Reading Tomb Raider II: The Cradle of Life through the lens of this class, I struggled with the question of why Africa was chosen as the location for the Cradle of Life. After doing some research on the topic, I found this article from the BBC that tell us that about the origins of the human race:
“The first theory, known as the ‘Out of Africa’ model, is that Homo sapiens developed first in Africa and then spread around the world between 100 and 200,000 years ago, superseding all other hominid species. The implication of this argument is that all modern people are ultimately of African descent.”
Yes, we can argue that the Cradle of Life may refer to the first cell or primodal ooze that humans eventually evolved from, but Lara Croft does say that the “Egyptian Pharaoh, found a place he named The Cradle of Life, where we, life, began.”
Admittedly, this is not a solve all reason for why the filmmakers decided to make a vague Africa the location for the Cradle of Life. But I imagine there must be other members of the class who vaguely recall our fourth grade selves knowing that human life began in Africa. But the question remains, why isn’t this fact more widely known? Are we at odds with the fact that the human species originated in Africa?
Regardless of where humans actually orginate, the other potential main reason for why the Cradle of Life is set in Africa is because it is the unknown. I doubt many westerns can name more than a handful of countries in Africa but yet our protagonist can name the rough location of the Cradle of Life through a few seconds of images projected through the orb.
The film doesn’t feel the need to use multiple scenic shots to introduce the viewer to the other locations it travels to but it does need to use multiple montages to tell the viewer that she is now in Africa. Although the filmmakers feel the need to use a length introduction for Africa, the Africa that is displayed is one that is actually very familiar to the viewers. The scenes that place us in Africa are all incredibly pristine shots of nature that viewers have already seen. In these comparison shots that follow, the images from The Lion King and Tomb Raider II are quite similar.
Click if you want to see more comparison pictures after the jump!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Africa, The Lion King, Tomb Raider II |
Screening Africa 1 
Huh. I thought there was something Lion King about the shots of Africa in the movie. I love the movie The Lion King by the way.
Maybe Africa had a more lengthy introduction in the movie to show it’s importance as the cradle of life. The other places Lara went were identified by only a name because they weren’t as important to the progression of the story line, they were only stops along Lara’s journey. Africa was the end all. But, I don’t know.
I think Africa’s status as known (since humanity originated there) and yet unknown (because mainstream audiences are so unaware of what it really is, today) is a major reason for its role as the location of the Cradle of Life. As the film draws closer to Africa and the Cradle, technology and knowledge, which the characters were so quick to rely on earlier on in the film, slowly break down until at the end, in the weird cave with the flashing lights, even ordinary rules of physics no longer apply. And Africa is the closest thing on earth to this kind of …otherwordliness/madness? Then again, as Joyia said in her post, it’s difficult to judge the filmmakers for reproducing the sad reality of the common perception of Africa because they didn’t create it.
In the other destinations, there is an attention to detail in shots in order to present the viewer with information about what “current” Hong Kong would is like, and etc. There is a lack of interest in defining the “Cradle of Life” in the same way because it has been mapped previously in the film as a legendary space; this would be diminished by then spending time exploring the reality of that place. By making its place inchoate, the filmmakers have more power over its size and place. It becomes “Africa”—presented by what they associate with it, instead of presenting the place “Cradle of Life” as a unique space.
These comparison shots really define what is the quintessential representation of Africa. I think between religious beliefs and other theories it is very hard for some people to believe in the “Out Of Africa” explanation, although it is so widely explored in films. Because of the possible dissension towards these ideas, perhaps the filmmakers intentionally leave Africa as such a mysterious representation of all these things.
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