I recently saw the new Tomb
Raider movie with my husband, Bill. Tomb
Raider is one of my favorite game series. In fact, it was the second video
game I ever played. Although heroine Lara Croft started out as not much more
than a series of pixels with big boobs designed for male players, she outgrew
her limitations and became in my mind something more. She was much more than a
sex symbol to me. Lara was popular with men and women, boys and girls. The guys
wanted to possess her. Women and girls wanted to be her. When I worked lighting for stage, TV,
concerts, and movies I was as buff as Lara Croft. I even had the ponytail. She
was everything I wanted to be – confident, strong, cheeky, gorgeous, energetic,
rich.
I didn't see the character fleshed out until I read some of
the comic books. Those comics gave her a backstory. She was very close to her
father and relished the idea of traveling the world in search of puzzles to
solve that helped her find answers to the biggest puzzle of all – herself. The
first two movies starring Angelina Jolie brought more of these ideas forward.
When I first heard the first movie was being shot, I told Bill the only one who
could play her was Angelina Jolie. Jolie had all the make-up to play Lara. She
was bigger-than-life. A little weird. Cheeky sense of humor. Beautiful. Full of
energy. A bit of a loner (according to the types of roles she played). Had
daddy issues. She certainly looked the part.
When the game first appeared, Bill was working as a producer
at Hasbro. Due to his contacts, he managed to pick up a CD of the original
soundtrack that included songs that weren't on the final soundtrack that was
released to the public. I grabbed that soundtrack which consisted mostly of my
favorite music genre, techno, and played it day and night. This was before the
movie came out. On the way to the movie theater to see it, we played the CD in
the car. I loved the movie despite it faults mainly because Jolie did such a
good job depicting Lara.
Lara has evolved over the years. She's now less a pair of
gigantic boobs and more a person in her own right. I've always seen Lara as a
blank slate upon which I and I'm sure other female fans projected their own
desires and aspirations. Through the character, those of us on the shy side
could experiment with expressing ourselves. We became stronger both mentally
and physically if that's what we wanted.
This is all very ironic since Lara was originally envisioned
by British game company Eidos (now Square Enix) as a male Indiana Jones-type
character complete with fedora and bullwhip. The character was changed to a
Hispanic female named Laura Cruz, and then evolved into the English heiress
Lara Croft as a hat tip to the developers. The latest movie, which sadly has
garnered horrible reviews, depicts Lara more realistically, with a muscular and
athletic build that doesn't focus on her breast size. The cheekiness of the
character reminiscent of the earlier games and the Angelina Jolie movies has
evolved to a more serious even dark manner. Judging from the end of the movie,
I see a sequel in the works. I'll likely see it no matter how badly it is
reviewed assuming it's made. I simply adore Lara Croft.
So I'll dig up and enjoy my Lara Croft dioramas, my pewter
Lara Croft, my Tomb Raider socks and beach towels, my Lara Croft iPhone case,
and the rest of my extensive Tomb Raider collection. It's a good thing to have
such a fun template to aspire to. I can be anyone I want. And I'll enjoy the
hell out of it.
