Video game characters get realistic makeover from eating disorder support

The perpetuation of unrealistic body imagery in the media can have decidedly negative repercussions.

The organization questions why – with games now featuring technical wonders such as natural cloud movements – they still don’t usually portray the female body accurately and free from exaggerated proportions.

Bulimia.com, an organisation supporting people struggling with eating disorders, wanted to call attention to “unrealistically idealised versions” of these characters’ human counterparts.

Seeking to spark discussion on the topic of depicting women in games in a manner more in line with reality, Bulimia.com (a website providing information on eating disorders including bulimia and anorexia) has released a series of images showing what a variety of characters might look like if they conformed to the measurements of an average American woman.

But, with all the focus on hyper-realistic techniques and immersive gaming, why doesn’t this stretch to the female characters?

The most iconic character in the group is Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft. So not only did Bulimia use Photoshop to reimagine a more realistic Croft, but they took on other unrealistic characters, too. In a recent post, they pointed out that “social pressures to obtain perfection are reinforced even through the depiction of video game characters”, so “Girl gamers – especially young ones — could develop a skewed image of how the female body should look”.

“We chose her old character because of how iconic that iteration of her was, specifically for the objectification debate”, a Bulimia.com spokesperson told Motherboard. “They’re definitely moving in the right direction”.

According to the blog post, this could “mark the beginning of obsessive thoughts about their own bodies and self-questioning as to why they don’t align with their perceived ideal”.