Gaming in Film and TV - Alex’s Perspective

On the topic of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies, I think the modern version has definitely taken on board the same lessons as the latest games, the most modern Tomb Raider games. They have decreased the chest size and she's fairly skinny and so it's more proportioned and the developers are obviously more self aware than in the old games.

I love the old games and films though. There are problematic issues with the old Tomb Raider films, but they have a special place in my heart because they're just good corny fun and I like them a lot.

I remember seeing the first Tomb Raider when I was 11 at the cinema and I felt quite guilty because it was a 12 certificate. I'm one of those people who was like, they're gonna kick me out, I'm only 11. I would wore extra high sandals just to look taller and then it was fine.

I think there were some elements I remember being uncomfortable. Obviously, the shower scenes which everyone knows about. She just decides to have a shower and there's at least a minute's worth of shower scene time. Then you see her butt at one point, although they often cut that bit out for TV.

I wanted to point out in both the original Tomb Raider film and Cradle of life you've got the juxtaposition of the male love interest because they had to put those in. They are heavily sexualised as well. You've got Daniel Craig before he was James Bond also having a shower scene and then Gerard Butler in the sequel Cradle of Life just being child Butler.

At one point, Lara uses sex to manipulate Gerard Butler's character and get what she wants out of the situation which was interesting. Because it's a film, there has to be a romantic element, so I thought there were some parts of that where they were obviously playing up to the expectations of it and other parts they got pretty okay.

There were some nice touches with the obvious things that you love about Lara. It had the double pistols and the sense of supernatural elements to each of the films as well.

There were definitely some problematic elements there but I think the new one has a similar plot line. I mean there were a lot of plot holes in the old ones, I think I actually prefer the older ones to be honest.

I really liked in Wreck-It Ralph how many Easter eggs there were in it and I think that's something that's reflected in a lot of games. There's just so many. You can watch Wreck-It Ralph about three times and still spot something new the next time you watch it.

On the matter of films being made into games, it's an interesting question for me, because the entirety of my childhood gaming catalogue is games of films.

Very early on on the PC, I had things like Bugs Life the Game, Toy Story the Game and then moving on to PlayStation. I've got literally all of the Harry Potters, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit the Game. There's another, Simpsons: Hit and Run, a really good one. Pirates of the Caribbean even. And then we get into Lego, whether it's Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Harry Potter.

A lot of my PS2 gaming catalogue are games of films or books. I suppose it's just this never ending train of different forms of the same thing which are all great.

Gaming the System is a feminist gaming podcast where 4 intersectional feminists examine gaming through a feminist lens. This article is a abridgement of Alex's perspective from our episode on games in TV and Film. If you want to hear more, you can check out the full episode on the links below. Welcome to Gaming the System!

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