GTA catches flack for all the evil it depicts and allows players to conduct. These activist groups frankly don't understand interactive media, so it's easier to claim parody than to explain how the characters suffer for their vices over the course of the games.
Only it's not just a claim, the content of the game is steeped in parody. Sometimes. Those times being when they don't feel like being taken seriously.
Saints Row is a box of toys where some of the toys are sexual exploitation. Yes it's a joke, but it's glorifying some ugly things as if they weren't.
I've never played Saints Row, only heard about and watched others' playthroughs (briefly), so I can't really say and I won't try to make a further argument. Does it really present racism and sexism in a positive light?
I played a few hours of three. I don't remember any racism, and... well, I didn't encounter much sexism either. But that's just because I didn't happen across or get to the missions where you steal prostitutes as if they were commodities.
I could be wrong. To my mind though, it just doesn't have the justification that GTA does. Maybe it's because I mainly played San Andreas and GTA 4 (technically I played far more GTA 2, hehe) in which vices were clearly depicted as destroying people. But it was a slow lesson, not easily explained to people who didn't play the games. Well, there were even some cutscenes in San Andreas where it's painted in black and white: crack was destroying the main character's neighborhood, destroying lives.
And GTA 4 was just depression bonanza. People complain about the strip clubs in GTA 4, but they miss the context: The main character's cousin, a loveable oaf who came to America with dreams of success through hard work, is now stuck in a rut as a taxi driver. And what is his favorite way to feel okay with this? Strip clubs. It's not glorified or romanticized at all, it's explicitly something the character does to pretend America isn't a massive let down.
No wonder people considered GTA 4 a lousy downer. Saints Row is much more fun and cartoony. It's probably mostly harmless, though.
Not that we can fix sexism by making more games with DD half-naked bimbo heroes. The problem isn't that games don't feature females. It's the number of females in interactive media who are insulting caricatures, insulting both real women and the male gamers to which they're marketed. We need more healthy female role models in gaming, and also more power fantasies for female gamers to play as. We *also*, separately, need to avoid systematically portraying women as more helpless than men.
Honestly this is one of those unwinnable situations that often pop up.
Cause as many people know Laura Croft, in spite of everything that has been said about her... before the reboot... Has been the "Power female fantasy" for quite some time... and not because "Women gamers looked past her appearance", no that was part of the formula. Though I think "Life With Darrek" has actually handled it better (Even if their Laura Croft Expy is oddly way more sexualized then the real one who only had large breast... what with her Bra Missiles) then I have in explaining it.
It is why I think "Sex and Women depiction in videogames" is a lot more complicated topic then most people give credit for. They often go to the "sex is bad" side or "Sex is bad if a man made it".
It is a balance is what I am saying.
Then again what made Laura Croft work is because most of her games don't play up her sexuality (what I call the "Her breasts are large, get over it" effect) and show her as a competent, strong, smart, and beautiful individual and never compromise that. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as some games and her suit is relatively decent.
Then again, how many good female characters were there back then?
For example you can have a female character who has her boyfriend kidnapped... Well now she is just doing it "FOR A MAN!"... You can have her kidnapped only to escape herself... Well now you just "Disempowered her"... You can't avoid or play to clichés and expect not to have criticism for how a female character is presented. It takes real guts to even attempt a female character because these discussions will always loom over you.
It is actually the ONE benefit male characters have over female characters as far as writers are concerned. No matter what they do with a male character, they are never going to be called out for it because of how they are portraying them.
It's true, it is a very complicated topic. Lara Croft is arguably a great power fantasy for women. Now, I think it's unfortunate that they inflated her boob size after creating her character... but other than that, she's honestly cool. Strong, confident, with a need for adventure despite her personal fortune. Like you say, her sexuality isn't played up.
The only Lara Croft game I finished was the most recent one, and I wasn't offended at all. She survives a lot of really disgusting, traumatic occurrences yes. But she doesn't passively give in to them, she overcomes them and transforms into the vengeful hero of her setting.
Aside: I don't like the word heroine, I'd rather just use "hero" for both genders. Inaccurate I know but the meaning is clear.
And yes, I would be offended if the latest Lara Croft was a wimpy girl who needed help from strong men. As a man, I hate that such things are created to appeal to me. I am excessively upset about Metroid Other M. Not to dredge up the rather off-topic argument from earlier, but this issue effects both genders and we need perspective from both sides to understand it.
Edit: Wrong first quote