Shadow of the tomb raider

CIU 210 / Huw Walmsley-Evans

Student number: 1012433

Shailey Brown

Introduction

The following article will explain how Shadow of the tomb raider shows its audiences the repercussions that can occur whilst fighting against absolutism. I will be analysing the denotative and connotative meanings of different examples and reveal the underlying ideologies of absolutism that the game disagrees with and forewarns us about. "All parties without exception, when they seek power, are varieties of absolutism." (Notable-quotes.com, 2018)

Context of this game is submerged in Mayan and Inca mythology and is set in Peru. The game follows through the perspective of Laura and her constant fight against an organisation called Trinity. Trinity’s core belief system was monotheist (Merriam-webster.com, 2018). Trinity’s manifesto stated that the world was "last pure and untainted" after god cleansed it in the biblical great flood endured by Noah (ThoughtCo, 2018). Since then the world had become weak and corrupted and needed to be cleansed once more.

(a document with written details of a Trinity action report)

Now traditionally, a lot of western civilisations were dominated by Absolutism and the belief that a singular ruler should have control of every aspect of the government and people's lives. Absolutism emphasises on a strong sense of order and a clear cut law of nature. (spark notes 2018) Which is why i believe that Trinity had similar values as they felt that they where "the only one blessed with that task and so they sought to acquire mythical relics of supernatural power by any means necessary, and to eradicate all traces of blasphemous and heretical civilisations that once made use of those relics." (wikia 2018)

As Laura fights against this fanatical militant organisation which want to use these ancient artefacts to control the world. Her intentions are good but still disrupts the environments that these artefacts are placed in and in turn causes outcomes such as an apocalypse because she deemed the dagger to dangerous to fall in the hands of trinity.

Sign, sign, everywhere's a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this, dont do that, cant you read the sign. “signs” 1971.

Use the video provided above for further reference to the scenes and images about to be presented. (youtube18)

Example - 23:11 - 25:28 To begin to prove that the game does indeed forewarn us against Absolutism, you are following in the footsteps of Laura and are encouraged to adopt aspects of her identity and set of values throughout this gameplay. The denotations of this first scene is; a woman rappelling down on a rope to a stone altar. The place looks like a temple and it is dark. Only one source of light can be accounted for and the lighting looks like natural sunshine, so it must be day time. This place has to be underground for there to be no other direct lights. The environment looks old and shows a weathered mural. images or “drawings” can be seen on this mural. A torchlight then directs the way the audience follows along and interprets the images being shown. this is an action of the game edging us as the audience to rely on Laura to make sense of symbols and icons we see.

A sword on top of a box with a creature looming over it. With the next panel showing blue waves crashing against buildings. The next with dark clouds and lightning striking the top of these buildings, the next with the ground split open and then finally red lava flowing down.

Laura reads these events as cataclysms, something that follow a decision or action (Dictionary, 2018). The discussion between laura and Jonah then reveals the creature as "Kukulcan the god of creation and destruction". (Ancient Pages, 2018)

Connotations to be accounted for in this scene is interesting because the temple in which Laura is getting close to is underground, so it has the notions of beings forgotten and hidden tied to it. As the saying goes “Out of sight out of mind”. (den Daas C, 2018) It would not be focused on and in time, lost. The language used is unreadable to the audience but as Laura reads out what the inscriptions say. It shows that Laura has knowledge of this culture and therefore its language and their symbols that communicate lore and meaning. The mural is the signifier and Laura acts as a translator and assists us in interpreting symbolic signs further than our own knowledge of iconic signs can convey the message. As the iconic signs of waves towering over a building represents a Tsunami. The sword and box are read as their symbols are. However, it is the image of the god of creation and destruction that had to be explained through Laura's reading of the texts on the mural. As our own judgement would have followed along the lines of a demonic creature with the red colouring. Since red has connotations to violence and blood.

The dagger itself is brightly coloured and at the bottom of the stand is an inscription “the key to ix chel’s heart unlocks the cleansing” she then states she cant let trinity get ahold of this. after all, it is in trinity design of cleansing the world that the key is required to make their dream a reality. There is a look of determination on her face and only one moment of hesitation before she removes the dagger and the ground shakes, causing the mural behind the altar to break and crumble to the ground.

The colours green, blue and gold are often associated with wealth, peace and life or prosperity. so for them to be used on the dagger that sets the apocalypse in motion is very confronting. An overlapping symbol that helps reinforce the repercussions that occur while fighting against absolutism is laura's audio, and her conversation with her companion jonah. "I can't let trinity get this". Becomes a symbolic symbol to support her alignment, and fight against trinity. The removal of the dagger and the destruction of the mural represents Laura's actions as destructive and when confronted with why she took the dagger her only reasoning was "if it was you, you'd do the same".

The last and final example is of a conversation which is a signifier towards the notion absolutism, the conversation states what must be done when the catastrophes appear. "Kukulkan must be sacrificed to the power of the son. otherwise, the world dies." So the audience here can interpret the conversation due to learned associations of death and world. 'death' being a state of no longer being alive and conscious and something we want to prevent and the 'world' being our entire plane of existence. However, as the conversation continues it reveals the cult leader whose intentions are to nullify the myth and ritual that needed to be carried out to prevent the "cleansing" and destruction of the world.

To conclude, absolutism is an ideology that should be carefully confronted and should not become the scapegoat when one's actions begin to break dominant social normalities in order to prevent absolutisms fruition. or the destruction of history records and ancient artefacts as long as it stays out of trinity' hands. Shadow of the tomb raider shows its audiences (a somewhat extreme) outcome for fighting against absolutism. As the removal of an ancient artefact starts an apocalypse and further ruins and tombs are destroyed on the quest to stop the end of the world from happening.

Thank you for reading.

bibliography

Lara Croft Wiki. (2018). Trinity (Survivor Timeline). [online] Available at: https://tombraider.fandom.com/wiki/Trinity_(Survivor_Timeline) [Accessed 23 Oct. 2018].

YouTube. (2018). SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER Walkthrough Gameplay Part 1 - INTRO (PS4 PRO). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdlocA-WFuM [Accessed 23 Oct. 2018].

Merriam-webster.com. (2018). Definition of MONOTHEISM. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotheism [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Google Books. (2018). Media Analysis Techniques. [online] Available at: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ogl2OqVPUFgC&pg=PT215&dq=tomb+raider+analysis&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgg_aEjZ_eAhUMvI8KHYWiDw8Q6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=tomb%20raider%20analysis&f=false [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Dictionary, C. (2018). CATACLYSM | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary.cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cataclysm [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].

Notable-quotes.com. (2018). Absolutism Quotes. [online] Available at: http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/absolutism_quotes.html [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].

Ancient Pages. (2018). Kukulkan: Feathered Serpent And Mighty Mayan Snake God | Ancient Pages. [online] Available at: http://www.ancientpages.com/2017/02/07/kukulkan-feathered-serpent-and-mighty-mayan-snake-god/ [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].

den Daas C, e. (2018). Out of sight, out of mind: cognitive states alter the focus of attention. - PubMed - NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23628695 [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].