Firstly however, we should consider the various denotations and connotations of Lara. Superficially, Lara Croft is very simple. She’s conventionally good-looking, physically fit and independent. She is also busty, long-legged and curvy. Sporting tight tops, diminutive shorts and with guns strapped to her thighs, she is (in terms of appearance at least) little more than a male fantasy figure, and fits the homogenized ideal of femininity that’s so tirelessly generated through visual imagery in the modern media perfectly. But as well as what she denotes she also connotes adventure, excitement and sex. Indeed, it could be said she exhibits what postmodern male-driven ideologies would define as the ‘best of both worlds’: she is warm, charming, good-looking, eloquent, intelligent, nurturing, cool and successful.
As one of the biggest reasons behind her enormous popularity, and as one of the things we first notice about Lara, it is essential we consider Lara’s body, and the meanings it creates. Initially, there appears to be many different representations of Lara, but with careful analysis, it’s possible to classify these into two distinct contexts: Lara as a sex object, and Lara as an action heroine. Certainly, Toby Gard’s initial character description for Lara - ‘Lara likes to work with underprivileged children and the mentally disabled. She has a degree in needlework’ - seems to have changed somewhat since 1992. Immediately then, this presents Lara as a somewhat limited figure, as almost a caricature, but then that’s exactly how she was designed to be: limited. There are no images of Lara that could be construed as possessing different or transgressive meanings: in short, she fails to infringe or violate the accepted boundaries laid down by social codes and values.
Michel Foucault identified the human body as ‘the primary site for the operations of modern forms of power; power that is neither top-down or repressive, but rather subtle and elusive, producing so-called ‘docile bodies’.’ Many feminists contend that the attempt to achieve the elusive goal of matching the feminine ideal turns women’s bodies into precisely these docile bodies that Foucault refers to, by forcing women to transform their bodies in accordance with ever-changing social codes, values, and ideals. The ideal that Lara represents is both difficult and dangerous to realize, but above all, it’s a representation of the female body that is restrictive and limiting.
Obviously, there are a number of reasons behind this very deliberate reduction of Lara’s body to a sexual object, and not all are as obvious as simply upping her market value (though increasing her commercial viability is obviously one significant purpose behind this). Another motive for relegating Lara to the role of sex object may be to reinforce biological differences, and to maintain what ideology would have us believe is the ‘natural order’ of things, an order that classifies men as strong and women as frail. In a 1998 essay on technological embodiment, Anne Balsamo ponders ‘why selected bodies are represented in an ‘overly sexualized’ way. Balsamo’s argument, which deals with female body builders and how they’re considered to be defying the natural order, can in turn be applied to Lara, for Lara is also physically fit, muscular and powerful, and is thus resisting dominant ideology. Fit, powerful and muscular females are regarded as being transgressive towards patriarchal ideology, so Lara’s producers and marketers neutralized this by overtly sexualizing her body.
Thus, when we look at Lara, it is her vastly exaggerated figure and striking appearance that we notice first, rather than her aptitude with firearms, or her physical attributes, both assets that would be deemed as threatening in a female to the mindset of the average male consumer. By overemphasizing biological differences, Lara’s marketers cleverly diminish this threat, and also manage to remind and reassure us of these differences, which are so essential to justifying male superiority. Thus, social order is preserved.
Lara’s body is not only idealized however, but is also commodified. Undeniably, Lara’s very existence has been dictated by capitalist discourse - she is a commercial asset, and is there to be consumed. She’s linked to consumer goods and plays considerable roles in advertising other products for consumption. And while she can be looked at whenever the consumer chooses to, it is far more interesting to contemplate on how the consumer could view her. We do not have to adopt the preferred reading position for example - we are free to view her in a way that was not intended by her creators, producers and marketers, thus challenging traditional ideologies and capitalist strategy. Choosing to read her ‘against the grain’ and refusing to merely consume her passively means consumers also have the power to ignore her more restrictive characteristics, and focus on her more empowering features. For example, Lara has been widely embraced as a lesbian icon; something one imagines was far from the intentions of her original creators.
What is perhaps saddest of all about Lara Croft is the enormous potential that has been lost in the postmodern ideological framework: as she is virtual, she could fulfil any role. She could undermine traditional meanings and challenge existing borders (rather than constantly reinforcing them). Instead however, she is limited to being shown in the most traditional of contexts: as the action-heroine and the sex symbol, a reactionary figure for male desires.
This is not to suggest that Lara’s creation has failed to assist progress entirely - as Gary Carr, co-director of Mucky Foot (a British-based software developer) recently commented, ‘About 15 years ago I was working on a game that got canned for having a female lead character who wore a vest top and shorts similar to Lara Croft. So while ‘Tomb Raider’ is not a particularly great victory for women it is at least a sign that the goal posts are widening.’ But Lara Croft is not a feminist figure. The patriarchal ideologies she seems to reinforce and the faux-feminist subtexts that lurk beneath the surface won’t go away. Ultimately, it does rather feel as though we’re taking two steps back to take one forward.
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