Lara Croft: Modell, Medium, Cyberheldin

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Lara Croft emerged as a 'cultural icon' and universal medium by transcending the gaming market to appear in mainstream media, including Playboy, Spiegel, and Stern, and serving as a brand ambassador for companies like Sony and various consumer goods.See it on page 3
02
The character's success was intrinsically linked to the 1994 launch of 32-bit platforms like the Sony PlayStation, which sold over 80 million units by the end of 2000 and revolutionized gaming through superior 3D graphics.See it on page 13
03
Lara Croft functions as a 'virtual machine' that bridges the gap between hardware and user, effectively neutralizing gender differences for the player while simultaneously reinforcing traditional, hierarchical gender dualisms.See it on page 5
04
The phenomenon created a conflict between the character's role as a playable protagonist and her separate existence as a sexualized marketing tool, leading to legal disputes such as the 1999 case where Core Design successfully sued Playboy for unauthorized use of the Lara Croft name.See it on page 4
05
By 1998, the character's digital footprint was massive, with over 100,000 web addresses indexed by search engines and dedicated fan hubs like the 'Croft Times' operating since 1997.See it on page 3
06
The character's design allowed developer Core Design to overcome hardware fragmentation by simultaneously releasing Tomb Raider across PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn, thereby maximizing market penetration.See it on page 14

Summary

Was macht die Computerspielfigur Lara Croft zu einem allgegenwärtigen »Cultural Icon«, zu einem »universalen Medium« unserer Zeit? Welche Rolle spielt ihre Weiblichkeit in diesem Zusammenhang? Indem die Auto- rin die »Biographie« und die Vermarktungsstrategien von Lara Croft vor dem Hintergrund der explodierenden technischen Möglichkeiten nach- zeichnet, gelingt ihr die längst fällige Verknüpfung der Genderforschung mit medientheoretischen Ansätzen.