Over the last century of cinema films have largely been made by and about men and the landscape of science fiction has long been dominated by the male of the species. It may have something to do with the frontier nature of science fiction and the notion that exploration and discovery are a man’s domain.
But for as every tale about men who have gone forth and conquered, there have been plenty of women who have observed these deeds and said to themselves, ‘well I can do better than that!’
Just as the human species has evolved over time so too has the medium of cinema. Once upon a time women existed on screen in a limited range of depictions. Female protagonists mostly served as objects that looked pretty and that things happened to; and to confirm the heterosexuality of the male lead.
From the 1970’s onward women and their stories began to gain a foothold in the film industry and with this began the emergence of celluloid women who showed very little sexual interest in men. These feisty protagonist such as Ellen Ripley in the Alien films started to appear, who took on the mantle of The Hero, or would Shero be political correctness gone mad?
Even the apparently heterosexual Sarah Connor in the Terminator series may have copulated with her son’s father out of desire to begin with, but curiously this seems to have been a one-time thing for Sarah who never beds anyone again.
This asexual role is perhaps one that mainstream heterosexual audiences and the straight men who write the cheques in Hollywood are comfortable viewing but all change has to start somewhere. A strong female character like Trinity in The Matrix may never have made it to the screen it if weren’t for her sisters who came before her.
There may not be a tonne of examples of fully dimensional female characters in science fiction films and television just yet, but hopefully in the future the women portrayed may be allowed to be powerful and have lust in their hearts as well, no matter who they feel it for.
Clint Little
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