Subjects:
The most successful box office hits in history are science-fiction films. This indicates that the audience - society - likes what they see in these movies. Science-fiction has long been viewed as a male dominated genre. Although there have been notable exceptions in such films as Alien (and its sequels) and the original Terminator, for the most part, science-fiction films have been laden with male heroes in powerful positions. Females, in most of these films, have been subjected to three roles: reasoner/comforter, sex object, and victim. While the male characters are allowed to make the difficult decisions and handle the demanding physical tasks, the female characters are often forced to stand behind them and console or reason with “their” man when things don’t go according to plan. By employing a textual analysis of two recent science-fiction box office successes; “Star Trek: First Contact” (Jonathan Frakes, 1996) and “Independence Day” (Roland Emmerich, 1996); one can clearly see the above pattern of male/female power relationships in full effect. Both films present female characters as victims, reasoner/comforter, and sex objects. Furthermore, the pattern demonstrated in these two film
. . .
“Star Trek” was founded on the ideals of showing equality for all. 37)
Are both of these films merely reflecting the views of society today when they portray patriarchy and the power systems in society? They both describe patriarchy today in terms of the masculine being defined by the feminine. In the original television series a black female, Leiutenant Uhura, was part of the bridge at a time when black female leads were unheard of in prime time. Without societal change, unfortunately, it is unlikely that the representation of women in mainstream cinema will change anytime soon.
The societal stereotypes presented in “Star Trek: First Contact” are also evident “Independence Day”, suggesting that these ideologies are imbedded less in the minds of the individual filmmakers and more in the media culture as a whole. Whitmore comforts her grieving husband, strengthening his resolve to fight back against the alien invaders. The audience reaction suggests that the representations, whether right or wrong, are what people today except as normal and thus as part of the mainstream. Where Picard uses rage and physical violence (he smashes a cabinet with his gun) to further his point, Lilly uses comforting words and reason to put forth hers. Through her first encounter with Jean-Luc Picard, she discovers the grave danger that she is in. In varying degrees all are in need of rescue by men, and all serve as a voice of reason or comfort at some point in the film. The first sequence involves Picard and Lilly’s encounter with the Borg in the hollodeck. Even though to read into the filmmakers intentions while creating something rather than to analyze just what is on the screen is to commit the “intentional fallacy”, let’s do just that for a moment. If we are found insensitive, we may fear we have no redeeming traits at all and are perhaps not real women.
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.