In ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ there is a strong female protagonist; the film is based on the adventures of an archaeologist originally depicted in a series of video games, which gave teenage boys the power to control a beautiful woman and alter camera shots which depicted her. Croft’s character is described as “a beautiful, intelligent and athletic archaeologist-adventurer”. The fact that Croft is supposed to be seen as a powerful but sexualised woman is demonstrated through the use of camera angles. Within ‘Tomb Raider’ a large number of camera shots focus on Croft’s chest and thighs - this is where her guns are strapped so every time she uses them the camera focuses here. An example would be in the opening scenes of the film in which Croft fights a robot in a training scene, there is a five second close-up shot of Croft’s thighs. This objectifying of the character can easily be seen from Laura Mulvey’s Theory of the Male Gaze, suggesting some “films objectify women in relation to ‘the controlling male gaze’, presenting ‘woman as image’ (or ‘spectacle’) and man as ‘bearer of the look’. Men do the looking; women are there to be looked at.”
This would suggest that the character of Croft is simply there for male pleasure rather than alter gender stereotypes; demonstrated in the opening fight scene in which the camera focuses with a series of close-ups on her breasts, legs and bottom, Croft is noticeably portrayed as a sex symbol. This is observably a common issue within the film industry as seen in Transformers with Megan Fox.
When applying Mulvey's 'male gaze theory' to the film Transformers, a good scene to analyse is when she is checking Sam's engine. This is a prime example of sexualising a woman in an un-sexual scene just the the viewers pleasure.
There is a mid shot when she opens the hood to Sam's car to check the engine. Within the mise-en-scene you see her bare torso due to the crop top she is wearing, and also within this shot her head is completely cut off which is turning her into an object just for visual pleasure. The protagonist, Sam, is seen gazing at her body, this implies that even though Sam is near centre screen, the camera wants us to follow his eyes.
Megan Fox as an actress has the 'perfect' body that young girls want to achieve, so from a females point of view this shot could be looking at her for inspiration.
The shot then changes to a point of view shot from Sam and he pans up looking at Mikaela's body. From the min skirt to the crop top and again, cutting out her head and still making her an object for the male pleasure. The camera being from Sam's point of view shows the audience what he is concentrating on, even though his car has just broke down.
Within this particular scene, point of view shots are used more then mid shots, close ups and any other shots really. This is because we are gazing at Mikaela's body as if we are Sam and this is what the camera want sis to look at. However, there then is a a mid close up of Sam hiding his reaction from Mikaela, as you can clearly see he is sexually frustrated. As this is from a heterosexual males point of view, most heterosexual males more than likely feel the same way as what Sam does. In conclusion to these shots, though Sam is not listening to anything that Mikaela is saying about his car, her appearance and her body is too over-whelming for him.
It is clear that the action film industry is very much a man’s world. Clearly signifying that men watch films for entertainment in particular sexual arousal, in relation to ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory. Although Croft’s clearly objectified, she can still be seen as role model to women as she fights against the stereotype of women as victims. She is strong and independent and an audience may watch her for personal identity so they can find a model of behaviour. Nevertheless, there is a suggestion that characters such as Croft could be bad for women as a role model, as these films promote the “‘superwoman ideal’ — the idea that women should excel in traditional feminine roles, as well as traditional male areas.”
Ref: Laura Mulvey: Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
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