The Leveson inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearings were held throughout 2011 and 2012.
The Inquiry published the Leveson Report in November 2012, which reviewed the general culture and ethics of the British media, and made recommendations for a new, independent, body to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission, which would have to be recognised by the state through new laws.
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 raider and Metroid represent women in two different ways and will be arguing about the sexualisation to Lara croft and link this back to Laura Mulvey and the ‘Male Gaze’ and then the radical representation to Metroid and the main character Samus Aran.
I think Tomb raider takes advantage of the main character Lara Croft as she is dressed in revealing and clothes which is used to sexualise her and attract the straight male to buy their game. This is degrading to women as it sexualises her and draws attention away from the actual point of the game. Lara Croft is also positioned in a way to show her body as she is positioned to show her female attributes, for example her butt and breasts. They have also given her a very unrealistic body by enlarging her breasts while giving her a very petite torso. This then contributes to unrealistic beauty standards where many women and men believe that this is what women should look like. On the other hand, I can also argue there is a radical view as Lara doesn’t rely on any Male help during her quest. This then influences the gaming community to change their mind about women being the ‘damsel in distress’ and that only male characters should be the ones fighting.
This links back to Laura Mulvey and the Male Gaze in that the dominant signifier is designed in a way that she is sexualised. Laura Mulvey said “she is a character who’s appearance is coded for a strong visual and erotic impact”. Laura also states that women are presented as sexual objects to satisfy the heterosexual male.
The Metroid game cover completely covers the main characters body and hides her gender and identity by doing this. This then focuses the gamers on the actual game rather than the body and features of the character. The armour she is wearing shows a powerful and strong character. Most people believed the main character was a male, this links back to the reactionary view of women as women are believed to be the ‘damsel in distress’ whereas male characters are the heroes. Metroid counteracts the stereo type and shows a radical representation.
Male directed as mentions the ‘Scores famous masculine scent’. The advert sexualises women as they are wearing tight revealing clothes. Sexist approach of the male being ‘admired’ by females around him.
Similarly, feminist critical thought became much more prominent and pronounced during the counter cultural movements of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, which heralded, among other changes a greater acceptance of birth control and divorce, abortion and homosexuality.
There was also the abolition of hanging and theatre censorship, and the Obscene Publications Act (1959) which led to the Chatterly trial. Nevertheless, as Johnathon Dollimore wrote: ‘all this should not be seen as a straightforward displacement of dominant conservative attitudes‘ (1983:59).
The Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. The reference to colonialist values can also be linked to social and cultural contexts of the ending of Empire.
For my advert, I will be advertising a curling hair cream . My product will be aimed at females with curly hair aged 16-45. I will advertise this product in the media form of magazines as magazines are popular for my target audience and I think this will reach a large group of people.
The advert with contain my class friend Honor Wade holding the hair product with her hair down to show her curly hair as if she uses the product regularly. This convinces the audience that this product will give you gorgeous curls as Honor has naturally curly hair. This is to represent how adverts show you what you want to see instead instead of the truth.
For the advert, I will have a simple background so the attention is on the curling cream and model so you cant miss it.
