torsdag den 14. juni 2012

Tomb Raider: Voldtægt og brystkræft?

Så lægger vi så småt ud igen efter en kort pause grundet fæle eksamensopgaver, og hvad er der sket i fraværet? E3, selvfølgelig! Fik I alle set gameplay-traileren til Ubisofts kommende titel: Watch Dogs? Hvis ikke så kan I tjekke den ud her på siden! Den kan jeg varmt anbefale jer at se!

Men så opdagede jeg en spøjs lille nyhed her i dag, da jeg browsede igennem nyhederne. En artikel der handler om voldtægt i det kommende Tomb Raider, og jeg må ærligt indrømme, at min nysgerrighed blev vakt. Ser I, Tomb Raider er ikke bare en almindelig spilserie. Det er spil som Tomb Raider og Metroid, der fødte kvinden i rollen som actionhelten, for i disse spil var det såmænd ikke kvinden, som skulle reddes: Hun var redderen! Jeg går fuldstændigt ind for ligestilling, og det glæder mig at kunne dele min gaminginteresse med begge køn og opleve den samme gejst for mediet, så naturligvis bliver jeg nysgerrig, når jeg læser om voldtægt i det næste Tomb Raider, og hvad dælen sker der for det?


Sagen er den, at Kotaku havde et interview med spillets executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, hvori han sagde noget, som nok ikke skulle have været sagt:

RON: "And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her, and-"
KOTAKU: "They try to rape her?"
RON: "She's literally turned into a cornered animal. And that's a huge step in her evolution: she's either forced to fight back or die and that's what we're showing today."


Jeg har hørt om mystiske ideer i forhold til Lara Croft. Blandt andet har en fyr foreslået, at hun burde få brystkræft! Hvorfor? For at skabe mere drama! Hvad kunne være mere sejt, end en kvinde der trodser alskens farer og samtidig kæmper mod brystkræft? Dette er ikke løgn, venner. Nogen har faktisk foreslået dette. Tilbage til voldtægten: Spillets udvikler, Crystal Dynamics, viste en ny trailer til spillet ved E3, hvor man ser scenen med fyren, som prøver at voldtage Lara Croft, og man kan vurdere for sig selv, om den i virkeligheden er så vanvittigt kontroversiel, men et er sikkert: Voldtægt er altid en dum ide! Men hvad kunne dog drive en udvikler til at gøre dette?

"When you see her have to face these challenges, you start to root for her in a way that you might not root for a male character.
When people play Lara, they don't really project themselves into the character. They're more like 'I want to protect her.' There's this sort of dynamic of 'I'm going to this adventure with her and trying to protect her."

Så kan vi vist vinke farvel til Lara Croft som den stærke, selvstændige og ikke mindst seje kvinde. I stedet kan vi nu sige goddag til den stereotype, sårbare pige, som drengene skal beskytte. Men studiet har imidlertid udgivet en pressenote, hvori de tager afstand fra Rosenbergs udtalelser: "In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game." I det mindste har de anstændighed. Spillet udkommer næste år, hvor vi alle kan beskytte lille Lara Croft. Man skal blot huske på, at spillet er en reboot af Tomb Raider, og alle helte skal have en begyndelse. Spillets tagline lyder jo: A survivor is born. Efter alt at dømme vil dette eventyr kræve alt af Lara Croft for at kunne overleve, og det vil kræve sin kvinde.





English version

And we're back after a short break due to exams and what-not, but what has transpired in the absence? Well E3, of course! Did you all manage to see the gameplay trailer for Ubisoft's Watch Dogs? If not then you can watch it here, and I can wholeheartedly recommend you watching it! It looks amazing!

But I did stumble upon a rather funny bit of news today while browsing the interwebs. It was an article that said something about an attempted rape scene in the coming Tomb Raider? Naturally, my curiosity was peeked! You see, Tomb Raider isn't just another action-packed game. It's games like Tomb Raider and Metroid that placed women in the roles as action heroes, where they weren't meant to be saved: they were the saviors! I care a great deal about equality and I love the fact that I can share my gaming passion with both sexes and get the same appreciation for the medium, so naturally I get interested in knowing more about a rape scene in Tomb Raider because what is going on?


The thing is that Kotaku had an interview with the game's executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, and he said something that he might regret today:

RON: "And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her, and-"
KOTAKU: "They try to rape her?"
RON: "She's literally turned into a cornered animal. And that's a huge step in her evolution: she's either forced to fight back or die and that's what we're showing today."
I have heard about weird ideas for the Tomb Raider games, including one that was about Lara Croft suffering from breast cancer. Yes. The premise was that it would be awesome to see Lara Croft fight dungeons and bad guys while fighting the cancer. I am nok joking, guys. Someone actually suggested this! Anyway, back to the raping: the game's developer, Crystal Dynamics, showed a new trailer for the game at E3 where a dude is seemingly trying to rape Lara Croft, and you can judge for yourselves if this scene is controversial or not, but one thing is certain: rape is never a good idea! So what drove the developers to include this?


"When you see her have to face these challenges, you start to root for her in a way that you might not root for a male character.
When people play Lara, they don't really project themselves into the character. They're more like 'I want to protect her.' There's this sort of dynamic of 'I'm going to this adventure with her and trying to protect her."

I think we can now say goodbye to Lara Croft as the cool, independent and strong woman she really is. Instead we can say hello to the stereotypical, vulnerable girl that the boys need to protect. The developers did, however, send out a press note where they show some sense in this regard: "In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game." At least they have some decency. The game will be released next year where we can all protect little Lara Croft. Just remember that this game is a reboot of Tomb Raider and every hero needs a beginning. The game's tagline is: A survivor is born. All things considered this adventure will require tremendous effort to survive, and Lara Croft is the right woman for the job.

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