The developers of the next installment of the 16-year-old video-game franchise Tomb Raider decided to reboot its strong and sexy heroine, Lara Croft, to make her seem more vulnerable. The big change: A new sequence depicting the character as the victim of an attempted rape (see a video below). Though Tomb Raider executive producer Ron Rosenberg says seeing Croft "turned into a cornered animal" will make players "want to protect her" more, the news incensed fans and bloggers, who slammed the move as cheap, lazy, and misogynistic. Is the new wrinkle to the tough-as-nails heroine's backstory revolting or revealing?
Worst. Reboot. Ever: It is mind-boggling that these numbskulls would misogynistically warp the story of "one of the most beloved ass-kicking female protagonists in gaming," says Kellie Foxx-Gonzalez at The Mary Sue. They're turning Tomb Raider into just another piece of vile "torture porn" for "a male-dominated gaming culture."
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