Henry Jenkins essay on Tomb Raider only.
QUESTION: 1. ‘Audiences of the media are passive’. Using Henry Jenkins’s theory of fandom, explore the responses of an audience to the video game you have studied.
1. ‘Audiences of the media are passive’. Using Henry Jenkins’s theory of
fandom, explore the responses of an audience to the video game you have
studied.
Intro:
Different audiences respond differently, but historically audiences have always been
thought of as passive and easily manipulated. However, Henry Jenkins proposes the
theory of fandom, in which it explains that audiences are not only not passive but
that they are capable of interacting with the media to show both or either their
varying viewpoints and or passion.
First Point:
Henry Jenkins states that in an active relationship between the media and
audiences, ‘Fans do not simply consume preproduced stories; they manufacture
their own fanzine stories and novels, art prints, songs, videos, performances, etc.’. In
the ‘Tomb Raider’ community, there are fans that are so fond of the game that they
wish to engage with the franchise more than just simply playing the games, many of
whom going on further to develop fanart and fan films. The official website of ‘Tomb
Raider’ even encourages the interactivity between the fans and the video games by
publishing the fanart and fan films on the website for all fans to view, some of their
blogs frequently being titles ‘Fan Spotlight’. Audiences have actively engaged with
the concept of Lara as a strong, admirable female character, taking pride in the
strong femininity attached to it, and going beyond to promote Lara as their role
model through cosplaying. It is clear that audiences are not simply passive, even if
they agree with the message that the producers have installed into the media, and
that if anything, the more that they agree with an ideology then it is that the more
they will actively engage or interact with the media and the community surrounding it.
In accordance with the Uses & Gratifications Theory, introduced in the 1940s, it is
evident that fans of ‘Tomb Raider’ engage with the game by cosplaying because
they personally identify with Lara Croft’s character and by producing fan films
because it offers themselves and other fans a chance of diversion. If an audience
chooses to actively consume the media because of the gratifications provided with
the media, then it is more likely that that audience is not passive.
Second Point:
Jenkins further explains that the media, in which he refers to as ‘the programs’, can
provide audiences ‘tools to think with’ and ‘resources to facilitate discussions’. Some
fans of ‘Tomb Raider’ can be positioned in the first level of Jenkins’s fan activity,
where within them is a particular mode of reception. Some of these discussions can
be found on online blogs, for instance ‘The New Lara Phenomenon: A Postfeminist
Analysis of Rise of the Tomb Raider’ by Janine Engelbrecht and ‘Lara Croft –
Pixelated Object or Feminist Gaming Icon?’ by Jade Avis, where they discuss the
character of Lara and ask the question whether she is really a feminist icon or if she
is simply a sham of a sexualisation, rather than acting as a traditionally-believed
, passive audience. As Henry Jenkins explains, in the first level of fan activity, fans
watch with a mixture of ‘emotional proximity and critical distance’.
However, it can also be said that these fans are not passive as these blogs provide
them one of the Uses & Gratifications, that being surveillance. By discussing Lara’s
character, other audiences are able to find out about what feminism means to other
people and the problems of sexualisation of females and sexism exhibited by males.
Subsequently, fans may gain the gratification of developing personal relationships
through building connections with other members of the community.
Henry Jenkins has also once stated that ‘discussions offer insights not only into the
fictional characters but into different strategies for resolving personal problems’.
From the early days of ‘Tomb Raider’ until now, there is still discourse regarding the
issues of Lara’s outfits, especially in the earlier games. Perhaps it is this discourse
that led the game producers to change Lara’s appearance over time, including also
the shape of her body which is adapted to look more realistic. According to
Wikipedia, in redesigning the character's appearance, Crystal Dynamics had
updated Lara’s wardrobe, focusing on what was believed to be more functional and
practical. The character's body size was increased, with more muscle tone, and her
breast size reduced to portray more realistic proportions. Here it is evident that
audiences have clearly engaged with the game, pushing forward their ideas and
opinions, their concerns of developing a toxic ideology of women, which has then
impacted the producers and developers’ decisions in the making of the next following
games. As a result of this, these fans would be positioned on the third level of Henry
Jenkins’s fan activity, in which ‘Tomb Raider’ is a base for consumer activism and
the fans ‘speak back to the networks and the producers’.
Jenkins has even proposed the idea that fans are active participants in the
construction and circulation of textual meanings. In other words, they love the game
so much that they want to be involved in the production progress for the next games.
To the fans, it would be incredibly meaningful to have their voices heard and to
producers, it would benefit them in terms of promotion.
Third Point:
To most fans, ‘meaning-production is not a solitary and private process but rather a
social and public one’. To be social through video games actually offers fans one of
the four Uses and Gratifications, in which they want to develop relationships with
people in the community in order to satisfy their social human needs. In 2018, a
‘Croft Camp’ was created in which many fans of the game and fans of Lara Croft are
invited to gather together and train like Lara Croft. These fans also gain the
gratification of personal identity, as they admire Lara so much and aspire to be her,
that they are willing to train like her. They may be placed on the fifth level of Henry
Jenkins’s fan activity, in which fandoms offers ‘not so much an escape from reality as
an alternative reality’. In the exclusive look video on YouTube uploaded by Trending
All Day, members of the bootcamp are seen engaging with one another through
exercising in pairs as well as training together as a group. This clearly shows that
audiences wish to connect with the media through alternative ways and show the
producers their passion and interest for the media, proving them to be truly active.
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