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Anyone see the front page of the 14/06/2012 Metro? I believe the headline was "Outrage at Lara Croft Game ‘Rape’". If you would like to read the article, it can be found here.
http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2012/06/14/
Now, I’ve read it several times already because the first time I was so filled with rage that I had to read it again just to make sure I understood it correctly.
I think perhaps what filled me with such ire is the very first sentence – "The makers of the new Lara Croft game are using sexual violence as entertainment by including a rape scene" and then later on in the article, quoted the director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition saying "using rape as entertainment is not only misogynistic, it risks normalising and condoning sexual violence to young people".
Usually in these situations I tend to take the feminist stance and say I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to stand for it, but the article seemed to imply not only that people playing this game will enjoy the rape scene, but find it entertaining, and that young people will be the most affected.
This is an 18+ game. Anyone under the age of 18 should not be watching, buying or playing it, just like porn, cigarettes and alcohol.
And furthermore, how many movies, TV shows and books (that clearly can’t be regarded as anything other than entertainment) that all included full on rape scenes – I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones and Hostel – and aren’t even mentioned?
I feel I should refer them to the trailer just released for the new Hitman – in which Agent 47 fights and kills several sexy hit-women dressed as nuns. And in this scenario, we play as Agent 47, defending himself against the women and ultimately murdering them. He even breaks someone’s nose in that trailer and uses another woman as a human shield.
In contrast, playing as Lara Croft, we are fighting off the attackers and the impending beating/rape wherever it may occur. In this situation, I find Hitman to be far more misogynistic.
This idea that, when playing as a woman rape waits around every corner is not only disgusting, but is extremely offensive to men, and labeling the players and creators as misogynists even when woman too play games shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
It reminds me of a book I read when I was younger by author Jacqueline Wilson called Lola Rose, a book about a young girl who witnesses her mother being beaten on a regular basis and implies the mother’s rape by her abusive husband. This is a book aimed at children – if anyone here has ever read anything by Jacqueline Wilson, you’ll know she writes books about children that come from broken homes in first person perspective. And we must remind ourselves that there is no educational value in this book; it is not academic and is purely fictional, therefore, is entertainment to quote the author of the Metro article.
On the other hand, I’m not happy about a rape scene being included, and I’ll use the same argument I use for refusing to watch the rest of Game of Thrones. Rape is not fun, not to watch, not to be a part of, not fun at all, and while I have no problem with it being implied I simply cannot see any reason why it has to be included with visual aid. There is no benefit to include a scene.
This and (also another problem I find when reading romance novels and fan-fiction) rape of the lead female protagonist in anything other than an autobiographical account of someone’s difficult life is a useless tool to adhere me to that character.
Rape causes scars so deep you could base a whole book just about the struggle. It is not something people simply brush off, and should not be used as a tool for character development IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN A STORY ABOUT STRUGGLING AFTER RAPE. It is insensetive otherwise, and downright foolish of the authors to think they can relate without any proper thought for victims.
I find it such a shame that a game has been singled out when it is such a large issue – and to imply that it would be used as a tool for someone’s entertainment (and let us assume that they point the finger at gamers and developers alike) is an ignorance I can’t even begin to fathom.
In short, Metro reporters are an ignorant bunch, but Eidos should have known better.
DICUSS. [/rant]
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I hear where you are coming from….and memories of the focus on the prostitute in GTA come to mind.
I would have to see how it was handled in game…since I don’t usually trust metro for my news and they want my email address to view the e-edition!
but if they wanted attention… I guess they are going to get it.
Aphra
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Please can you put a "trigger warning" at the top of this post. Thanks.
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From what I heard about it, they are wanting you to feel that Lara is a vulnerable young woman, and the way they convey this was with a rape encounter.
1) Lara is a explorer and adventurer. She has been through many scrapes in the past – no one is really going to buy into this new character.
2) Trying to do this via a rape encounter is pretty damned lazy and almost like this are purely trying to generate publicity by doing it, rather than doing it for the good of the story. -
Looks like they’re running out of ideas and trying to reflate a flagging franchise with a bit of sensationalism to me. Trying to do a Rockstar Games by going for something that’ll get the headlines. Any publicity is good publicity in these circumstances. It all adds to the sales at the end of the day. Even if those sales are to pervy nerds. But this is cheap and inappropriate. Games are getting closer to movies in terms of their plots and content these days. Sure. Rape has featured as a part of the plot of many movies. So you could argue that any subject matter good enough for a serious movie is good enough for a serious game. Movies and games are both ‘entertainment’. But…..Lara Croft? That’s a bit like Raiders of the Lost Ark with the threat of Indiana Jones being raped as a running theme of the movie. Just plain inappropriate on so many levels.
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I worry about the effect that this would have on people who have experienced gender based or sexual violence before.
I know people, some are close friends, who have been the victims of this sort of abuse and the effect it has on their lives is awful. I know people who were forced into sex work because no one would employ them and were then raped by clients. They would probably not be able to function for days after seeing a rape scene depicted in either a film or a game.
Thinking about this has actually made me question why I have no problem with war and violence being depicted in video games.
I am certainly very uncomfortable with the trivialisation of rape and prostitution in video games. It seems contradictory that I could accept depiction of violence of one kind, but not another.
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you have sexual abuse everywhere on tv in game’s sadly it’s reality.
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