PLAYING WITH OURSELVES 1.Quiz 2.Coursework 3.Discussion 4.Lara Croft

Go Meta Assignments Excellent writing skills Broad & interesting array of topics Some difficulty with finding TWO 'critical' articles Stylistic points: Italicize the names of franchises Avoid using quotations as full sentences

Final Project Proposals Bring to class on Thursday 1 page. Include: Purpose & rationale for the project How it links to course themes (what makes it “critical” and what theories/perspectives you’re drawing from) Description of the final project (what is it supposed to do) Timeline for completion

Example: Purpose and rationale: As Helen Kennedy notes, female video game characters are often “hypersexualized”, to make them more appealing and ‘safe’ for male players to play with. But this is problematic if we want more women and girls to play games, and if we want to offer all players something more than just stereotypical notions of female beauty. Description: For our final project, Emily and I are going to make a stop-motion animation, using Lego bricks and mini-figures, that tells the story of a female video game actor’s attempts to get “hired” by a video game. Kind of like Toy Story, in its personification of video game characters as ‘real’ people. This Lego actor wants to do something unconventional and fresh, but she finds that all of the roles for women in games are for Barbies, not Lego figures, and her block-shaped body does not conform to what mainsteram video game producers say that “guys want”. Finally, fed up with the lack of roles for women in mainstream games, she finds work at an independent game developer. Less pay, but they appreciate her talent. She lands a role as a female vigilante who can swap out her body parts in order to bust out of a prison facility. Links to course themes: The animation will explore themes of “male gaze” and the political economy of games production. Timeline: Storyboard and script: February 15 Record scenes: March 15 Editing: April 1 Post-production: April 15

Key things: 1)Your plans for your final project could (and SHOULD) change between now and the end of April 2)The proposal is just to get ideas for the project on paper, taking into consideration i) course themes, and ii) realistic timeline for completion 3)Think small. A 5-minute video that addresses one key topic or issue, and makes one really good point, is better than a rambling 30 minute video 4)Use a media format that will push one or both of you to learn a new technology or improve an existing technological skill 5)Try to make something that will benefit you OUTSIDE of the course!

Before we get into games... Why does representation MATTER?

Ritual model of communication: The continual construction of a shared reality

15% of game characters are women Character choice in games

Lara Croft 1996 to 2013

Helen Kennedy, “Feminist Icon or Cyber Bimbo?” (2002) Strong female character in a typically male-dominated genre “Eye candy” for the (assumed) male player

Kennedy: The difficulties in making sense of Lara Croft and our fascination with her is due to the complex relationship between avatar and player

“Playing as” another being:

“Losing” yourself, becoming something else Lawnmower Man (1992)

“Playing with” a tool / toy / puppet

Gamer (2009)

Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (2010) “Oh, this is a Tomb Raider game? Weird.”

“In the new Tomb Raider, Lara Croft will suffer. Her best friend will be kidnapped. She'll get taken prisoner by island scavengers. And then, Rosenberg says, those scavengers will try to rape her.” “less curvy?”

“As a player, I don't remember having many problems projecting myself as Lara – and I don't particularly want an avatar in a game that needs protecting. Players aren't expected to want to protect Nathan Drake in Uncharted, or John Marston in Red Dead Redemption, or Max Payne – so why Lara? Rosenberg seems to suggest it's because she's female – and it's hard to see that as anything other than a sexist approach, an assumption that men can't lose themselves in stories with female protagonists and/or that female gamers simply don't exist.” Mary Hamilton, Guardian, July

“Playing as” - Character as idealized you “Playing with” - Character as puppet or tool; “swiss army knife” “Playing FOR” - Protecting the character from harm (in this case, sexual assault)