SciFiFem

Our final episode focused on the representation and portrayal of women in science fiction films. We began our discussion with the first film we watched in class, Forbidden Planet, and how Alta, the only woman on the planet, interacted with the men in the film. We then moved on to different films in the 20th and then 21st centuries, mainly focusing on the diversity of women in films especially in terms of race and sexuality.

In our second episode we discuss a brief, somewhat chronological order of women in the realm of science fiction as both writers and and fans. We talk about how the science fiction field is mainly male dominated but over time women have been making a stance and there many great female authors who have been recognized for their works. We talked about some literature that we have read in class as well which led us to a short discussion about gender and what it means to be a feminist in 2019. Along with these topics we also discuss the representation for people of color in this genre that is made of predominantly white men.

In our first episode we discuss the origins of science fiction. This episode we focus on the God Mother of science fiction Mary Shelley. We start off with a brief biography of Mary Shelley and how her novel Frankenstein came to be. We touch on how the women in the novel are treated and portrayed. Also discussing how Shelley used her writing a social criticism and put her own ideals in values into some of her characters.