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> Anyway, the meme that boys at the time commonly viewed Lara Croft as "sex object" is absurd. We did not. You may not have, but everyone else did. Designer To
by CharlesW 3y ago
> Anyway, the meme that boys at the time commonly viewed Lara Croft as "sex object" is absurd. We did not.
You may not have, but everyone else did. Designer Toby Gard literally designed her to appeal sexually to male gamers in order to offset the fear that they otherwise wouldn't want to play a female main character. Early Lara Croft had ridiculous proportions. Her outfit is a t-shirt and booty shorts, for goodness' sake. Gamers of the time were obsessed with the idea of a "Nude Raider" cheat.
https://gaming-urban-legends.fandom.com/wiki/Nude_Raider https://gaming-urban-legends.fandom.com/wiki/Nude_Raider
"Ever since Tomb Raider's release, its heroine, Lara Croft, has been seen as a major sex symbol in the video game industry, and that has been a large focus of the franchise's marketing."
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoAnd yet, Lara Croft wasn't your love interest, Lara Croft is you. She's your avatar under your control, risking your life and limb, in a fantasy setting. So that seems like a powerful dose of unreality to gamer boys, who get immersed in the world and personally identify with the heroine. Surely there have been incremental instances of this before and after Tomb Raider was released, so choose your profile photo, build your avvie, and have at it.
- acheron 3y agoThe article has quotes from Toby Gard, who did nothing of the sort and resented the publisher turning her into a sex appeal thing.
- CharlesW 3y agoI believe that's regret speaking. He created Lara Croft as a sexual caricature then got upset when she was also marketed that way. > In a 1997 interview with culture and fashion magazine The Face, [Toby Gard] was audaciously asked about Lara’s 'unfeasibly large knockers'. […] "Slip of the mouse. I wanted to expand them fifty percent and then — whoops, one-hundred and fifty percent. Darn." https://www.thegamer.com/tomb-raider-lara-croft-design-bug-myth-2/ https://www.thegamer.com/tomb-raider-lara-croft-design-bug-m... > The Face: "Is Lara a feminist icon or a sexist fantasy?" Toby Gard: "Neither and a bit of both. Lara was designed to be a tough, self-reliant, intelligent woman. She confounds all the sexist cliches apart from the fact that she’s got an unbelievable figure." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254239896_Gender_and_Videogames_The_political_valency_of_Lara_Croft https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254239896_Gender_an...
- cubefox 3y agoThose are some nice sources!