Tomb Raider – Lara Croft

• Radical text – challenges the dominant ideology.
• In society, the dominant ideology is that men are generally stronger than women and are more likely to assert their dominance and can be more confident to do so.
• In tomb raider, the main character is a woman which challenges the dominant ideology that men are superior. Lara was sexualised to attract a male market. 
• Breaks stereotypes and shows strength and could inspire other women.
• Lara Croft – iconic sign
• Woman being strong is an indexical sign to breaking stereotypes (For example the image is an NVC because she is in a strong pose which makes her look confident. There are also images on the back of her abseiling and shooting monsters).
• One of the first protagonists in the gaming industry (breaks stereotypes as she knows how to use more weapons than most military people)
• Female empowerment – fending for herself
• ‘Adventurous babe’ – juxtaposing radical statement that challenges the dominant ideology of what a ‘babe’ is seen as.

Representation

• Sexualising female game characters is common for game designers as its target audience (male) have the biggest influence on the gaming industry as gaming is stereotypically for males (reactionary)
• In general characters of both genders are represented in an ideal way that would appeal to the target audience
• Not all women are really thin and not all men are really strong and muscly
• Games and magazines put ideas into people’s heads of what is seen to be ‘normal’ which makes them feel insecure about their real apperance

For my magazine I decided that i wanted to base it on the idea of encouraging more girls to get into gaming, this inspired me to think of the title ‘GAMER GIRL’, because it clearly conveys the message I intend to get across. I then thought of a catchy slogan for my magazine which is ‘Run head first into the gaming world’, which I put in a serif font with a flag effect to make it more appealing to look at. The dominant signifier of my magazine cover is a female games character, which focuses on my main intention for my magazine, this shows a strong independent woman who fights for what she believes in, this is the main message I want to get across with this magazine cover, and show girls who are around my age (mid – late teens) that it’s okay to do something your friends aren’t doing and it’s okay to try something new that’s stereotypically ‘for boys’ because girls are allowed to have fun too (this is also an iconic sign because it looks just like a female in action). I have used a san serif font (Franklin Gothic Medium and Heavy) to create a clear and crisp look to my magazine. I have used different symbolic signs (the colours red, black). Indexical signs include: buildings (symbolise a village where the main game is set). I also wanted my magazine to be interactive and appealing so I have used rhetorical questions such as ‘DO YOU WANT A NEW HOBBY’. I also had the intention of making my magazine look as realistic as possible, so I did some research into different magazines and got my inspiration from the ‘PC GAMER’ magazines. For my masthead I decided to make it bright and bold to catch my intended audience’s eye, to do this I chose the bold colour red to make it pop from the rest of the magazine cover. I also wanted to have a sense of depth to my magazine, this is shown with the mountains in the background with a village in front of them. I have also featured some things that are inside the magazine on the cover such as ‘the interview on page 3’. I have also stated the GAMING FOR U company that would sponsor the magazine.