Lara Croft

Just as Bridesmaids is constantly referred to as the female version of The Hangover, Lara Croft is known as the female Indiana Jones. Tomb Raider, the videogame, marked an important departure from the traditional role of women in videogames where they were always portrayed as supporting roles for the hero in his adventures but never the heroine. Before Tomb Raider men had this notion that if they were to market videogames for girls, they could put in jeopardy their lucrative market, which was composed of boys and young men. This videogame demonstrated that this belief does not ring true to the consumers because the game became and instant hit among both males and females and by 1997 fan boys were comparing Lara Croft to a female Yoda.

Lara Croft, played by Angelina Jolie in the film based on the videogame, is constantly compared to men counterparts because she is an active heroine in a traditionally known men’s genre. Men are usually seen as the ones that run around fighting the bad guys, rescuing the damsel in distress and in the process blowing up buildings and walking away without looking back at the explosion.She is not the first female to go around kicking ass because there were others like Nikita and Thelma and Louise, but her rejection of male dominated values and the common notion of femininity make her one of the most unique action heroines.