In this essay I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both Tomb Raider and the  Metroid’s video games covers, I will argue that the representation female protagonists is radical in comparison to the reactionary representation of a male protagonist.

The cover of Tomb Raider provides a dominant signifier of the main protagonist Lara Croft who is being presented as overly feminine. This corresponds to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze which is, a feminist view that in almost all forms of media the representation of women is altered to appeal to the average male consumer. However despite being represented as very feminine there is also some radical elements in this front cover, such as the inclusion of guns. This is radical because it shows that the female protagonist can protect herself without the need of a male protagonist, this radical representation also juxtaposes the idea of “The Damsel In Distress” which says that women in media are simply used as plot devices that the male protagonist needs to rescue to satisfy the story. This creates a positive representation of women as, contradictory to most games, Lara Croft does not need to rely of the help of a male protagonist, This also creates a positive impression on the gaming community as a whole because it shows that female protagonists can still be strong and independent without a male protagonist and that it does not impact enjoyment of the game as a whole.

Even though the representation on the front cover of tomb raider may provide a brief break from the normal representation of women it is not without flaws. The main example of this is Lara Crofts clothing the use of skimpy and revealing clothing could be harmful to younger audiences as it provides unrealistic standards for people to aspire to, it may also have been used to appeal to the average male gamer, this would have been done because males take up the majority of the gaming industry in terms of both creation and consumerism therefore appealing to the male audience provides the biggest profit margin. The paradigm of tight clothing ,provocative stance and a seductive facial expression makes up an objectified persona, this reflects upon Laura Mulvey’s notion on the male gaze in that the dominant signifier is designed in such a way that she appears sexualised. In other words the character is designed so that it appears sexual and erotic in order to appeal to the sexual and erotic standards for women in the video game industry. By dressing Lara Croft in this revealing and skin tight clothing the game developers are taking away from the representation of Lara being able to defend herself without the help of a male protagonist. With that you can argue that this is a reactionary representation of women in video games.

In comparison the front cover of Metroid provides dominant signifying image of a robotic suit , presumably the main character, and is presented as masculine even though it is never stated whether or not they are male or not, the protagonist is presented to be muscular and broad which are characteristics that have been universally recognised as masculine. This creates a reaction representation of men in video games this is because the front cover displays a stereotypical representation of a male hero which is presented as strong and powerful so that they can complete their goal which is normally defeating a big evil and saving a damsel in distress. The inclusion of a large gun attached to the robotic suit implies that there will be themes of violence and combat, this further portrays the male character as fearless and a warrior. This juxtaposes the idea that the sexualisation of women is always used as the main selling point of video games, This also avoids the theory of the male gaze as it does not include any sexualisation towards women. The representation on the front cover of Metroid also shows that games can have extreme success without the sexualisation of women on the front cover.

In conclusion, both Metroid and Tomb Raider portray two rather similar representations of their respective gendered protagonists this is because they are both presented as radical due to their either exaggerated features or their stereotypical features, this is not a good theme as it provides unrealistic body standards for both genders and could possibly be harmful to younger peoples mental health.

In this essay I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both the Tomb Raider and Metroid video games covers. 

 I will argue that both Tomb Raiders games cover and display the relationships, similarities and differences between signifiers. I will argue the challenge of female representation and their place in society linking to the media Tomb Raider which I feel does not represent women in a positive or productive way for the gaming community as they’re both sexist and degrading to women. as the way in which the main character Lara Croft is visibly being sexualised on the front cover, they have done this by ensuring that she is contorted into a pose which shows off her female attributes for example her butt, as well as her breasts being enlarged while having a very petite torso while wearing minimal clothing, this is creating unrealistic ideations of women by the men playing video games and conforming to the stereotypical standards that they believe all women must look like. Although people may think that Lara Croft has was defeating gender stereotypes buy being a strong main female character, Croft does not rely on the help from a male character to complete her quest which therefore creates a influence on the male gaming community as it encourages them to have a more open mind in how women should be presented compared to how they typically are presented for example “the damsel in destress” however, it was subsequently overrun by how the game designers sexualised her as a character.   

 This reflects upon Laura Mulvey’s notion on the male gaze in that the dominant signifier is designed in such a way that she appears sexualised. In the words of Mulvey, she is a character whose “appearance is coded for a strong visual and erotic impact” (“Visual and Other Pleasures”, 1989). Laura states that women are presented as sexual objects for heterosexual male gratification, she believes this due to the abundant mass of females in the media being objectified to please men and to entice them to buy products.  

Additionally, from this the game Metroid the main character who is seen as a large robotic character (Samus Aran) is a radical character as she is defeating gender stereotypes by being a strong main character with no sexualised attributes of a female as she is always seen in a sci-fi robotics suit which also covers her face, this is effective as it makes a change in media as  the dominant signifier could point to suggest to a sense of power and independence the character has, on her own, regardless of her ‘Metroid’ character she plays. The Metroid character is usually the vast majority of connected with more strapping connotations and would stereotypically be depicted by a male. Evidently, this character counteracts this stereotypical representation, protesting a radical presentation. The media industry rarely showcases countertypes in a determined light. 

To conclude, both Metroid and Tomb Raider describe two rather lookalike representations of female protagonists in the sense that they’re both presented as radical due to their bravery and independence furthermore additionally both being sexualised to meet the want of the ordinary straight male audience. However, the limited disagreement is that this representation is a lot less clear with regards to the Metroid fore mask compared to the Tomb Raider fore mask due to the essential character being portrayed as a gallant figure at 1st glance. 

In this essay I will be discussing the reactionary representation of the video games, Tomb Raider and Metroid. I wish to apply a semiotic analysis to both games and thereby present the study of signs and their impact on how we consume the games, characters and their actions.  

In ‘Lara Croft- Tomb Raider’, the dominant signifier, Lara Croft’s image on the front cover directly determines the way the audience will interoperate her. Her reactionary body shape communicates a highly sexualized design to appeal to straight men, who statistically are most likely to play games that include a sexualized female lead. The implication of voyeurism in games including exposed and venerable female characters, rockets product sales. Laura Mulvey said “The ‘male gaze’ is something that sexualizes women by empowering men and objectifying women. It could be argued that Lara Croft defies these stereotypes by embracing the main hero in this storyline but the use of her tight, radical outfit accentuating her thin figure could further empower men in believing they can dominate and overpower a female physically, furthermore, advancing the ideal of negative misogyny. Ferdinand De Saussure’s ideology is still portrayed in today’s world with the idea of the signifier, being the object itself and signified, being the meaning of the object, relates with her depiction of the guns she holds, which is Linking previously to the topic of the dominant signifier herself, contradicting the radical proposition of women being inferior and venerable, as she’s positioned holding guns ‘ready for attack’, Which is not conventionally the image a women would withhold in a game that involves dangerous situations without a male to come and save her. She is not in the usual ‘damsel in distress’ circumstance, she is the ‘hero’. Linking to the ideology of Propp’s theory. The fact she is the main signifier to a male dominated played game is radical as it goes against the patriarchal society, but equally argues that she is used in a dismissive and sexist manner in order to make the game more enjoyable to straight men.  

In addition, from the patriarchal depiction that Lara croft implies, the age rating of this game, which is 12, can be discussed in a range of opinions. The unrealistic rendition of the character holding and using guns regularly implies a violent aesthetic to the game, which means that the young video game players who are an impressionable demographic, are exposed to the usage of guns, which could harm these susceptible youth gamers. The reality of depicting a female in this way which is radical and sexualized additionally progresses a stereotypical and unconventional picture in young players minds giving them a damaging and sexist image of a women.  

Metroid translates a positive depiction of femininity. The first interpretation of Metroid the cover is generally stereotypically targeted towards boys, but under further research the dominant signifier appears as a female, which positively reveals that the game makers are promoting a non-gender specific target audience. 

   The Metroid cover contains a dominant signifier, main image of a female character who is Samus Aran disguised as a robotic figure Metroid, links to themes of science fiction, robotics and combat. The symbolic signifier of the white, smoke-like effect paired with Metroid, the dominant signifier, connotes an aesthetic of independence the character has on her own. The Metroid character is commonly most associated with more masculine themes and would stereotypically be depicted as a male. Evidently, this character counteracts this stereotypical representation, demonstrating a radical presentation. Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation in 1987 as the build of the protagonist appears muscular and broad which are characteristics which have been collectively recognized as masculine. The subject of Countertypes not reflecting the real world, this reflects the quote – “what often gets lost in the exhausting, furious online discourse around representation is real-world experience” from an article: ‘Why diversity matters in the modern video games industry’. Along with representation of gender, the concept can relate to a lack of representation of different identities such as someone’s race, sexuality, ethnicity and personal background.  The industry’s lack of realistic representation of women, it also lacks diversity. However, at the end of the game, Samus Aran is revealed to be wearing a blue body suit, in which her body is majorly exaggerated and enhanced, linking to the radical representation of Lara croft, furthermore, representing the sexualization of women in the video game industry.  Presenting an idealistic and non-realistic body type. This refreshing presentation of a women with an alter ego of this male dominated and stereotypical robot is snatched away and the game, linking into the archaic ways of appealing to the Male Gaze as a sales strategy.   

To conclude the summaries of both ‘Lara Croft, Tomb Raider’ and ‘Metroid’ both include signifiers relating to power, strength, misogyny and masculinity which are juxtaposed using two female characters. Even though these characters create a strong, independent figure for Younger female players to aspire to, the radical representations of their bodies represents the characters as sexual objects for male pleasure which is not a positive aspiration.The common utilization of women in media being included as profit-makers, according to Jean Kilbourne on her observations of women in advertising does not ‘directly cause violence against women but they normalize a dangerous attitude’ which births the problems of gender discrimination- Quote from her TED X conversation. The overall image of females and their body in media specifically the video game Industry is negative and needs to be improved due to the unrealistic portrayal of the female body, which negatively encourages and teachers young impressionable girls what their body should look like, and how they should present themselves to please Men.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

In this essay I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both Tomb Raider and Metroid video game covers. I will argue that the tomb raider and Metroid are both sexist and degrading to women, and create unrealistic views of males, which I feel does not represent positive views of gender to players of the games. 

Tomb Raider, a popular video game of the 2000’s, presents the dominant signifier, Lara Croft, through the view of the male gaze. The male gaze was first theorised by Laura Mulvey, it is the act of depicting women and the world through the view of a white hetero-sexual male viewer, often being degrading and sexualising towards women. Lara Croft is portrayed as a woman who conforms to all of society’s gender expectations and standards for how she looks, very little clothing, small waist, large chest, who’s bottom can be seen from nearly every angle and ultimately the expectations set by white cis males, this is not only feeding to the theory of the male gaze, but also profiting off of the sexualisation of women through the game industry. 

Similarly to Tomb Raider, Metroid also creates unrealistic sexualised views of men which fit under the ‘cool man’ expectations, huge muscles, weapons, anger and destruction and ultimately large features, which is an indexical signifier to danger and strength, the opposite to those of how women are presented. This also creates unhealthy expectations for men that they must be violent, physically and mentally strong and that both genders are displayed in a way to suit the voyeuristic needs of the gaming industry. 

However, these two games, tomb raider and Metroid, become a clear guideline to how much the male gaze has affected not just the gaming industry, but also movies, television and magazines. Firstly, Tomb Raiders dominant signifier, a female character named Lara Croft, is presented as small and almost weak looking (skinny, small muscles, short) this could signify, although she is the main character, she is still seen as the ‘damsel in distress’. Whereas, Metroid’s dominant signifier is a male bounty hunter who is presented with: impossibly large muscles, huge legs, arms and feet. Although this is a negative stereotype towards men, this highlights that women are naturally seen as weaker than males even though they are both committing to hard, strength consuming tasks. 

I believe very unhealthy stereotypes are placed into games that are targeted towards young people, these games somewhat justify the way men, women, other groups such as, black, Hispanic and Asian are stereotyped and generalized through video games “stereotypes were not limited to African Americans; Latinx characters have often been portrayed as gangbangers and drug dealers”. I believe these stereotypes of identity within the industry are so important as peoples lives are based around their identity and the way they portray themselves. David Gauntlet, a media studies professor talks about these subjects within identity in his book Media, Gender and Identity. Gauntlet states that identity is complicated and that peoples identity’s form and exist when around people similar to them… Unrealistic looking characters can also lead to mind sets which both make young people gain low self esteem and also unrealistic outlooks of themselves or others. “Video gaming is one of the most popular forms of media entertainment, with around 25% of European citizens playing at least once a week”- sciencedirect.com. 

On the other hand, I believe Tomb Raider’s use of Lara Croft is also a step forward to breaking gender stereotypes within the gaming community, in the sense that the game is reactionary as a female character is completing daring tasks set around those expected to be done by a male in an in the conventional patriarchal industry. Lara Croft is seen carrying a gun connoting that she is powerful and dangerous which then contradicts her body which suggests she is weak. I feel the portrayal of Croft’s character can be inclusive to females as it is giving them the chance to play games mainly directed towards males. Tomb Raiders Lara Croft was also one of the first compelling female video game characters in a game that transcended and became a huge pop culture icon. On the contrary, although Metroid is presented as what is conventionally considered male, once the armour is taken off we are revealed to a female character who also follows many of the physical features similar to Lara Croft, I believe this is very empowering towards women, however, this can also be negative as Metroid was only seen as strong and powerful when being presented as a male stereotype.

Therefore, I believe the gaming industry is toxic in the sense that it allows and justifies negative stereotypes of gender, body image and race. Both male and female characters are overly sexualised to fit into a certain category to suit the male gaze, feed voyeurism, but mainly degrade and objectify women.