In a world of danger, mystery, travel, and ancient ruins, Lara Croft appears as a mirage; beautiful, strong, independent, and completely out of place. She holds her own among a cast of violent and vindictive men who are chasing the very things she is able to capture and defeat with what seems like effortless ease. Lara Croft plays the lead in a movie, and a video game, that would appear fit for a man and all the while maintains her sexual appeal with each scene; after all, what “Tomb Raider” would not do so in tiny, skin tight shorts and matching holsters and tank top, flawless hair and makeup and pursed lips? This combination creates a text that easily lends itself to feminist theory criticism. The boundaries of femininity and masculinity are crossed and challenged by Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and through the lens of feminist theory, one finds that not only is her character multifaceted but she also represents the female ideal of today’s society while performing under the gaze of her sometimes fetishistic male audience.
Simone de Beauvoir states about the myth of the “woman”: “…mythical thought opposes the Eternal Feminine unique and changeless. If the definition provided for this concept is contradicted by the behavior of flesh-and-blood women, it is the latter who are wrong: we are told not that Femininity is a false entity, but that the women concerned are not feminine” (1265). This myth of what a woman should be with regard to feminine behavior is all perpetuating and though it may change slightly over time, it is only a minuscule shift in an otherwise written-in-stone concept. The two sides of such a myth, the physically feminine and the behaviorally feminine, are in conflict in the character of Lara Croft. She is physically feminine, with curves that would stop any passerby and a face and hair to match, but her behavior is inertly masculine. She travels the world in search of ancient relics and danger and is a match for any opponent when a fight is upon her. Her contradictory behavior is what determines the concern in that she looks feminine but cannot truly be considered feminine because she is not meek, quiet, nor passive. Simone de Beauvior’s description of the feminine myth provides a precise reason why, when faced with the character of Lara Croft, the audience finds itself conflicted between identifying with her character and being visually attracted to the body on screen. Not only is the behavior of Croft contradictory and masculine, but she also provides an exciting and dangerous model for a woman to aspire to. As Anne Marie Schleiner explains in her essay regarding gender-role subversion: “Whatever else she may be, Lara does not fit the “bimbo” stereotype. Lara’s character profile is that of a highly educated and adventurous upper-class British woman, as adept at combat techniques as at puzzle solving” (224). Lara crosses the boundaries of male and female stereotypes and both sexes can identify with and look up to her character. Even though she is physically stunning, her physical beauty does not overshadow her mental and behavioral appeal therefore making her appealing to both male and female audiences on much more than a visual level.
The sight of Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft on screen propelled her into super stardom, even further than she had previously achieved, if that is possible. Jolie embodies Lara Croft in both physical attributes and off screen bravery and accomplishments, but her ability to completely become the character in Tomb Raider brought the visual appeal to a higher level. In her essay on visual pleasure in cinema, Laura Mulvey,while describing the feminist view point on a male- pleasure centered film industry, contends that: “It takes as its starting-point the way film reflects, reveals, even plays on the straight, socially established interpretation of sexual difference which controls images, erotic ways of looking and spectacle” (2084). As Croft, Angelina is clearly “female” and she plays into the visual appeal for the male audience by never once stepping out of the sexually appealing role. She wears clothing that no male character in the same circumstances would wear and portrays the socially determined female ideal as it is formulated in the male gaze. If she were standing on stage doing absolutely nothing, her visual appeal would not be changed. This appeal is further described by Schleiner: “Lara Croft is seen as the monstrous off-spring of science: an idealized, eternally young female automaton, a malleable, well-trained techno-puppet created by and for the male gaze” (222). The originally computer generated, idealized character of Croft is brought to life by Jolie and her proportions, though seemingly non-human, go unchanged in the cross-over which furthers the visual appeal by making the impossible-possible. By considering her a “monster of science” one takes a step back from reality, which may be comforting, but still, there she is, on screen, in the human flesh that cannot be escaped.
Lara Croft’s physical appeal on the film screen is not the only aspect of arousal that her character’s creator employs. The character also encourages both the male and female audience members to identify with her and aspire to be like her. By identifying with the character on screen, a separation occurs between finding the character physically arousing and finding one’s self in the character, otherwise considered identifying with the ego. This separation is described by Mulvey: “Thus, in film terms, one implies a separation of the erotic identity of the subject from the object on the screen (active scopophilia), the other demands fascination with and recognition of his like. The first is a function of the sexual instincts, the second of ego libido” (2088). The feminist appeal of such a character as Croft is that despite her obvious physical appeal, she has attributes that represent a strong, independent, and self-driven woman. She does not fit the stereotype of woman that is repressed and held down by the oppressive male nor does she allow for the audience to place her in a victim role, as many female roles in movies occur. The male audience members can identify with her in the most juvenile, basic way, that is, by placing themselves in the role of action hero.
The idea of Croft as a fetishistic object does not require a stretch of the imagination; with her standard “tomb raiding” outfit that carries over from the preceding video game, she fits into the dominatrix type of model that is found in male fetish fantasy. This fantasy fulfillment is a branch of Mulvey’s concept of scopophilia: “The second avenue, fetishistic scopophilia, builds up the physical beauty of the object, transforming it into something satisfying in itself
…Fetishistic scopophilia…can exist outside linear time as the erotic instinct is focused on the look alone” (2091). Mulvey explains that just the act of looking at the character, in this case Croft, fills the fetishist’s need. The act of looking at the character is satisfying of the desire and because the film is separated from the character there is no need for a realistic timeline or structure, which differs from the sadist or voyeuristic acts of fetish fulfillment outside of film. Freud’s concept of fetishism has its foundation in the Oedipus concept, which can be directly linked to Croft’s character through the aspects of her personality and actions. The masculine aspects of Croft’s character make the idea of her “castration” even more believable than with other female characters. Freud explains: “When now I announce that the fetish is a substitute for the penis…I hasten to add that it is not a substitute for any chance penis, but for a particular penis that had been extremely important in early childhood but had later been lost” (842). In Freud’s concept the loss of the penis, most likely the mother’s penis, is a tragedy for the male and the sorrow and confusion is sometimes expressed through a developed fetish. By identifying Croft as the fetish object and in turn possibly identifying her with the mother certain characteristics are amplified. These characteristics would be her strength, consistency, and mental superiority which make her more than just a visually appealing female for the fetish holder and give her mothering type aspects as seen through the young son’s eyes. The multiple aspects of personality of the character allow for different avenues of fetish fulfillment.
The female lead role in film can be portrayed in a multitude of ways, but in this case, it is a positive, empowering portrayal of a female successfully existing in a male dominated world. For the feminist theorists, the drawbacks are in her amplified sexual appeal physically, as described by Schleiner: “Some feminists view Lara the female Frankenstein monster…permitted to develop unrealistic ideals of female body type…” (223). The idea of creating an unrealistic ideal is valid, yet the numerous positive aspects of the character’s actions outweigh the repercussions of such an ideal, so that to condemn her for her physicality alone is to fall short. The genre of film itself provides the necessary fodder for a more positive than negative feminist viewing of the character. Jolie as Croft becomes an archetypal heroine, such as described by Mizejewski in her essay, “Dressed to Kill: PostFeminist Noir”: “Polished, buff, and confident in male milieu, these most recent heroines seem likely to be included in what Charlotte Brunsdon has described as “the Hollywood cast of postfeminist characters,” along with the girls heroine of romantic comedy, horror’s Final Girl, and melodrama’s monster career woman” (122). As a boundary crossing heroine, Jolie, like a handful of other female action actresses, can be identified as neither solely male nor female with regard to heroism but both. Male and female audience members are transfixed by her onscreen antics and are more likely to find her appealing than a female in a more feminine role in a different genre of film. Mizejewski continues: “The crime film is a genre in which violence is the central trope of relationships between the sexes and in which the transgressive women, as femme female or female dick, has long served as a register for anxieties about female sexuality and power”(125). The male anxiety over female power is exacerbated when the female lead role is so obviously powerful and male in characterization like in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The violence that occurs in the film between Croft and her opposing male tomb raiders is a perfect outlet for such male anxiety. The combination of visual appeal, “crime” film genre, and a female heroine creates a setup for conflicting feelings for both the male viewer who feels threatened and the feminist viewer who wants to find fault with Croft but cannot because she is so powerful. Her character can be viewed as both positive and negative by both sexes which provides a uniting factor for the members of the audience.
As a cultural ideal indicator, Lara Croft is both the physical and mental picture of what women of today aspire to be. She has curves and muscles, yet the strongest muscle that she exercises is her brain. The body as an identifier of culture is explained by Susan Bordo: “The body is not only a text of culture. It is also…a practical, direct locus of social control” (2240). In broadcasting the character of Lara Croft for the entire world to see, the standard for physical beauty and the all-around ideal woman is illustrated in a not-so-subtle way. Then place such an ideal in a culture that focuses so much emphasis on the female body, as does United States culture, and the characters in major films become a picture of what the male wants in his female fantasy. Therefore setting a bar for the housewife to live up to in order to satisfy her man, at least, in the minds of many women, even those with normal self esteem and confidence. Judith Butler in “Gender Trouble” examines the idea of an internally determining gender role model, one that’s purpose is to perpetuate the roles in regard to heterosexual obligations. She explains: “In other words, acts, and gestures, articulated and enacted desires create the illusion of an interior and organizing gender core, an illusion discursively maintained for the purposes of the regulation of sexuality within the obligatory frame of reproductive heterosexuality”(2549). This complete picture created by all that a woman does or depicts becomes what is female, and thus, when done in a film that reaches millions of people, becomes an archetype of femininity. When the concept of such a standard is considered internally set, it becomes even more self perpetuating.
United States culture, especially in areas such as California, has a high ideal for women’s bodies and behavior. This ideal creates for the woman and even the teen, a conflict between what is healthy and good for her body type and what is beautiful as depicted in magazine and on screen. The pressure and disorderly behavior that is employed in striving for the ideal is expressed by Bordo: “Strikingly, in these disorders the construction of femininity is written in disturbingly concrete, hyperbolic terms: exaggerated, extremely literal, at times virtually caricatured presentations of the ruling feminine mystique” (2243). The character of Lara Croft is the exact embodiment of that construction; first a virtual character in a game and then a live, onscreen depiction of said character, her body expressed both in a completely fabricated cartoon and a living person as Jolie. The problem with such high standards is that for any woman living a life outside of those of movie stars, the resources to achieve the ideal are practically non existent. Female empowerment and independence is more and more difficult to achieve with such an all encompassing standard of “success” that is found in the male gaze:
That gender reality is created through sustained social performances means that the very notions of an essential sex and a true or abiding masculinity or femininity are also constituted as part of the strategy that conceals gender’s performative character and the performative possibilities for proliferating gender configurations outside the restricting frames of masculinist domination and compulsory heterosexuality (Butler 2553).
When the reality of a gender role is as unattainable as the one created by both the character of Croft and the actress Angelina Jolie who plays her, there is no chance for overthrowing the masculine dominance that created such a role in the first place. With each female action hero who wears tight clothing and has larger than life physical attributes, a model of performance is propagated.
Although the role of Lara Croft is visually appealing as well as fulfilling on an ego level, she still is the target of negative feedback from feminists and male insecurities alike. Her exaggerated physicality, though natural and God given to Jolie, is the target for female anxiety and frustration. As she leaps, climbs, and fights her way through the scenes in the move, she transcends the traditional victimized female role in film and crosses over to a male role as well. This aspect of her character allows for identification in the audience members as well as creating an outlet for male fetish fantasy as a dominatrix-style female. A feminist theorist may find fault with the portrayal of Croft as a sexual object, but one cannot deny that she is a woman in power and living life in a male field, which is a positive step towards equality in film roles and in reality. While she is the object of “normal” and fetishistic male fantasy and sets an ideal for today’s women, she still crosses back and forth between the boundaries of male and female roles, and Lara Croft can be viewed as a positive role for feminist theorists.
Works Cited
Beauvoir, Simone de. “The Second Sex.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
1265-73.
Bordo, Susan. “Unbearable Weight.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2240-54.
Butler, Judith. “Gender Trouble.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2540-53.
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.
Freud, Sigmund. “Fetishism.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.841-45.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Simon West dir. Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight. Paramount Pictures. 2001. Film.
Mizejewski, Linda. “Dressed to Kill: Postfeminist Noir.” Cinema Journal Vol 44 No 2 (Winter 2005) 121-27. JSTOR. Web. 11 August 2010.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2084-95.
Schleiner, Anne-Marie. “Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games.” Leonardo Vol 34 No 3 (2001) 221-26. JSTOR. Web. 11 August 2010.
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