Advertisements for the newly released film Ultraviolet with Milla Jovovich are disturbingly familiar. A quick glance at the trailers and posters betray elements from Underworld, Resident Evil, Elektra, Aeon Flux, ad nauseum all replicate the ultimate amalgamation of the “sexy woman in a catsuit” sci-fi film. This subgenre has become remarkably prevalent over the past few years, riding on the increasingly mainstreamed domain of geeks. We can applaud the growth of strong female characters, but why must female strength be inexorably linked to fetish-like sexualization?
Although cultural geekdom is becoming increasingly familiar and unisex, one must not forget its origins as a collective of primarily male nerds. And, despite the growing audience of female geeks, sci-fi movies are still targeted at the original teen boy audience. Consequently, the new lady-geek tastes adapt to the preexisting standards more than vice versa.
The downfall of the “sexy woman kicks ass” cliche is that it is such a generic stereotype, allowing for a film such as Ultraviolet to be produced with mere paint-by-numbers effort. Movies like BloodRayne, Aeon Flux, and Elektra have all failed at the box office despite being based on popular material. Perhaps this is because the subgenre has finally become too repetitive to be entertaining.
Smoldering in an S&M-inspired outfit, the archetypal sexy heroine dispatches her enemies with semi-automatics, a sleek katana, or mad martial arts skills. But maybe we can only take so much of watching a woman’s ass in skintight leather when that is the only distinguishing characteristic of her personality.
The reverse of the sci-fi sexpot does pop up, albeit more rarely. The iconic Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies, is a strong woman that does not condescend to being sexually objectified: she is muscular, sweaty and clad without reference to fetishistic fantasies. Meanwhile, the Milla Jovoviches of the screen are skinny, save for the T&A, and sport outfits that suggest they consulted Versace before saving the world.
Notably, the character of Ripley was originally intended to be a man. Ripley’s character developed beyond a butch interpretation, fortunately, and resulted in admirably fierce maternal figure throughout the series.
Sarah Connor in the Terminator trilogy presents a similarly strong female sci-fi heroine, as she matures from a silly young woman into a competent and protective mother. It is symbolic that in the third movie, the least critically acclaimed, the character of Sarah Connor is killed off, to be replaced by the Terminatrix as lead female role. This new heroine is a blonde, blue-eyed former model in tight red leather, who inflates her breasts upon seeing an ad for Victoria’s Secret.
Many think it is laziness that propels the writing of such flat female action roles.
Sigourney Weaver herself has said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle that “[t]hey think that by putting a woman in an interesting costume, they’ll make up for lack of a compelling character.” Those in the movie-making business should realize that writing women as more than eye candy for the genre will help to expand the audience for their films beyond adolescent males. And apparently some have.
Fortunately, the tide has been turning: the cult series Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and Firefly are populated with female characters that are diverse and strong without having to resort to fan fetish service. Natalie Portman’s gritty role in the graphic novel adaptation V for Vendetta will hopefully offer a much needed alternative to the overly slick and sexualized look that has gradually become the face of science fiction films. It is not entirely superficial that media attention has lingered on Ms. Portman’s shaven head: finally a sci-fi starlet has eschewed the chance to look like the typical masturbatory material.
