The Inevitable Re-Branding of Lara Croft – Part 2

I think there is a big misunderstanding about sex. Freud said every relationship was sexual, but he didn't have to be right. The ad men in the 60s said that sex sells, but they didn't mean literal sex. You take a half-way attractive woman in a dress pushing a vacuum cleaner and you say that's sex. But it isn't. They say that 70% of the Internet is sex but isn't. In fact it's the opposite of sex.

Lare Croft wore shorts. That's not sex. She had enlarged breasts. That's not sex. You could follow her climbing up things. But that's not sex. It's just a misunderstanding, a failure to understand what sex is.

Lara Croft is the opposite of sex. In the two films she is remarkably austere, chaste, virginal. It goes back to the Scream rules. If you have sex, you deserve to die. Lara Croft didn't have sex, so she won through until the end.

I guess we disagree about the definition of sex. For me, a display of explicit sex doesn't have to be present. The idea, expectation or just the presence of sexual overtones is enough to trigger some sort of response. That's why I don't think sex has to be explicitly present. Many of the teenage boys that are fans of Lara Croft like her because she has a nice body not because she is virginal, chaste and austere.

Almost all the words we use lack the precise definitions that allow humans to communicate properly. That's why people get on better when they can't talk.

My claim is that people are supposed to make a connection between something which is 'sexy;, a word I can't bear, and 'sex'. I maintain there's no such connection. If you could suggest that anyone playing Tomb Raider was physically aroused by the game, then you might have a chance of winning a debate on the subject.

Would we say that a photo of a beautiful woman is just a step away from sex? You're attracted to a woman, and the next step is sex?

Why don't game designers make a highly successful video game about having sex if sex is such a shurefire seller with males?

In the world of mammals, most males are unsuccessful sexually. In fact they are content with a kind of bachelor status. There are alpha males and there are the unsuccessful males. It's the same with humans. Almost all humans are descended from just a few successful males.

Video games are just hunting activity substitues. Males are more about hunting, controlling territory, establishing status, than ever they are about sex. If sex was popular, people would be engaging in sex, and it would have a better reputation. Religions don't have time for sex. Right and left wing autocracies don't like it.

If Lara Croft was about sex, then some character who was sexier than her would be better than her. Is there anyone else in the frame? Chun-li. Chun-li is popular because she is schoolgirlish, kawaii and celebrates victory in a beguiling way.

I don't think there was any sex in the Lara Croft games or in the films.

If you've seen Allison Carroll recently, you will recognise that the Lara Croft physique is not unattainable.

Lara Croft doesn't need any character development because people automatically add in their own imaginings.

There is a lack of explicit sex. That doesn't mean sex wasn't used to launch Lara into the consciousness of the young men (and women) who played the Tomb Raider games. Why do you think she was designed to look like a bombshell? I think it was done to gain attention and to sell games.

The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. Allison Carroll looks much taller (between 5'8 and 5'10) and probably weighs less than 140 pounds. For many women her body is unattainable. But I don't mind it. Lara is a sex symbol.

People are bored with her. If she doesn't need a character revamp (or re-birth) what would you suggest?