Tomb Raider Dev: Rape is Not in Our Vocabulary

[SacremPyrobolum]

I am still wondering. Were people angry because of what the man said or because of the trailer. Because I saw nothing wrong with the trailer.

 

[Condiments]

If you worry about the fetishes of people involving anything even remotely sexual in game before making it then you couldn't ever have anything remotely sexual in game. Heck, even non sexual things become sexual given the right (aka wrong) fan base.

There is a certain difference between creating a scenario where you want to defend your character from undesirably outcomes(like death, in most games), and exploiting a female character, and a controversial issue such as rape to appeal to our need to "protect someone". It turns an otherwise good moral judgement(preventing rape=good) into a marketing tactic that takes advantage/patronizes both the male gamers playing it, and trivializes a difficult issue and reality that women/men have to deal with. Rape itself should not be used to appeal to our inner "white knight". Its a topic that deserves the respect of material it is represented in, and the audience that will be experiencing it.

Bollocks.

If the character is liked and harm is indicated then the white knight will appear, there is no choice. It doesn't matter if it's film, book, tv or game; if the character is liked the consumer will wish grievous harm not to occur.

There is no difference between wanting to protect your character from death or protecting them from rape. In fact, real world I'd choose to protect someone from death over rape.

The only reason this is a big deal is because of the stupid youtube docu explosion and because rape is sexual. Just because death doesn't mean anything to the gamer anymore doesn't mean that it doesn't actually mean anything; it taking the unaccustomed mention of rape to remind players that their actions have story consequences (or even cutscene inactions just giving weight) is a good thing.

So you don't think the utilization of subject such as RAPE as a means to pander to male audience("white knights") isn't somehow morally dubious? I don't see how being blind to a subject matter's societal implications is desirable, as you could easily destroy the integrity of your story by pandering to the lowest common denominator(white knights). There is a very distinct difference when dealing with the subject with the respect it deserves, or including it for shock value. Them mentioning rape as a character building experience for Lara is representative of their insensitive treatment of the subject.

 

[game-lover]

Oh...

That was a really poor choice or words there...

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Karl Stewart: "They're getting angry at our trailer! Quick! Start back-peddling now!!"

 

[Condiments]

I am still wondering. Were people angry because of what the man said or because of the trailer. Because I saw nothing wrong with the trailer.

But, but, but, it implied sex of any kind in any form. I mean, women prancing around nearly naked, good. Men looking like pushing steroids 24/7 is the only way to be masculine, good. Extreme violence, good. Promoting violence as a resolution to problems, good. Specifically showing firearms to be a solution while people already murder one another daily, good.

But implying sex? Ahmygawd!! That's going to corrupt the suburban American kids and destroy the family and society almost as badly as a picture of two men kissing eachother.

Clearly such a vile thing must be banned.

I think there was more a implication of rape, rather than consensual sex. Clearly two very different things unless you've got a very warped view of sexual activity.

I think more people are freaking out about Rosenberg's comments, which in turn put everything else in the trailer into questionable territory. Going by his comments, they're deliberately torturing her to get a "kick" out of their male audience into protecting her. Throw in the weird continuous sexual screams as she jumps about, mixture of both regular violence, and implied sexual violence....and you've got strange case of pandering going on. Honestly, I don't think that is really their intention behind the game, but it poses a disturbing question.

Imagine if in Uncharted 2 when Drake gets grievously injured in the train crash, the player has to press a sequence of buttons to escape a gang bang once the guards find in him the wreckage. It'd be jarring and out of place, and certainly wouldn't fit thematically within the context of the game.

 

[GloatingSwine]

But, but, but, it implied sex of any kind in any form. I mean, women prancing around nearly naked, good. Men looking like pushing steroids 24/7 is the only way to be masculine, good. Extreme violence, good. Promoting violence as a resolution to problems, good. Specifically showing firearms to be a solution while people already murder one another daily, good.

But implying sex? Ahmygawd!! That's going to corrupt the suburban American kids and destroy the family and society almost as badly as a picture of two men kissing eachother.

Clearly such a vile thing must be banned.

No-one has actually been saying anything like that at all.

This issue has all been about rape and sexual violence. Attempting to deflect it in this manner is dishonesty of the lowest calibre.

 

[Vivid Kazumi]

god i hate election year....

 

[Ghonzor]

Well, at least people expect "one of gaming's toughest female icons" to be turned into "a shrieking mimsy in a submissive relationship" this time. (see: Other M)

If the next Metroid game doesn't retract that...mess...I quit gaming. Period

 

[swolf]

I don't even get the problem.

There is no rape in the game either way.
There IS an npc who might conceivably have the intention to commit rape, or at least feels a bit rape-y.
Said npc then gets fought off (and, in my Mind-Vision-Version at least, he also gets his nuts crashed).
So no rape happens.

So why the fuss ?

Speaking only for myself: guess how sick to death I am of female characters getting sexually victimized in fiction. Go ahead, toss out an estimate. Lara Croft was one of the few who hadn't been caught up in that particular cliche, and now here we are again.

Yeah, way overused. Also, I think that media should have a warning that when rape/strong sexual assault are involved. "The Last House on the Left" was disturbing but I expected something going in since I understood the basic plot outline. Still though, I feel that they did more than was necessary to tell the story. Then there was "Halloween". That scene didn't make sense to me (I don't care to have it explained to me). It just seems thrown in for sheer shock and offense value. I understand "freedom of expression" but enough people are offended by the material that there should be fair warning in the label.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Given the mentality towards the original 'vision' of this character, I love the irony at how the 'men' leap to defend the honor of a character that I can almost guarantee entertained thoughts along those lines.

 

[psijac]

This sort of political correctness will eventually lead to mandatory burkas

 

[Don Savik]

I don't even want to touch this game right now to be honest. Does anyone really? lol. Bad publicity can really put you off from something :/

Maybe a 20 dollar game. Or 30 if you really like action/adventure/whatever the hell this is supposed to be.

But not full price.

 

[Sylveria]

Well, there goes the only interesting thing about this new Tomb Raider game. For a few days I thought someone in the AAA gaming industry finally grew some balls but I guess not.

So you're only interested in the game if you're playing the victim of a rape/attempted rape? You realize how incredibly creepy that sounds right?

 

[Sylveria]

Rape in gaming is nothing new. Hasn't anyone played Corruption of Champions?

Having 8 dicks in gaming isn't new. Hasn't anyone played Corruption of Champions?...I get the feeling I'll never be able to make that comparison in context of.. well... anything.

It's really a different situation though. In stuff like CoC or various hentai games, it's basically a mechanic of the game. Here, they're putting in an attempted rape to drive home the point of "Look how meek and helpless she is, guys, don't you wanna be her hero?" They've said numerous times they're portraying Miss Croft in a fashion that makes he look weak and requires protection.. not.. surprise tentacle rape for the sake of it like CoC has.

 

[Condiments]

At least there's attention on the matter of rape, in that more might learn something about trafficking and prostitution rings, which are very real and all over the world.
If someone want to be outraged about something, then think of the thousands of kids and women being raped on a daily basis in poor countries, getting abused physically and mentally as well as subjected to a host of different diseases and injuries.
THERE'S something to shout about, instead of something that might happen in a game.
Grow a spine, go do charity or donate to the people trying to help these victims, instead of posting angry comments on teh intarwebs at developers who are trying to make a game with substance.

This is deflection at its finest. One could argue the merits of material within a videogame as it relates to the integrity of this medium, and still have feelings on sex trafficking. By this logic, video game discussion boards are reprehensible because they take away from discussion of more pertinent events. While I agree its good to have perspective on such an issue, as in don't let it consume you, we shouldn't dissuade honest discussion about our hobby because 'BAD STUFF IS HAPPENING ELSEWHERE'.

The problem isn't specifically that there is sexual assault/rape as such topics are dealt in other mediums in a relevant and respectful manner. What we are discussing is the apparent nefarious underlying reason behind why this material is being included in this latest iteration of Lara Croft. Rosenburg's article implied the violence and sexual violence committed against Laura was a means to pander to male audience's need to 'protect Lara'. That they would 'build her up, and then break her down again' so us men would get our jollies protecting Laura's sexual innocence by not letting the bad raping men touch her, and defile her innocence. This of the most vile, and base means of characterization within storytelling, and SHOULD be criticized on this basis if this is their intention.

I REPEAT, I'm not saying the subject of rape shouldn't be included in videogames. I'm just saying that rape shouldn't be used to tickle our puerile fantasies of protecting women from rape to preserve their precious fragile dignity, or as a lazy characterization device. This is insulting to both genders.

 

[Thomas Barnsley]

of course this bit is a rape scene!

Lara rapes that guy by smashing him in the nuts... duh.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

Who let the executive produceer talk to people?! Put him back in his cage, dammit!

 

[Cheesepower5]

God DAMN is the reaction to this out of all fucking proportion. We can't even have fucking character development anymore because all the pansies out there cry "MYSOGINIST!" and "GAY!" and "OMFG SEX" at everything. It's reactionary bullshit coming from every side of the spectrum and it's just stifling anybody's right to do anything. How is it bad to imply that some bandit type guy on a jungle island is going to sexually assault a pretty, stranded girl AT ALL out of the realm of possibility? And she kicks his ass! That's a good thing! She doesn't have a mental break down, she's just a little fucking scared. That's human. You aim to tell a realistic story and all the whiners just make you draw back on it all and soften everything.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

More media hype mongering and carnival barking, I see.

Remember when this magazine used to be more than just attempts to get page views?

 

[Clearing the Eye]

According to Crystal Dynamics, a little groping doesn't constitute sexual assault.

Jesus fucking Christ Grey, did they say that ANYWHERE? What the fuck is wrong with you? Fuck.

Grey likes to sensationalize and do anything he can for page views, lately. Sadly, your average reader buys into it.