Sexual Politics in Three Science Fiction Films
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Science fiction is not a matter of creating a future out of whole cloth. Rather, it is a method of projecting current interests and trends into the future to see what they would mean in a changed environment. Most science fiction thus speaks directly to the time in which it is written by using the device of the future or of some technological change as a means of exploring issues of interest in the here and now, which may also be interests that are considered universal and timeless. It is also possible to analyze science fiction, as any other genre, in terms of a specific issue to see how its creators may have addressed these issues and how they may reflect the time in which they live, however inadvertently. It is not clear that most writers of science fiction have an understanding of and ideas about the issue of sexual politics, for instance, but it is evident that these creators are as subject to the effects of sexual politics in their society as anyone else and that they will therefore reflect certain ideas and attitudes in the works they produce even if they have not intended to address those specific issues. Consider the attitudes reflected by the characters in three science fiction films--Star Wars (1977), Starman (1985), and Alien (1984). All three films were produced after the rise of the women's movement and after the filmmakers would have become well acquainted with a more varied view of women, women's roles, and the meaning of sexual politics
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Queen Elizabeth was ruler in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century did not mean society was anything other than patriarchal. Yet Princess Leia does show more ability and a greater willingness to take direct and personal action than the average fairy-tale princess. When the film opens, she has stolen plans from the Empire, decoded them, encoded them into one of her robots, and is trying to escape with those plans to serve her people in the war against the Empire. She is thus taking an active part in the war, a generally male-prerogative even in her own time, as can be seen by the all-male Jedi Knights.
In addition to the 1930s serial and other pulp fiction sources for this film, director George Lucas has taken much of the plot from a Japanese film, The Hidden Fortress. The princess in that film both illuminates and contrasts with Princess Leia. The Japanese princess is every bit as bold and self-possessed as Princess Leia, and she also shows great courage in the face of danger. She is also taking action to support the war effort in her kingdom. However, she remains primarily a symbol being protected by a Samurai because she is the princess and because harming her wold be a cup for the enemy. Still, unlike many of
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Approximate Word count = 3355
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
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