Brief discussion of the history of women in entertainment

Thesis statement: This paper will show how, despite the touchy theories of some feminists, the movie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) portrays one woman as intelligent and capable, showing growth in her character and setting up vulnerabilities that are sometimes against stereotype, thus making her a complete person in her own right.

What Feminist Film Theory looks for and what it finds.

How movie emphasizes strengths of Lara Croft

Show her verbal interchange with men who are may consider themselves her intellectual superior.

Show how she works out retrieval of triangle.

Show her persistence and determination in carrying out mission.

How movie shows Lara Croft's weaknesses.

Demonstrate relationship with Lord Richard Croft and how this influences her.

Demonstrate relationship with Manfred Powell and how this influences her.

Demonstrate relationship with Alex West and how this influences her.

What Feminist Film Theory may find in Lara Croft.

Positive-Lara Croft is able to defend herself.

Positive and negativeùLara Croft is in charge of her own life and is privileged to be part of the aristocratic/wealthy class.

NegativeùLara Croft sometimes plays on stereotypes to appear more "feminine."

NegativeùLara Croft has a physical beauty and sex-appeal that outweighs other accomplishments, thus creating a sex-icon.

. . .
women. As Modleski notes, "the reflection theory of representation-the notion that art reflected reality-which had been so useful to feminism in its consciousness-raising phase was discredited" (17) in favor of other theories that were more and more removed from any real cinematic or female experience. Many of these theories seemed to not only discredit any female involvement in cinema or literature, but to also find negative images in those movies that appeared to be offering much more positive images than before (Todeski 20). Some feminists, such as Isaacs (2002), go to the extreme of saying that most female lead characters are "wimpettes" that lack the fully realized three-dimensional qualities of most of their male counterparts and "are still being portrayed as the gender of the quivering lower lip" (472). Yet, her argument is so flawed and one-sided (naming Thelma and Louise a movie about "Brave Dames" only to call the characters "wimpettes" two paragraphs later (473)) as to make her call for three dimensional characters sound flat, shallow and cranky. Meanwhile, there are plenty of fully realized female lead characters deserving of attention in current films and Lara Croft is only one of the most recent. The Strengths
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2378
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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