In this essay, I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both the Lara Croft Tomb Raider and Metroid video games covers. I am going to argue how both of the covers represent the modern day portrayal of women in the media today, which is a sexualisation of female form, by analysing the reactionary layout and design and other similar pieces of imagery. I will also go over the contents of both games themselves, how they back up some theories of how women are used as objects and how they go even further with the sexualisation of women.

I’ll start off with Metroid, as Samus Aran (the playable character in the series) is actually a woman underneath her armour, most people would expect the character to be male as the game series is based off of a character who defends the galaxy from creatures known as ‘Space Pirates’. This is a major countertype example of the damsel in distress. During the storyline of various Metroid titles, more revealing clothing is available for unlock by multiple methods, including game completion, achievements and playtime. This is clearly trying to appeal to the reactionary gaming audience, being maturing teenage males. A radical part of Metroid is that Samus Aran is pictured as a muscular woman who stands 6′ 3″ tall and weighing in at about 90kg. This stature and weight would generally be associated with men over women. On the Prime 2: Echoes cover, Samus’ body is covered up by the orange battle armour. The image it portrays is completely different to what is ‘hidden’ underneath. The character is also pictured with a large cannon replacing her right hand and the description on the back side of the cover opens with, “Become the bounty hunter behind the visor once more!” This would direct most people in the direction of thinking Metroid is a male protagonist.

Continuing from this, the Lara Croft games cover is quite different, but represents the same concept. To start, she is stood at an angle where both her breasts and backside are visible, when they are on opposite sides of her body. This is the most obvious sign of sexualisation as there are not many angles from which both sides of her body would be visible, so somebody clearly designed and planned this beforehand. Some may see this representation as negative as a few of her most notable body parts (the ones mentioned previously in particular) have been extensively exaggerated. Even the way the light falls over her makes her curves look more pronounced than the games cover title image, arguably the most important piece of the cover. The decision to make this image the front cover has been made in order to create a reactionary response from the target audience, and links in with Laura Mulvey’s study of the ‘Male Gaze’ which is a stereotypical viewpoint for the heterosexual young male. She believes that women are used as objects of pleasure for the mainly male gaming audience. This was first written about in “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger. The fact that so many games now use these image portrayals of woman in this possibly negative way show the further audience that this is the standard design and layout for the covers of these games. This visual example also becomes what many women (especially younger) aspire to look like. Some even obsess with looking this way, finding it the only way for others to find them attractive, as it is so heavily used in many forms of media, extending far from some video games covers. The negative view continues over to femininity as Lara, the dominant signifier of this CSP, is pictured holding two handguns, with a third in her right weapon holster. This exposes users as young as the recommended age, 12, to the active and semi-constant use of weaponry in both games, which many parents and others alike will not see as healthy viewing material for their children.

Furthermore, I believe that the representation of women and the ‘Male Gaze’ are shown in an overall more positive way in the Metroid cover image than the Lara Croft Tomb Raider cover image. This is because there is some evidence of an effort to cover up the once again over-exaggerated body of the character. The armour she wears also creates a reactionary response within the audience as they are led to believe that Metroid is a male character, from what is displayed in the iconic sign. Neither of these CSPs support the ‘damsel in distress’ theory that I mentioned previously. This theory is described as how the female character in numerous storylines is more often than not the one who needs rescuing or saving from a typical antagonist by the male hero, more info is available about this theory on the Feminist Frequency website. These images and game contents are trying to point people in the direction of knowing that women are very able to defend themselves against themselves and others. This may not always be the case however. Once again the excessive sexualisation and violent nature of these video games may not have a positive impact on the audience outside the target. They don’t know what the cover actually represents, all they can see is obscene imagery and portrayal of women and the guns she is holding, convincing them that this is all the game resolves around.

In conclusion, I believe that neither CSPs present women in a good way. This is because of how their bodies are used as pleasure for the targeted audience, more so with the Lara Croft example. The Metroid cover does make some effort to cover up Samus’ body with the classic Metroid armour, as well as to cover up some of the contents of the game itself. Both games covers prove Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze true. The use of these images can also bee seen as disempowerment. This can easily be improved by games cover designers creating countertypes of the covers. This would flip the negative effect they give on its head, making it positive. People in the further audience may then be more inclined to buy the products, increasing sales and revenue. Some other developers might take the same idea on board and follow along, the currently ‘over-the-top’ sexual exaggeration and representation of women overall may be improved over time.