Video games, movies and other pieces of pop culture are our time capsule today, and, like a 19th Century-Dickens novel, the media is using games to measure social changes for a time moving too fast to understand while in it. Electronic entertainment has become the barometer of society's movements. iPods represent our mobility and tech-savvy, reality TV represents Big Brother and our own voyeurism, and video games - video games represent "What the young people are thinking." No wonder Grand Theft Auto scared non-gamers across the board.
Since the advent of Lara Croft in 1996, the media has been quick to report on a "new" video game trend every so often: there is an innovate crop of games with aggressive female leads. In this male-dominated counterculture, these games are breaking the mold. The women are in charge now. Bloodrayne's leather-clad vampire kills the boys. Lara shoots up a pirate ring all by herself. The Dead or Alive ladies will kick your ass! Viva la revolucion!
Cynicism aside, the number of female leads over the past ten or so years has definitely been higher than the two decades beforehand. Before Lara, there was Chun-Li, that valkarie from Gauntlet… a few co-starring roles perhaps. And virtually all those you can think of had one thing in common: their outfit was semi-naked. While fighting bloody orcs and incisor-happy demons, the Gauntlet warrior princess wore what amounted to be a metal bustier, and was stripped down to a fur-like, Raquel Welch bikini number for the sequel. Less scrupled male friends of mine would try to pause the Super Nintendo version of Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior just right during Chun Li's Hurricane Kick to see her white panties. Fortunately, nothing flew out during Guile's Flash Kick (or unfortunately, depending on your take). Relative to these female forerunners, Lara Croft was downright covered up in her tank top and short shorts. And she was the game hero, not just the woman in charge, but the person in charge. Tomb Raider's ascension paralleled that of the cult favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the neo-woman series Sex In The City, making Lara the symbol of female empowerment to the non-gaming public. Woman could kick ass, have regrettable one-night stands and still look sexy.
That last point is really the important one. If studies say that the average breast size is 36 B, why are Lara Croft's boobs bigger than her head? I haven't studied the Bloodrayne series intensely, but if she's jumping around killing people, wouldn't the leather chafe everywhere? Yes, breasts are beautiful, but why must the Dead or Alive flotsam/jetsam be so intense? It's enough to cause seasickness. The truth is, every strong, iconic female lead flaunts her sexuality in a way that seems to beg for male acceptance and pleasure. Lara doesn't wear hot pants because they are African jungle friendly. She wears them so we (meaning people who like women's bodies) can look at her tight ass.
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