Silvio, Carl (1999) ‘Refiguring the Radical Cyborg in Mamoru Oshii’s “Ghost in the Shell”.'
Carl Silvio’s article draws upon Donna Haraway’s concept of the cyborg to analyse the Japanese science fiction anime, Ghost in the Shell. Silvio argues that, despite the potential for cyborgs to ‘erase gender and racial boundaries and the structures of oppression’, the cyborgs in Ghost in the Shell ultimately serve to undermine this subversive potential and reinforce traditional formations of gender (p. 54). Importantly, Silvio recognises that the cyborgs in the film do often destabilize gender norms. This is often the case with the female cyborg protagonist, Major, whose great physical strength and her mind’s inhabitation of a ‘shell’ or body which can be discarded or changed, challenge traditional gender formations of women as physically weak and as the totality of their body. Nevertheless, Silvio’s analysis of the anime asserts that the revolutionary potential of the film is undermined through the traditional use of the male gaze and the maternal body. Major’s naked female-coded cyborg body is objectified throughout the film and is, finally, maternalised when the disembodied data entity Puppet Master penetrates Major’s mind in order to create a completely other entity. In the future world depicted in Ghost in the Shell, gender is in many ways challenged; however, these elements are ultimately undermined by the reproduction of the ideology of woman as both the maternal and sexualised object. Silvio claims that the Japanese anime is applicable to the American context, however, he completely disregards the issue of race in the film and the questions which arise when we consider, for example, the Asian, female, cyborg protagonist, Major.
Aoki, Eric and Brian L. Ott (2004) ‘Counter-Imaginative as Interpretive Practice: Futuristic Fantasy and The Fifth Element.’
The Fifth Element, which was released in 1997, is a popular, big-budget, American science fiction film which is analysed by Aoki and Ott as an aggressive attempt ‘at structuring popular imagination’ and having ‘collective visions of the future’ (p. 150). The vision of the future created in the film though, as argued by Aoki and Ott, merely functions to perpetuate existing power structures with regards to gender, race and sexuality. Despite the fact that, on the surface, the film appears to portray a richly multicultural society, closer analysis reveals that the White ethnicity is privileged above the others which are sidelined to minor or ineffective characters. The Black President, for example, appears to be a subversive character; however, his overall ineffectiveness serves to reinforce White power structures especially when compared with the “hero” of the film, the White, male, heterosexual taxi-driver Dallas. The perpetuation of existing power structures with regard to gender and sexuality is also evident throughout the film. The female protagonist, Leeloo, is a perfect being – the fifth element – and is kept prisoner after being rebuilt by male scientists. Throughout the film, Leeloo is objectified as an element without history and often without voice or agency. According to Aoki and Ott, existing power structures are merely superimposed onto the futuristic world depicted in the film. This approach does not consider any new power structures which may be present in the technologically-advanced future and the changes which technology may have had on the power structures.
Nishime, LeiLani (2005) ‘The Mulatto Cyborg: Imagining a Multiracial Future.’
In this article, Nishime explores the idea that the cyborg in science fiction films can be read as representational of the racial Other (non-White ethnicity). Nishime identifies three broad categories of cyborg in films – the ‘bad,’ ‘good’, and ‘mulatto’ cyborgs (p. 37). The ‘bad’ cyborgs are representational of a strict dichotomy between human and machine (White and non-White ethnicity) and play on xenophobic fears of supposed human ‘purity’ where biology will decide whether one is truly human or not (p. 39). The ‘good’ cyborg in films destabilises this dichotomy and questions what it means to be human (White), whilst maintaining the superiority of humanness; the cyborgs often recognise humans as superior and attempt to pass as such. The third, least common, and most subversive, category is the ‘mulatto’ cyborg which presents new possibilities for race in the future. This ‘mulatto’ cyborg is a hybrid of human and machine which does not attempt to pass as either one but which embodies a new subject position. ‘Mulatto’ cyborgs can be read as representative of multiracial subjectivity which does not privilege human (White) identity. Nishime’s analysis of cyborgs in science fiction films asserts that whilst the majority of cyborgs barely challenge the social constructions of race, a minority provide a new imagining of race in the future in which new subjectivities are formed outside of the White/non-White ethnic binary. Potentially problematic in this article, though, is the exclusive focus on race which does not take into account the many ways in which gender, in particular, is often inextricably linked with race. Furthermore, the category of the ‘mulatto’ cyborg, although compelling, is under-developed, Nishime gives only one account of this cyborg category in film - that of RoboCop.
Nama, Adilifu (2009) ‘R is for Race, Not Rocket: Black Representation in American Science Fiction Cinema.’
The relationship that exists between the political and social environment of America and the representation of Black ethnicity in science fiction films is outlined by Adilifu Nama in this article. This is not to say that the films merely reflect dominant ideals of the time, science fiction films are potentially subversive, yet they are influenced by the social and political climate. In the last twenty years, Nama notes that there has been not only an increase in the number of Black characters in films, but they have also become more important characters, even the central character. In this respect, the future constructed in science fiction films is increasingly multiracial and privileges the White ethnicity less. The Matrix films are used as an example of modern radical representations of Black ethnicity. Nama posits that the trilogy could possibly be defined as ‘the first black sci-fi film epic’ (p. 163). The film juxtaposes the privileging of masculinity and White ethnicity in the virtual Matrix world and the multiracial “real” Zion world which does not appear to privilege any race or gender. The Matrix is a prison and, once released, an entirely new and different world is available. Many of the central characters in the films are Black, and Nama argues that each of these characters signifies an aspect of the civil rights and Black Power movements. The future Zion world figured in The Matrix, is one which social and political Black history has not been forgotten but one in which White male privilege has disappeared without making race invisible or sacrificing racial identity. This article is very narrow in its focus and may be limited in its usefulness in an Australian context. It focuses solely on Black (African American) representations in exclusively American science fiction films throughout American history. Nevertheless, its analysis of race in The Matrix is useful.
Rowley, Christina (2007) ‘Firefly/Serenity: Gendered Spaces and Gendered Bodies.’
The gendering of bodies and spaces in the science fiction miniseries Firefly and the subsequent movie sequel Serenity (F/S) are analysed in this article. As in Carl Silvio’s article regarding the anime Ghost in the Shell, Rowley recognises that F/S is in many ways subversive in its construction of gender. It is also in many ways, however, ‘fairly superficial’ in its reconceptualisation and many gender norms are left ‘intact, unexamined and thus naturalised’ (p. 324). The four central female characters embody both feminine and feminist characteristics and it is this combination which renders them subversive. The geisha-like character Inara is a ‘companion’ and is highly educated and respected and possesses a high status and the freedom to choose and blacklist her own clients. This reconceptualisation of the sex-worker as powerful is undermined with the portrayal of Inara as Oriental Other and her clients as white bourgeois men. Inara is mistreated by some of her clients and she laments the necessity that she play a role in order for men to be more comfortable. The male characters in F/S are barely reconceptualised at all and significantly many of the masculine concepts in the film are not challenged either. Although women are also involved in violence and war and the military, these masculine concepts are not reconfigured in the least. Gendered social structures and many gender norms are fundamentally unchanged and thus, in this future, the power that the female characters have gained is rendered largely neutral. Similar to Nishime’s article, Rowley focuses primarily on one structure, and that is gender, and any deeper analysis which could be gained through the consideration of gender in relation to race is not developed.
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