Is The Rebooted Lara Croft Really More Feminist? (Lady Bits #1)

IT'S HERE! The first episode of the Kickstarter funded series on women in video games. For more information, check out the kickstarter page: www.kickstarte...
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[@helbeard2420]

I get annoyed by the over-protectionism and 'likeable-ness' of female protagonists in many games, lately. Give me more stone-cold badasses!

[@LonelymoonChronicles]

Great show! The original Lara has a lot in common with Bayonetta - she's strong, confident and won't let anyone stand between her and her goal, be it man, woman, or a motherf*cking god. The rebooted Lara is just... Meh.

[@muslimmetalman]

Eh with Bayonetta...she's definitely shown as in control of herself - which is important - the way she's portrayed...it doesn't really showcase her agency outside of "I want to please the player". You could argue the same for someone like Kratos, who is a fantasy avatar - LOOKIT ME IM A BIG MANLY BURLY DUDE - but he's not intended as "suave sexy guy" to swoon over: he's just rage. Bayonetta's agency at the hands of Hideki Kamiya, is like Joss Whedon's feminism. (This may sound like a reach, I'm fully aware lol)

[@blondbraid7986]

I think Bayonetta is one of those characters that can't be easily categorized as either empowering or objectifying. Her design and the way she shows off and makes constant innuendos is off-putting to a lot of people, while at the same time, she wasn't only designed by Hideki Kamiya, but by the female fashion designer Mari Shimazaki as well, and Bayonettas look share many similarities to the stage performances of artists such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce too. Bayonetta is also very self aware and the tone is rather tounge-in-cheek, it's honest and consistent in a way that many otherwise serious games with oversexualised characters isn't.

[@muslimmetalman]

The story of both, I don't doubt, are pretty good.

[@raknasemcensura]

Also, she had infinity ammunition and fight dinosaurs, dragons and demons. Is hard to expect any form of realism from those games and characters. Principally in a time when all the characters look like papercraft dolls.

[@GreenSabre187]

I dont get it how anybody could think make a female character more whiny makes her more female friendly. The new titles are straight forward sexism!

[@magdalena4592]

I love you! You said exactly what I think and feel as a woman who grew up playing Tomb Raider. Lara was a great role model for me strong independent, smart with all her knowledge about anicent civilizations and atractiv. She showed me that women can have it all. It is sad, but I have this fealing that nower days when you are atractive women and your not ashamed of it for example you dress in a way to showe your good features some people deny you the right to call your self a feminist :/ it is sick!

[@PepperKatLancer]

I know its been 2 months but got to say. Why do you care about labels? Someone is always going to dislike you so let them move one with your life you do you! femisem and MRA should have come together for an Egalitarian movement but too much "Pearl clutching" between the two so they made there bed let them sleep in it you can be a lot happier if you walk your own path. Empowerment is a false way of thinking cause they never let you fail and you should cause that's what makes you more experienced as long as you learn from those mistakes.Maybe we sould look for Inspiration in sted of empowerment.Just a thought.

[@AnimeMangaViewer]

‘I got to fight a dinosaur! Did YOU get to fight a dinosaur? NO! You didn’t get to fight a dinosaur!’ God that made me laugh so much!

[@jeangentry6656]

loved the "Lara debate". I'm a 90s kid loyalist, so Classic Lara wins. (Did YOU get to fight a dinosaur!? I FOUGHT A DI-NO-SAUR!)

[@DarkZholt]

I hope they put dinosaurs on the new games, I mean, time travel is possible so dinosaurs would be plausible.

[@ZeroBeat1]

I'm an 80s kid. We opened the door, got on the floor, and everybody walked the dinosaur.

[@fabiomoreira1506]

You also fight dinossaurs with a badass girl in dino crisis.

[@mrrayner8457]

Having not played the "Legend" games on PS2 I prefer the 2013 reboot to OG Tomb Raider. When it comes to that game though, the main thing that was problematic for me was the damn control system. In fairness if I was to pick any console gen before this one that I fell out of love with it's the 32 bit push to polygons. Everything early was terrible, and anything good had to work around a predominantly digital control scheme in a 3D world.

[@mrrayner8457]

Aaaah redhead Regina. I remember those days, where female characters weren't scrutinised and we actually had a more varied character roster. Jill in Resident Evil 1 was easy mode BECAUSE she was a better soldier than Chris, not in spite of Chris being a man.

[@muthesquirrel]

There's a new standard for female characters as tortured, brown haired, bow users. We just plucked them from one stereotype and plopped them down in another. Apparently equality has no place for diversity. What made old Lara unique to me was her somewhat sociopathic personality while still being the heroic protagonist. She wouldn't kill for no reason, but if you're so much as a security guard between her and her goal you can only hope you don't spot her. Now she's just generally 'good'.

[@cr4yv3n]

she must be made transgender lesbian and fat for more diversity

[@AlanGChenery]

Got to agree with a lot of things you said. As a fan of the old games who only played the first 5 or so, I was horrified to see Lara reduced to a generic victim by the new games. Even as a teenager, Lara had been driven, able to overcome adversity, and fairly indipendant... Yes she was unrealistic in proportion, but she was fundamentally an exaggerated cartoon character in a world of exaggerated cartoon characters, if she had been more down to earth but still fighting dinosaurs, demons and dragons I'm not sure the fans would have bought it with such gusto. And being called sexist for prefering a character be a strong, driven woman, rather than an abused little girl, was downright shocking to me. It's so nice to hear someone voice those sentiments.

[@blondbraid7986]

I agree, the old Lara felt like an interesting reinterpretation of the great white hunter archetype, while new Lara is essentially reduced to a slasher movie scream queen.

[@brucenatelee]

I like both. The importance of the new one, to me, is her overcoming those oppositions to avoid being a victim. That's why I liked the almost-rape scene, because it puts her in a situation that is realistic that the player has to overcome.

[@blondbraid7986]

brucenatelee I think that's the problem, protagonists overcoming obstacles can bee good if done right, but with the reboot, they took what was a strong and empowering icon for so many and made her into a scared and crying damsel for most of the game cutscenes (while being Rambo in the action scenes, so she isn't even a consistent character). And the situations in the reboot are not realistic either, she still survives damage that would at the very least cripple a real person for life while killing hundreds of men. And the sexual assault scene was just awful, for unlike evil cults and zombies, such thing aren't in the realm of fantasy for most women, and it just feels wrong to put it into an escapist fantasy. And claiming it should be in games because of realism, well, in the real world many men too get raped or assaulted in prisons and war zones, but I can't think of a single instance where it happens to a male video game character.

[@pinballkitty5266]

She didn't avoid becoming a victim. She was victimized constantly, by her enemies and by her allies. She constantly put herself and was put in terrible situations that completely undermined her. Also, she constantly switched to the stupid bow and arrow during every cutscene, even when she was confronting large groups of enemies and was carrying a fully loaded assault rifle- just to justify her getting embarrassingly captured so they could do a lazy homage to The Descent.

[@Fenris30]

I don't understand the unrealistic proportions claims when I see plenty of fitness models and athletes with those same proportions. Many of which took inspiration from Lara Croft to be all they could be. If anything I always thought she didn't have the muscles to do all the things she did not that her boobs were too big. Angie and Ally had to get ripped just to play her with the physicality she has in the games so why shouldn't the in game character be ripped as well?

[@silvarrensol8370]

Favorite quote: "And, I got to fight a dinosaur. Did YOU get to fight a dinosaur?!" I liked the video, and think that this is a far better way to introduce a feminist perspective to games. It's amazing what you can do when you don't attack an audience. :P (Fwiw, not a feminist)

[@RumpelstilskinVonRut]

Woah, a good feministe analysis show? And you didn't shot down the comment section? What kind of magic is this? But seriously, really like the new format. Keep it up!

[@cr4yv3n]

Feminists are in damage control mode. Their cancerous ideology is dying everywhere.

[@jeangentry6656]

great vid. Basically what many gamers have argued for a long time: there is something for everyone. If I did play Tomb Raider, I'd pick Classic Lara. To those folks who like New Lara- enjoy! just leave Classic Lara alone. (Now, If only we could get this across to Marvel comics)

[@greyjedi1272]

@batfear007 To be fair I've seen classic fans to the same for the reboot.

[@hansoskar1911]

PSA: If fighting Dinosaurs gets you off topic, you should stronly reconsider your current topic and change it into "fighting Dinosaurs".

[@damienman25]

Next week on Lady Bits: Fighting Dinosaurs and Why it Makes Your Argument Invalid

[@thosetwogentlemen5772]

Its weird but I find the new 'Lara Croft' less believable and less realistic than actual Lara Croft. she just seems always wide eyed and whines a lot and to me thats not a compelling character, just irritating and generic in gaming these days. A lot of female characters come across as whiny and pass its a 'character.' #BringBackTRex

[@Avrysatos]

you mean.. a character that is whining and wide eyed and innocent and takes nearly fatal wounds and then does acrobatics and extreme rock climbing isn't believable to you? (Me neither, i'm just being silly. I was like -_- when I saw her at the beginning of the newest game start rock climbing right after a car crash.)

[@Zeburaman2005]

Those Two Gentlemen Do you mean less satisfying? Because the old Lara wasn't exactly realistic​ either, yet she did fit the gaming world she inhabited without too many discrepancies. New Lara seems to suffer from open-world syndrome, where storytelling and gameplay are at odds with each other.

[@SteveOfWarr]

FINALLY, a levelheaded discussion on this subject and on the internet of all places. This video it's fantastic. It basically mirrors my exact sentiments and complaints with the series and how Reboot Lara is automatically perceived as better when the reality is that she does more to regress the character than improve it. Thank you for making this!

[@sunbro6998]

"PATRIARCHY" -- I feel like you put that joke in there just for me.

[@taurusteelpan]

Liana just conveyed the frustration of every person who's had an argument with a feminist. Insert feminist buzzword here ____________________, because I got nothing.

[@tbk2010]

Well, that certainly beats a certain other feminist/videogame YT show... I personally like the "Core" Lara best (around TR2), and yes, the (increasingly less-pointy) boobs have something to do with that. But she is also tough as hell, cool, acrobatic, aggressive, clever, witty and iconic. Sure, she isn't really a well-rounded character compared to the 2010's Whiny-Sociopath-Lara, but she doesn't have to be. Compare her to Mario or the Master Chief, not some high-brow movie protagonist.

[@blondbraid7986]

That's the thing, there are so many fun and cool male heroes like Mario or Nathan Drake, but hardly any female heroines that are allowed to just be fun and cool, they all have to be whiny and "strong but fragile" and have a dark backstory.

[@patrickbuckley7259]

"I got to fight a dinosaur, did you get to fight a dinosaur, no you did not get to fight a dinosaur!" Yeah that pretty much invalidates the oppositions argument...

[@SAMaxwellAdams]

That box is the most enthralling co-host I've ever seen.

[@smashallpots1428]

Maxwell Adams I kniw I caught myself staring at it many time throughout the video

[@brucenatelee]

Fuck the box, where's the sock?

[@chrisleeharvey]

For me, I enjoyed Lara's personality pre-2013 Tomb Raider. At the time when they came out, I saw the character attributes of her personality as something that i wanted to emulate. That being said I enjoyed the story from the 2013 Tomb Raider, and was hoping that the events of which would have changed her more into the character i had come to know previously. You did see a glimmer of that at the end while she was rescuing Sam, and i also got pumped when she grabbed the second pistol thinking that the moment had finally came, but even the scene after that and the sequel seemed to flatten out her character even more.

[@falingangel100]

I am not a big fan of the Franchise but what I found quit relevant about the old Lara is that she was a perfectly character. She was incredibly rich, very intelligent and very strong. So it make sense to me that her physicality was also perfect to the current beauty standards. Great show.

[@otakudaikun]

So... I'm a late comer to the Tomb Raider franchise but feel she's a much stronger, more likable character both visually and emotionally in the earlier games. Her reboot is cool and all but I don't think sexualization has ever been something that hurt her. They could put in some classic outfits as DLC and I'd buy them because a fit midriff is admirable and I like all my game characters to look good.

[@NEJersey]

I'm glad you got Lady Bits off the ground. Gratz. I wish we had this two years ago to counter anita. Better late than never! Long shall you reign!

[@Neville60001]

Sadly I fear that _nothing_ can counter Sarkesian at all, and it may be too late to undo what harm she's done to videogames. Of course, I could be wrong, and Liana could succeed with this channel, so there's always hope.

[@jordanharrison1113]

This video. THIS VIDEO. It’s everything. It backs up every argument I’ve ever had about this character. I love it. LOVE IT. This video should be mandatory for all fans of this franchise.

[@eznosnopes5276]

"Remember, this show covers a range of view points." Ouch. Shots fired!!!!

[@BellaTheDollie]

Most of my feminist friends don't like Reboot Lara.

[@charliemilroy6497]

Anna Bridgette your feminist friends probably don't like anything

[@charliemilroy6497]

Anna Bridgette the thing that Liana forgets to mention when comparing Lara from the original games and the reboot, Lara is young and inexperienced in the first reboot game. It's not a comment on women being mentally weak. There is a tendency in modern game storytelling to have a flawed protagonist with weaknesses to overcome rather than the bad ass super hero like characters from the 90s. There is room for a light hearted character like Nathan Drake, and it could have worked with Lara being quippy, but I prefer it the way they chose to do it

[@jeggsonvohees2201]

@@charliemilroy6497 Reboot Lara doesn't have any weaknesses beyond a momentary regret when she makes her first kill. After that she's an invincible remorseless killer for the rest of the trilogy.

[@Neville60001]

@@charliemilroy6497, I prefer this version too, as it makes her less of a superheroine with no flaws and makes her an ordinary person who has to learn and grow into the heroine we know her as generally.

[@Marrikable]

Reboot Lara is a terrible character. If Tomb Raider wasn't already an established franchise, nobody would give a shit it

[@Morriganhailey]

Old lara - Badass, independent woman who went on her own to do what she wanted instead of being forced on a marriage to keep parents money.... oh but she wears "tiny shorts" so she's "anti feminist"... New lara - weak, whining, over dramatic girl who can't stop searching for her dad because she has no identity or goals of her own ... but she uses long pants! so she's ultra progressive.

[@GreenSabre187]

Isnt it pretty stupid yeah? I hate the new ones for that. She is totally anooying and she even says in rise of the tomb raider "i hate tombs" so what the fuck? Should this be more female freindly cause, you know, womens are just like that? They totally missed the point and created a sexist lara out of a female friendly one. Our society is fucked up..

[@bradbowers963]

I very much prefer the old bad ass Lara! I own all the previous games and finished them all. New Lara is pretty meh so far. I played and finished the first reboot hoping to see Old Lara emerge at the end...but she didn't. I'm near the end of the 2nd game and she's still not there. If Lara isn't using her twin pistols by game 3...I might not bother with it at all.

[@ninjafoxgamesgeekery]

Brad Bowers Be sure to play the Blood Ties DLC. I feel like they're slow burning, but building reboot Lara up to grow into the globe hopping bad ass. Just with a little more compassion for others and her impact on them.

[@morganagod]

I loved this video. You touched on a lot of my criticisms and gave me new things to think about like reflected objectification. As someone who grew up with the franchise during puberty (I was 12 when the first game came out) I will 100% admit that my initial draw was Lara's ample bosom. She was definitely a safe outlet, so I fall in to that third category of gamer you mentioned in the first three minutes. While I enjoy the new games as better versions of Uncharted, a lot of what had become important to me was lost in the reboot. Nearly all of which you mention, but I'd like to add something... I think. You may have mentioned this and I missed it. If so, I apologize. But what interests me is how systems affect psychology. While combat was a part of Tomb Raider, especially Tomb Raider 2, the gameplay could be more categorized as a puzzle game. Your goal was to figure out how to get from point a to point b, and the environment was something you negotiated with. Remember that scene in Indiana Jones where Indy looks at the golden idol and muses on what to do to avoid a trap? That was the feeling the game design engendered in the original games. Whereas the new games are almost entirely built around a combat loop. The analogy I always use for how different the new Tomb Raider feels is, "Imagine if portal stopped being about 'thinking with portals,' and started being a a game about shooting robots." Both game types can be good, you can make a good game about shooting robots, but something is lost. In Lara's case, this also affects how I see the character. Original Lara seems far more calculating, like she's one step ahead. Whereas new Lara seems reactionary. Not dumb, but not forward thinking either. During the reboot I had figured out what was going on within the first couple of hours, when she stumbles in on those murals for the first time to be precise, and color me surprised when Lara didn't figure it out until the second to last bonfire (maybe the last, I forget exactly.) This really bothered me, and it felt like the neutering of the character was complete. Anyway, apologies for the wall of text, you definitely have a new supporter on patreon. Looking forward to more.

[@ckmondaviable]

I knew you could rock classic Lara, but you also nailed new Lara very well! Your a Cosplay master Liana!

[@rall172]

You are soooo on point. I HATE what "THEY" did to Lara. She went from a grown, strong, badass, lone wolf style archaeologist to a whiny, annoying, prom girl that is just a bundle of emotions. I loved the old games as a kid, and played (died...) the shit out of them. The Legend timeline was really good, controls were SOO MUCH BETTER, and they pretty much kept Lara as she was. But the "new" Lara.... That's NOT Lara! They just ripped-off Uncharted and turned a game that was mostly a puzzle platformer to a 3rd person shooter with some PATHETIC "PuZzLeS" here and there. "THEY" just do whatever sells best, and "THEY" don't give a shit about anything else. JUST FUCKING SAD... I'm done here, I'm gonna play some Tomb Raider Anniversary, and cry a bit because we will never see old Lara again....😥😭

[@fleacythesheepgirl]

It feels like every female video game protagonist is young thin light skinned with straight dark hair and a moderate bust. At this point Laura having a large bust line is diversity 😆

[@Sgszzz]

This was brilliant! Can’t wait to see the next episode!

[@StolenEyesX]

Yay! Off we go! Great first video Liana. Informative, well-researched and fun. And, most importantly, it’s made me think. Thank you. Looking forward to Episode 2. 😊👍

[@LMoftheCoast]

Great work Liana :) You've constructed this episode almost perfectly to foster discussion. Keep it up, and may I say that the back and forth you did between the two versions of Lara was excellent. A real highlight of this video IMO.

[@jdprettynails]

Great episode! I've always been a huge fan of old Lara. For me...the sexualisation of her never came from the games themselves but from the damn marketing. You didn't mention the teasing in game magazine ads, the "naked Lara cheat" or the end credits sequence where she is paraded in different outfits, with the final shot is of her sitting naked on a chair. I remember being 12 years old, beating the game, feeling like a badass....only for the end credits to "reward" me by reducing my character to a damn pinup. My mum even said "oh clearly they never intended for girls to like this game". And because of things like this in games in general, my mum would actively discourage me from enjoying my passion. She even refused to buy me a Game Boy because of its NAME!!!! Looking forward to the next episode. I totally geeked out when I heard Rhianna Pratchett backed the Kickstarter for this episode. I'm such a huge fan of her and her dad!

[@smurphftw2008]

That viewer discretion warning is legendary.

[@iDEATH]

I've been looking forward to this, Liana, and I think you did a rather nice job, thanks. I'm an old timey Lara Croft fan. What I always liked about her was the cocky adventurer archetype in female form. In Lara's case she avoided the pitfall of just being a male character in drag that so many heroines get stuck with being. Lara always felt like she was still a woman, you know? That was just neat to see, especially in the mid-90s. She gets a lot of flack for what she looked like, but I seem to recall there were a few games that came out and tried to do the sexy female protagonist as well. Most of them didn't work because they were just bad games, so it didn't matter what the protagonist was or how naughty her pixels were. Gameplay and story will always win in the long run. As for my feelings about Lara's figure, well, it does bother me that they slimmed her down. Old Lara wasn't an impossible figure, maybe just like a slightly exagerrated Sofia Vergara. Keep in mind, when it comes to the aesthetics, I like the new Lara more. Slender and athletic is more my type, but it was a dumb change. I like the first couple games, Legend, and Underworld was pretty good to. They were pretty crap in the middle there, though. The reboot is pretty good by me, but I'd love to see them really open it up. Like Far Cry with less evil junta feel, and Lara searching for and exploring a series of tombs to raid. I do think that they are taking a bit long to get Lara back to something closer to her earlier incarnations, but I think it's the direction they are headed, from the Croft Manor dlc. I hope it is, anyways.

[@LadyTaraJo]

I love it! Isn't it amazing that it's possible to talk about feminist issues without being condescending, insulting or hostile? I wish more pop-feminists would take this approach!

[@MrSandMan961]

New Lara's loss of agency is one of my biggest issues with her along with her less interesting personality and I'm surprised you didn't go further into her daddy complex. In the first game there are literally 4 different types of daddys. The Dead Daddy, Her Surrogate Daddy who dies that game, the Daddy that's more like an older brother and the Daddy that disappoints her. Comparatively, the two only other female characters in the game are the aforementioned damsel in distress and the sassy black woman who antagonises Lara most of the game. I haven't finished the sequel yet but her agency and development in that game is tied SUPER hard to her father. I hate the trope of "female character is cool because she had cool male role models" with a burning passion. Old Lara's skills were tied to male characters too, a teacher and her adventuring father but her femininity offset that (something new Lara lacks) and it also wasn't mentioned in game every 5 seconds. Lara won't stop mentioning her daddy in the second game and I just don't care. I dislike New Lara because in an effort to make her more likable she's painfully normal in terms of personality. In game flavor text is read with all of the nuance of a 70 year old history teacher I also find the de-sexualization of her kind of hilarious seeing as how the wet tank top she was running around in in the first game was so distracting I HAD to put her in another outfit because every cutscene just became a walking pair of tits crying to another character.

[@rall172]

"I HAD to put her in another outfit because every cutscene just became a walking pair of tits crying to another character." ROFLMFAO Holy shit that one killed me! And my keyboard...😂😂😂

[@lynchstan9745]

There's something about the second "patriarchy" at 14:54 that gets me xD So unsure, yet so sure of herself

[@IcoOst]

@Liana_K although the whole world will tell us otherwise, at the end of the day, a nuanced outlook will win, keep up the good work

[@manco828]

Too bad this series will not get the millions of view that "Tropes vs Women" got.

[@T3DRAGOON]

This was cool. I am excited to see the show is finally out and look forward to more.

[@MsBrendalina]

BLESS YOU for making this, Liana!!! I thought I was the only one who felt that the hyper-sexualized bitch that we got in the old school Tomb Raider games was WAY more feminist than the weepy, emotional lead character we got in the recent reboot. Personally, I thought it was gross that New-Lara needed some traumatic backstory (which, of course, involved attempted rape by a goon) in order to transform her from a posh British schoolgirl into a badass. Why the fuck couldn't she just engage in Indiana Jones style adventures simply because she wants to? Why couldn't her back story just be "I'm rich and I wanna go on an adventure to find Atlantis and kill dinosaurs because it's cool!"? Nathan Drake didn't need an entire game dedicated to him crying through his first adventure and agonizing over killing his first goon! So why is Lara required to go through that shit in order to be granted the status of a fully realized character? Also, it's very hard to take the reboot game seriously when the cutscenes show Lara sobbing over every living thing she kills but the gameplay allows you to SLAUGHTER enemy goons without a second thought. If the dev team wanted to make New-Lara a weepy little girl for the first part of the game, the gameplay should have reflected that more. But, because nobody wanted to play as a Pacifist Lara Croft, the gameplay and the story clashed so much that it became a joke among gamers

[@zen1252]

I needed this after the stupid bullshit NBC pulled. I will post the link to ep 1 and 0 in the latest extra credits gaming video comments as soon as they upload it so maybe this might got more views. Thank you for making this video.

[@pinballkitty5266]

The 'majority' opinion is pretty skewed when most of the people in the conversation never played the original games and only saw the pinups.

[@Amesang]

This is a great start to the series and I hope to see "Lady Bits" continue on for many more episodes; as someone who tends to have things fly over the head I'm glad you spoke in generally "simple" terms so someone like me can understand and follow along (the comedic moments helping to add some much needed levity). As an "old school" gamer, albeit one who has never played any of the _Tomb Raider_ games, I much prefer the characterization of the original Lara as a tough-as-nails person able to take care of herself amid the dangerous situations she found herself in, although I can recognize the idea of an inexperienced Lara trying to "find herself" as the later games seem to present. (Granted, this opinion is coming from someone used to playing games where the men and women are treated with full equality to the point where they'd be easily interchangeable in any given situation, so I never understood the call out against the "man with boobs" trope; but then again my current _Dungeons & Dragons_ character is a lawful good, female human paladin who's the "den mother" of her party, providing much needed defense and recovery between her sword swinging and shield bashing, so… yeah, maybe I just don't get it.)

[@lilteddiursa]

Love this new series a lot! Also I can see all that Zelda manga in the back shelf there, love those!

[@RedLianaK]

Conor I was wondering if anyone would see those!

[@zerohour19]

Great work Liana! Look forward to where this goes. One critique, the loop on the overlay track of music was a bit distracting. Didn't feel like the loop was natural. Something to consider!

[@ErgoProxy12345]

i want a Lara Croft game in which she finally changes from reboot Lara at the beginning to old Lara halfway through.

[@Neville60001]

Why?

[@GreenSabre187]

@@Neville60001 because the new lara is shit and sexist, simple as that.

[@jaspermcminnis5538]

@@GreenSabre187 How is it sexist?

[@PeJota615]

Great first episode. Old-school Lara Croft was a fun badass adventurer. She was a cartoon character, so her exaggerated features made sense. And yeah, her voice was the sexiest thing about her... not her pointy boobs made from 2 polygons. New school Lara is pretty boring and the game is like weird survival horror torture porn.

[@Biouke]

I have the same impression. Old Lara was a bad ass unrealistic heroine. New Lara seems like a girl next door porn fantasy designed for sadists to fap while playing since every cutscene is basically her getting hurt, abused and squirming. No need to say I find the bad ass cartoon bimbo more empowering. They rebooted a dom into a sub XD

[@rossdavis428]

It is obvious that the "2013 Lara Croft" visual redesign was an effort to pander to people who are self-conscious of their own body images. That is why "2013 Lara Croft" was redesigned to have less of an Hourglass body figure and have a more toned-down visually attractiveness standard. And honestly, I despise the new Lara Croft redesign because of it. Why do I despise the redesign, you ask? Because it shows just how shallow-minded modern society's perception of what visually attractiveness represents actually is. Why else would they want to change Lara Croft visual design? It takes ridiculously weak minded people to become self-conscious just by looking at visually attractive video game character, and that level of weakness should not be encouraged.

[@graveraider1029]

true, we also dont see this happening to main male leads in video game franchises. I think they did Lara Croft a dishonor changing her whole look and removing her sex appeal.

[@Retrorevelations]

I think you did a really good job Liana! I think my only real criticism, would be that some of the on-screen text, needs to stay on screen longer. Some of it seems to fly by, making it hard to read. Otherwise, I'm digging it! Also, while I get that you were trying to present a balance of positives for both the original and reboot TR series, let's be honest: you TOTALLY made the case for why the original TR games were far better.

[@SleightCreative]

I hope there is someone out there not blocked by Anita to share this stuff with her

[@BeatGoat]

Such a fun and engaging episode, I didn't even realize 25 minutes had passed.

[@buddyluv324]

"Legends" Lara > 2013 Lara

[@blondbraid7986]

I think Legends is one of my all-time favorite games, just the pacing alone is excellent. No stopping and flipping through menus at campfires, no "quick" travel with endless loading screens, no crafting, just a bunch of really good game levels.

[@GreenSabre187]

Its awesome you re right :)

[@dragonwatter]

awsome. first off seeing you argue with your self is fun. this was great.i might have to re watch this to see if i missed anything the first time. you did a grat job with real education hear. personally mt favorite laura is the movie laura. but the original games we more fun to play.. i recent bought the newer one and. well it just not as fun. i want my video game character to make me feel powerful new laura just dosen't. .by the definition you use i think the old laura is more feminist. i mean even old laura outfit conveys that sense of fearlessness.she was an all around stronger character. hell i'm a man and old laura was someone to look up to. yeah she fucked up but she da well new what she could do and that the courage and strength to do it. new laura is all maybe i can do this save me. also game design critique, it was easier to see the old game. though i do see were modern feminist see new laura and more empowered now that empowered mean being a victim. personally i just can't get in to the new ame enough to compleat t

[@RickGladwin]

Yeah I thought they did a great job in the movie with Lara's adventurousness and attitude towards other people and life in general. If you haven't seen it, watch the behind-the-scenes work that was done on the first film. You get a real sense that Angelina Jolie, in the midst of training to do almost all her own stunts, really got into the spirit of the character and approached it like her own adventure.

[@sjerkins]

Gad, I remember discussing this game back in the late 1990s. Yeah, we played Tomb Raider on the back shift between rounds.. The consensus was that Laura Croft was the new Jungian archetype for the Amazon Warrior. Being an archetype, you don't expect to find it in reality but as a goal to keep in mind for self improvement on that path. (10 guys and 3 women on the graveyard shift at the power plant. The gaming people were a mix of technicians, operators, and security guards.)

[@andrebax92]

You are totally right on everything! Thank you

[@pre180]

Informative and balanced, if it was a meal I would be satisfied and waiting for the next course. Good job.

[@Thagomizer]

I think there are significant differences between the Core-Era Lara and the Lara from the Legend-Anniversary-Underworld story arc. In fact, I would argue that this makes these two different characters entirely. The best summation of Core-Era Lara was a line from the first cinematic of the first game: "I'm sorry, I only play for sport." She was a thrill-seeker and adventurer. She was doing what she did because she loved it, and this was the same reason we played the game. This didn't make her shallow, but it did maker her mythic, which is to say that she was a great escapist character, like Conan, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, etc. She was impossible, but plausible in exactly the right ways. Fans of the game didn't fantasize her sexually so much as they wanted to BE her. In this timeline, Lara's parents are both alive and well. They disowned her due to her prodigal ways, and she seemed completely fine with that. If I cared at all about feminism (and I don't), I would argue that this is a far more feminist interpretation of the character than the Lara who seems to be entirely defined by her relationship with her father. Core Lara wasn't angsty or self-obsessed, and she understood herself completely. She sure never needed a story about trauma and dead parents to explain or justify herself to anyone, which is all the post-Core games have ever done. Do Square and Crystal think this is what we play Tomb Raider for? And if so, why? We only ever got this nonsense about Lara's father being an archaeologist from the TR movie onward (when he was renamed Richard Croft instead of Henshingly Croft). Attempting to give her "depth" by making her story about loss and trauma works against the appeal of the character. Legend even explicitly tells us this by making the entire dour story arc of the LAU trilogy one long excuse for itself: Lara became an archaeologist to uncover the mystery of her parents' disappearance, which was caused by a stable time-loop of Lara searching for the cause of her mother's disappearance. It even ruins the story of TR1. In the original game, I have no doubt that the Lara portrayed there has killed before. Why else would she be walking around with a pair of pistols in her holster? Why did the writers decide to have their cake and eat it too by not allowing Lara to be beaten in her hunt for the Scion or to kill Pierre directly? In the original game, he makes it to the artifact first, and you gun him down and take it from him after the boss battle. Why rob the players of the satisfying experience of killing these enemies directly? Why make Larson morally ambiguous to the point of making his death unjustifiable, then have Lara kill him, feel the angst, and decide that she was OK with it after all if her actions ended up saving the world? Morality just doesn't work that way, and her reasons for shooting him just seem childish. Why make Natla a more obvious sorceress/seductress archetype in lieu of the crass lioness/tycoon she was in the first game? Just listen to the conversation between Lara and Natla Atlantis in TR1. It's a dialogue between two mature women who both know the score, and are attempting to reason with each other. And the final battle is nothing resembling a cat fight, but a battle between two warriors. That's infinitely removed from the cliched nonsense of "We can rule together", "I killed your father", and "Your heart is as black as mine!" Ugh, and interactive cut-scenes. No game should EVER have these. By attempting to moralize, the Anniversary story is *less* moral than the one presented in the first game, where Lara was a stable, unsentimental anti-hero who was hunting after the artifact for sport. Nothing about this interpretation of the TR1 story rings true at all. The newest reboot series isn't even Tomb Raider. It's just a gritty Uncharted clone with an open world and a better cover system. Heck, the three LAU games were just Prince of Persia clones, too. Real Tomb Raider (as in, careful, deliberate platforming and exploration) has been dead for a long time, just as the real Lara Croft has been MIA since the end of Angel of Darkness.

[@teddyharvester]

The twin pistol / bow equality thing is not only awesome symbolically, but also kind of badass in concept - imagine firing the pistols while pulling back the bow-string, then releasing the arrow. Thanks, now it's stuck in my head. Also, thank you for being a voice of reason and constructive discussion in this weird ass time.

[@alexanderrowley9870]

This was great, really glad I really dropped a couple quid on the Kickstarter :) One thing I would just say is that during the debate between the two Laras, I didn't realise you were actually playing them (rather than just being dressed up as them) until near the end of that segment, which threw me out a little.

[@sjkiddo_]

Although it hasn't aged well, Tomb Raider 2 is one of my favourite games ever. I loved Lara growing up! The reboot was disappointing.

[@livnatkris]

I love your vids. I'm so glad I've found someone who thinks like me on these subjects. I'm also glad you bring this from a female point of view that do not subject to the more radical point of view! thank you very much for posting your vids in which you review other opinions of view as well, even if they go against your own!

[@jeggsonvohees2201]

The second game was so damn easy that it broke my immersion. When I'm surrounded by 20 professional soldiers and a Blackhawk helicopter, I should not have the slightest chance in hell in a head on fight. Problem is, there was no other choice.

[@simplybohai3912]

I knew it! Her original name was Laura Cruz! I remember that from when I was kid! I read in a magazine but no one else ever believed me.

[@gregg4174]

Great vid Liana. Looking forward to more of this series. Seems like a good time. On a totally unrelated note, your cosplay game is on point!

[@Titanium]

Hell yes, I've been looking forward to this.

[@Arvandor81]

Very funny. And does a great job of explaining everything that was cool about original Lara. I have always loved playing as dangerous badass heroines, and I despise modern feminism's determination to erase such characters. Its self-defeating and deeply misguided, as it just encourages gamers like me to go back to playing male characters.

[@Avrysatos]

Modern feminism really doesn't agree on these sorts of things though, one perspective wants to erase them, yes, but there are just as many that want characters like lara croft to be celebrated and adore them. That's why videos like this are important.....

[@RFTL]

The problem with Outrage Feminism is you can never do the right thing (except if you are part of the outrage club then you can't do wrong). If you make a strong female character they chastise you for her not being feminine enough. If you make feminine character the chastise you for her not strong enough (continue the list for every possible character trait). For me Liana Kerzner is always a good remainder that Feminism =/= Outrage Feminism. But the extremists really do everything to poison the well for everyone.

[@jeangentry6656]

Liana: "Lara was Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know......" Me: Now, where IS my Dead or Alive collection?" (the band, not the games. lol :-P)

[@TCitron]

That was very interesting and refreshing amidst the ocean of people screaming at each other or at gamers/feminists/any combination. I was never a fan of the tomb raider series (the gameplay isn't my cup of tea) and I only played the second one but your take on the series gave me food for thought about how I view the different Laras. In my mind she was just another shallow video game character, with her badass characteristics and that's it. Just like Duke Nukem, Mario, the monocycles form Unirally and others. but the tidbits of lore and context you provided did show the huge differences between incarnations and much more interesting and as a result more than just a pair of boobs with guns/bow that the mainstream often protray her as. It might be the only comment I'll make on this series but I think it is important to show that the silent part of the audience is at least interested and thinks about what is talked about in the show. EDIT: I saw someone in the comments asking for potential sources when you bring up numbers, I second that if it is possible, it would give so much more weight to your thought out points

[@jeangrondin921]

It would have been nice to show the numbers of your surveys, or at least to link them in the description. In fact, giving a link for all your sources would be even better.

[@ninjafoxgamesgeekery]

Jean Grondin Definitely agree. Source links wold be a big plus.

[@KLRGOFFIRE]

That one is a little bit tricky. There were weekly livestreams with backers & patreons, which obviously were part of the kickstarter. And from what I get a lot of people also mailed Liana in private. These exchanges became the base of the series. So it's hard to get any fixed numbers. It was a very fluid process. Depending on the video/topic you can estimate a test audience between 100 to 300 people (And yes this nr is completly pulled out of my ass based on her ~200+ patreons & 600+ backers.)

[@dashingshadowbolt6209]

Sorry, I'm going to be really girly here and say, I love the top you're wearing in this video, it really suits your colouring :D (And for the record, yes, i am a gamer and have played the Tomb Raider games)

[@Biouke]

Orange and cyan are complementary colours (opposites on the spectrum) so blue-ish colors (from purple to green) look good on redheads :)

[@philzeo]

I loved how 2013 laura was written because it felt more like people i knew in real life, and i didn't see it as protecting Laura but as influencing the world AS laura, as she began to train her survival skills and overcome impossible odds. The number of times i died was a testament to that, though i did play on a harder difficulty. I love the point of view espoused in this, though i do feel as though rise of the tomb raider is way more susceptible to the problems you pointed out than the reboot was. Overall, awesome analysis of both and i look.forward to more Lady Bits! 😀

[@xerxBreak]

Very thankful for the increased editing and acting you got going on here, maybe i can show some of your stuff to some buddies better that way, with the "monologues over cat footage" stuff they just end up assuming im sending cat videos

[@NoirMorter]

Thank you for this. It is an easy way for me to learn more about a drastically opposing point of view without having to put myself through the feeling of me being shamed constantly just for having a different opinion and tastes! Also; the disclosure was greatly appreciated. I will share this on facebook for people to watch!

[@lostsnowman127]

That was really enjoyable. I haven't smiled like this in awhile. Thank you so much for the insights and humor

[@SiliconHaloMedia]

Wonderful work on the video!

[@punkcanuck69]

excellent work, the only other comment I have, is the background music, while occasionally adding to a punchline or beat, doesn't feel like it fits, and can distract from the points.

[@charmingpeasant9834]

I prefer power fantasy of classic Tomb Raider over the quasi realism and ''relatability'' in latest Tomb Raider. There are plenty of ''relatable'' protagonists in gaming, but there is an increasing lack of larger than life ones, like old Lara, and it pisses me off. Plus it really irritates me that even Lara Croft fell victim to the regressive notion that busty female characters in games are harmful, therefore they need to be toned down. In Shadow of the TR she barely even had a bust. That's how big of an overreaction has taken place in gaming industry.

[@GameFreak7744]

I always thought the point of having Lara in those shorts was to evoke the 'explorer' trope, which was usually a dude in beige shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (ok so also a lil helmet). Sure the business about scrapes and parasites etc. likely makes the trope a little silly, but it was based on Victorians going off into hot places like Africa and India, hence the shorts and short-sleeves.

[@TheMimiSard]

I never played anything Tomb Raider, but I have the passing thought about why the new Lara may be liked - if the player is expected to protect her, then the player is also expected to care about her. The obvious question a total non-fan like me would have to ask, does new!Lara have a good amount of characterisation for players to get to know her? Because if one understands a character well, one can come to like the character. On next episode, I want to say a sexist moment does not make a game sexist, but such a moment may depend on how the sexist moment is portrayed. If it is portrayed with a negative implication, then the game is not sexist, because it is implying that the sexist action is wrong. Conversely a sexist action can happen and be treated in a way that does not cast it in a negative way, and if a game has a number of such moments, it may be a sexist game. I think if Lindsey Ellis' "The Whole Plate" series and a couple of videos in it, one about the Male Gaze and how male characters are portrayed in Michael Bay movies, and a video about Mikaela Banes, Megan Fox's character. Bay's movies portray anything other than angry jerkass men as something to be sneered at, and Mikaela Banes has the most developed character in the first movie but is constantly denigrated and treated as not important. It's that sort of way of directing the viewer's mindset that can dictate if a piece of media is sexist or not - in the case of game whether a sexist moment makes a game sexist, or is just a commentary on sexism.

[@TheMimiSard]

Yep, she has some interesting analyses of movies.

[@danwizzle91]

I just learned so much about the original Laura croft just from your video alone, I had no idea so much thought went into her...assets

[@ElektraHart]

Oh yay it's finally up *gets distracted by glowy box thing*

[@ninjafoxgamesgeekery]

Laura Gray-Mane all hail glowy box!

[@theknave69]

It's her soul trap, and you fell right into it. EVIL LAUGH [patent pending]

[@jeangentry6656]

*Shang Tsung voice* YOUR SOUL IS MIINE!

[@James-ep2bx]

I really wish they'd take the old Lara's personality and put it in the new Lara's body, but hay that's just me

[@theknave69]

That would be interesting. I got no beef with the new Lara's body, but her personality ain't got the same oompah as the old one.

[@tylergoodyear9797]

Honestly my only experience with tomb raider was with the modern reboots. I kinda skipped over the original series back in the day. I was still relatively familiar with Laura due to her notoriety, much like how people would be somewhat familiar with master chief from halo or Nathan drake from uncharted. I went into the game knowing that it was an origin story reboot and while I appreciated that they started her as a normal person before turning her into a spree killer, I found her transition to be rushed and forceful. It made me feel like I spent the first hour of the game playing as a different character before I got to play as Laura because of how unnatural her transition was. Reboot Laura as a character gets a resounding “meh” from me, her character arc was poorly handled and her self expression within the game as soft and caring conflicted with the mass murder she would do five minutes prior to her “sweet humanizing” moments. If you want an example of a well written action character I would point you towards Joel from the last of us as an excellent example of how to humanize a killer through character dynamics, and doom guy from Doom 2016 as an example of how to handle character self expression through actions instead of words.

[@blondbraid7986]

Tyler Goodyear You should definitively look up Tomb Raider: Anniversary, or at least try and watch a let's play of it. It's a remake of the first game, and it handles the scene where Lara kills for the first time miles better than the reboot did. It paints Lara as a truly interesting and morally grey character, and more importantly, she's consistent throughout the game. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oV69eGVqqNt5js0

[@KentaroMiyamoto21]

I'll admit. The 2013 reboot is the only Tomb Raider game I've played. But I hope I find one of the previous games, because they look like fun. Also I'm guessing "I hate The Sims" is going to be a running gag in this show.

[@danielwilliams7161]

Kenneth Ayoob I liked Anniversary and Underworld

[@Threesixtyci]

Well... the grid system of the originals (created by "Core") will take a lot to get used to. And the graphics did not age well. The Tomb Raider original Core designed games can be found in the PlayStation Store, but only for the PS3/PSP/Vita, and not the Crystal Dynamics versions (these won't won't work with the PS4). The Crystal Dynamic's re imaging versions can only be bought via retail disk for the PS3. Amazon sells this PS3 Trilogy pack for under 25 bucks ( Anniversary, Legends, and Underworld.) All the Tomb Raider games can be found on Steam. Tomb Raider Anniversary is there, too (Anniversary is a remaster of Tomb Raider 1, by Crystal Dynamics, that mainly replaced the grid based movement control with a modern 3d movement control along with a few other updates). I don't know anything about Xbox or Nintendo.... but you probably can get them for those platforms, too.

[@KentaroMiyamoto21]

What about Steam?

[@solarin_]

Or GOG: www.gog.com/game/tomb_raider_123 ; www.gog.com/game/tomb_raider_the_last_revelation_chronicles ; www.gog.com/game/tomb_raider_the_angel_of_darkness

[@MaverickHunterXZA]

A friend pointed me to this video and hoooh boy, this was great stuff ! Thanks a bunch for portraying this issue in such a based and professional way. Because yes, i'm one of those folks who "discovered feminism by being shouted at on the internet". Well, modern feminism that is. And i really appreciate the approach of "Yes, there might be an issue, lets discuss it" and not the usual "There IS an issue, and if you dont see it your're an X and Y".

[@agi5522]

I love the classic Lara. I like that she feels like a video game character, many things about her and the way she does things are ridiculous.. fitting for a video game. She's badass and entertaining.

[@thehusk5122]

It's so nice to someone trying to seriously examine both sides of an argument for once. Nuance for the win.

[@theknave69]

Seriously? Seriously funny. And informative.

[@thehusk5122]

Sure, that to. I guess by 'seriously', what I really meant was genuinely. As in someone really trying to see things from both sides, rather than just straw-manning a view in order to tear it down.

[@LadyDeft30]

great job! I really enjoyed this. The conversation you're intending to spark (one based on facts not emotions or knee-jerks) is a conversation I don't feel like we have very often. Two minor constructive notes; first, you tend to lift your right shoulder/lean your head to the right side. It kind of feels like your body language inst matching what you're trying to say. and the other was to maybe tighten up the editing on the facecam segments. (take it or leave it, i enjoyed it as is :) )

[@MysticFenrina]

This was well worth the wait. Thank you!

[@TheRealVordox]

Great Episode! I have one single thing to say though... Her iconic Ledge Raise handstand wasn't used, atleast I didn't notice it.

[@Blackcloud288]

Wow this is a success. Looking forward to ep2

[@SewerMatt]

God this series is already everything I hoped it would be, you did a great job! :) I really do think a lot of feminists are limiting the amount of creativity and individuality that can be put into a female character though, they have to fit into such specific boxes now to be approved of by feminists that they're all just getting more bland and cookie-cutter. I think it would be better to encourage a variety of different female characters, write them like they're people instead of a representation of women as a whole.

[@Goldkehlchen20]

And we're back at the complicated videogamecharacter-objectification-subject, I was looking forward to that :) Reading the comments here I'm starting to think that what it comes down to is whether you look at the character from a developers or a gaming-analytical perspective (seeing it as a programmed tool or avatar) or a gamers perspective, especially if your objective is to be as immersed as possible (taking the fictional world at face-value for enjoyment). Both interpretations are valid in their own right, but during the analysis of whether a character is objectified or not the two viewpoints definitely need to be seperated. The thing one really shouldn't do is switch between the two perspectives mid-argument. I'm thinking of Miss Sarkeesians approach to Pincess Peach: Starting out arguing inside the narrative (how Peach is treated within the game by other characters, treating her as a 'person' within the narrative) and then bringing in the gaming-mechanics as 'proof' (Peach being 'forced' into the damsel role by moustache-twirling developers, like she's a real person and not a fictional character in the first place). It just leads to a confusing, asymmetrical argument where I'm left to wonder whether the person talking even knows that there is a difference between an actual person and a made up character. A fictional character is always a tool for it's creator. They might feel real if they're written well, but they are there to fulfill a function within a narrative. Ok now I'm amazed as always how commenting on these videos helps to organise my thoughts XD Definitely a good sign for the quality of the video, thanks Liana!

[@bobbybee2975]

Never played a Tomb Raider game, both the old and new styles seem appealing to me though, I enjoy both the one man army Rambo style treasure hunt and the more realistic anyone can die action games. Great job on your first episode.

[@TigermaskenRH]

This is a great start of the series and i`m really happy that i backed it.

[@Lyceaos]

oh my god this was amazing and i have been so excited for you to do something like this. i regret to say i wasnt a backer of this only cause of financial reasons but i am so glad you did this and it points out a lot of the issues that we gamers are having wiht the way things are going. i mean you wanna make a character more relateable sure but keep it equal

[@Ouvii]

Wait, this is way better than I thought it would be, I need to figure out how to give money to lady

[@jeangentry6656]

Patreon.