A Feminist Look at Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

The video game turned movie, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, is filled with things to pick apart from a feminist perspective, yet it has an appeal that cannot be denied because of the power and strength that Lara Croft displays. The choice of lead actress, Angelina Jolie, adds to the appeal because of her international fame, her do-anything attitude, and her generosity through charity. Unfortunately, her body's proportions fit the mold for the stereotypical male fantasy as well as push the limits between acceptable and down right cartoonistic. Although Lara is a strong, independent, fighting and conquering machine, she still embodies the "feminine" ideal that is inescapable in society. Susan Bordo writes: "...femininity itself has come to be largely a matter of constructing...the surface presentation of the self. We are no longer given verbal descriptions or exemplars of what a lady is or of what femininity consists. Rather, we learn the rules directly through body discourse: through images that tell us what clothes, body shape, facial expression, movements, and behavior are required" (2244). This idea of a bodily constructed feminism is illustrated in Lara Croft's character. She has a more than ample breast, tiny waist, and curvaceous yet muscular bottom half, long hair and a perfect face. Even though her actions are more masculine and her lifestyle is contradictory to the typical female role, she still is the epitome of male visual stimulation. In this way, Bordo's concept is true. Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft is both the ideal visual for men and the picture of power and independence for women. Through the feminist eye, she perpetuates the societal standards that make the normal female diet and exercise to her death.

Works Cited

Bordo, Susan. "The Body and The Reproduction of Femininity." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2240-54.

Cain, Finke, Johnson, Leitch, McGowan, Sharpley-Witing, Williams, eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Second Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Dir. Simon West. Angelina Jolie. Paramount Pictures. 2001. Film.