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Lara Croft As The Final Girl

Clive Thompson, over at Wired, takes a look at the appeal of playing as Lara Croft ... and doesn't focus on her physical assets. From the article: "The Final Girl theory emerged in 1985, when Carol Clover -- a medievalist and feminist film critic -- was dared by a friend to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Back then, most feminist theorists loathed slasher films, and regarded them as classic examples of male misogyny. It wasn't hard to figure out why: Thousands of young men were trooping into theaters to cheer wildly as masked psychos hacked apart screaming young women. That really didn't look good. But as Clover sat in the theaters, she noticed something curious. Sure, the young men would laugh and cheer as the villain hunted down his female prey. But eventually the movie would whittle down the victims to one last terrified woman -- the Final Girl, as Clover called her. Suddenly, the young men in the audience would switch their allegiance -- and begin cheering just as madly for the Final Girl as she attacked and killed the psycho."

5 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Re:"Medievalist and Feminist Film Critic" by Prometheus+Bob · · Score: 2, Funny

    "stopped reading?" you must be new here

  2. True Neutral? by DeadCatX2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    So does this mean the young men in question would be True Neutral?

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    :(){ :|:& };:
  3. Avert your eyes! by afish40 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Suddenly, the young men in the audience would switch their allegiance -- and begin cheering just as madly for the Final Girl as she attacked and killed the psycho.

    Dude, spoiler alert!

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    Thanks a million. Push Start to replay.
  4. Re:This is why by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Love your shorts.

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    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  5. Re:This is why by clambake · · Score: 2, Funny

    the beauty of cultural criticism is that everyone can debate it endlessly, and everyone who's got the right sources can be right! Yay!

    No no no, the BEAUTY of it is that everyone can debate it endlessly and PRETEND that it's not about huge tits, when it's clearly the case that it is. That, my friend, is the beauty of cultural criticism.