense Croft is more like a creature of time-fogged legend than a contemporary "personality". She's more like Cleopatra, say, who has been played by various actresses throughout cinematic history, but without having her infinite variety funneled into the form of one single woman.

Odd as it may seem, Lara was never designed to be a primarily sexual being. For in the world of videogames, entertainment is king, not titillation. But nevertheless, Lara was a revelation on her first appearance. In contrast to the standard, quasi-pornographic portrayal of helpless women characters on television an cinema, Lara was the cyber equivalent of Queen Boudicca. Sure, she showed some skin, but her wardrobe was practical, rock-climbing an tomb-raiding attire: shorts, hiking boots, vest, backpack. Her creator says this was a deliberate reaction to the usual digital representations of women around him at the time, which still persist today - "I wanted to make sure it wasn't the thigh-length boot-style stuff", he says. "You can't get emotionally involved with a character like that because it has been objectified. Lara, I felt, had more dignity".

It wouldn't make any sense, you understand, to describe the dignified Lara Croft as a "sex symbol". Because "sex symbol", if that overused phrase means anything at all, must mean a person with whom you can actually imagine having sex - however improbable that may be in real life. Angelina Jolie may be a sex symbol. But Lara can't truly be. It is in principle impossible to have sex with Lara Croft: she is always and forever unattainable.

As one may have seen, there are far more overtly sexual depictions of women in videogames like FAKK and Elexis Sinclair. However, Lara still has her fans who create artwork, including the notorious "Nude Raider" images, as created by skilled computer-artists, who others then post across the net, plus all the leering over her bustline in the chatrooms & forums. All these are incidental, as a predictably evolutionary response forged by the Y chromosome in male DNA.

It's also the case that sometimes, men who like Lara, don't want to have her, they want to be her. That's why they play the game. Lara is a symbol, if anything, of aspirational gender reassignment. In both directions. As like men who like trying on a female persona, or women, such as Angelina Jolie, who like doing what is usually thought to be men's stuff. So while the mass-media traditionally spins out movie upon movie, in which the female actor is helpless and hopelessly devoted to her man as defender, Tomb Raider does offer a new perspective on women and their ability to use physical and mental strength to save the day. Thus Lara Croft shows us all, that women don't have to act an dress like men, to come across as intelligent, strong-minded, an independent. Being sexy and spirited is Lara's successful maxim.

Lara Croft herself is variously described as a 'virtual idol' - the first true supermodel of the cyber ages, and also 'Britain's ambassador for scientific excellence'. Her popularity has grown considerably over the course of her several Tomb Raider games, and she has now achieved unparalleled status as an icon for both the industry and the digital age. Her image has graced magazine covers around the world, including The Face and The Sunday Times. She has been featured in prestigious publications such as Time, Newsweek and Rolling Stone magazine, as well as appearing regularly in the national press across the world. By the turn of the millennium she became a star of the silver screen, when 'Tomb Raider the movie' was released. As based on the award-winning, record selling computer game, Tomb Raider the movie stared Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie, as the independent, intelligent, and prevailing Lara Croft, who appeared healthy and athletic. But with a sequel following 2 years later, it further proved her enduring success outside the game-box - unlike her few rivals that managed to venture so far, but fail in the bright spotlight of mass publicity.