Blog post 11: Mother and Father Figures in Rise of the Tomb Raider

Bianca Batti writes about mother and father figures in the newly released Rise of the Tomb Raider. She talks about two characters, specifically, whose roles, relationships and interactions with Lara act out as parental roles. Batti believes that often in video games, father figures are often seen as both mentors and protectors and mother figures are constructed as either victims or villains.

(Spoilers ahead.)

Firstly, Batti talks about Jacob, the leader of the Remnants, which is the community that protects the key to immortality (called the Divine Source) for which Lara is trying to find. Initially, Lara is reluctant to trust Jacob, since she has a different goal for the Divine Source. 

The second character is Ana, who is constructed as a mother figure to Lara, having been Richard Croft's partner until he died and she has become some sort of mentor to Lara after the death of her father.

Now as the plot twists, we learn that Ana is not the positive influence on Lara's life as she first seems to be. She is revealed to have been working as a spy, watching Lara's progress in her quest to find the Divine Source.

Ana has been depicted as a liar, a spy and a villain. She is not the good (stand-in) mother that she was initially made out to be. Rather than being reveals as a maternal character who supports and guides Lara, she is selfishly motivated and seeks the Divine Source in an effort to save herself from a terminal illness.

"But what seems especially important, here, is the manner in which Ana’s bad motherhood is used as a means of introducing Jacob’s new role in Lara’s life and of colouring the manner in which we (like Lara) view this role. Indeed, because Lara has found that she cannot trust Ana, she doesn’t know if she can trust anyone, Jacob included."

Jacob's role as a father allows Lara to feel she can trust him. His influence has been characterised as one of guidance and a positive mentor. Batti continues to explain the fatherly role of Jacob:

"In this way, Jacob’s presence in the game shifts, from potential (and potentially untrustworthy) ally to trusted paternal presence, moral figure, and mentor. But, again, this characterization only begins to occur after Ana’s construction as bad maternal presence is revealed, thereby placing Jacob’s influence over Lara in opposition to that of Ana’s. Ana’s negative construction, then, works (at least, in part) in service of Jacob’s positive one, and the conversation between the two seems to perpetuate the narrative lineage of the bad mother and the good father, thereby problematically gendering the roles of parents and mentors."

Batti seems to be disappointed in the lack of positive mother figures in video games and Rise of the Tomb Raider is just another one. From my experiences of playing video game, I've seen plenty of positive father figures, most of them even being the protagonist of the game; such as Joel from The Last of Us, Ethan from Heavy Rain or Delta from Bioshock 2. Most of the time they are portrayed as heroes for their sacrifices and willingness to do anything to protect their family. I honestly can't think of a mother protagonist in a game. They are often side characters such as the mother in Child of Light. She gives her daughter strength to save the kingdom but we don't really interact with her much. Mothers often have minor and simplistic narrative roles. I'd like to see a Mother protagonist lead a game.

This Week in Videogame Blogging:

http://www.critical-distance.com/2015/11/29/november-29th-2/

Bianca Batti: Heroes and Villains: Mother- and Father-Figures in Rise of the Tomb Raider:

http://www.nymgamer.com/?p=12223 

Blog post 10: Clash Between Story and Violence in Video Games

Simon Parkin discusses about how violent protagonists have become increasingly evident with time, given that the graphics of virtual scenes and characters have become more vividly rendered.

In the past, players had to imagine the abstract icons and symbols moving on screen that were represented by monsters and soldiers, but nowadays, these are replaced with targets that have a personality, accent and a race. Players are presented with a gun, shooting targets that hinder the player's progress that are represented in the form of maybe a terrorist or police officer. As the character on screen shoots their targets mercilessly and the body count rises, do we stop to think if there is any reason behind the actions of our protagonist? Simon Parkin explains the flaw in video games of how protagonists are presented and how it clashes with its gameplay causing confusion for the player.

Parkin gives a good example of Crystal Dynamic's approach of the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider. We have a young Lara Croft on her first expedition aboard a ship, in search of a lost kingdom of Yamatai. The ship is struck by a storm and is shipwreck and leaves Lara stranded on this isolated island. She has no real experience for survival and she seemed to be vulnerable. Her first kill is in self defence, as she struggles to take a gun from her aggressor, she is able to shoot him in the face. The cutscene after shows Lara is sickened by her actions but has this traumatic event weighed on her heavily? Parkin explains that:

"The writing team, however, is unable to reconcile their character’s fragility with the pressing requirements of the design team, who clearly need a parade of bullet-sponge enemy soldiers to stand in the archeologist’s path as obstacles. Five minutes after her first kill, Croft is firing off rounds, seemingly without a moment’s thought. Kids, it turns out, grow up quickly these days."

Playing the game myself, I was confused with Lara's characterisation. In the beginning she is vulnerable and uncomfortable with killing people, but the game designers encourage the player to engage in killing enemies aggressively and use brutal tactics. This let the game down where Lara's character is difficult to understand and identify with.

Parkin spoke to Rhianna Pratchett, one of the contemporary Tomb Raider writers explains that:

 "What's good for the gameplay might not benefit the story or the characters – and some of the folks you end up working alongside don't give a damn about story." Parkin however, argues that: " This is a tragic and outmoded way of viewing the process. Just look at the tonal chasm that now exists between the noble video game character we meet in the cutscenes, and their often indefensible actions, surely a direct result of the siloing of thought."

It is a flaw that game writers and designs are struggling with. When the game is supposed to be realistic, the character needs to be relatable with genuine emotions and a plausible character arc, but the gameplay makes them act like a psychopath.

Nobody complains when Mario jumps on a Goomba and kills it. That is still a violent act but Mario isn't a representation of realism, which makes me believe that the more realistic a game looks, then the more difficult it is to make a character believable.

This Week in Videogame Blogging:

http://www.critical-distance.com/2015/11/22/november-22nd/

Simon Parkin: Tomb Raider and the clash between story and violence in games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/259613/Tomb_Raider_and_the_clash_between_story_and_violence_in_games.php