The most successful box office hits in history are science-fiction films. This indicates that the audience - society - likes what they see in these movies. Science-fiction has long been viewed as a male dominated genre. Although there have been notable exceptions in such films as Alien (and its sequels) and the original Terminator, for the most part, science-fiction films have been laden with male heroes in powerful positions. Females, in most of these films, have been subjected to three roles: reasoner/comforter, sex object, and victim. While the male characters are allowed to make the difficult decisions and handle the demanding physical tasks, the female characters are often forced to stand behind them and console or reason with "their" man when things don't go according to plan. By employing a textual analysis of two recent science-fiction box office successes; "Star Trek: First Contact" (Jonathan Frakes, 1996) and "Independence Day" (Roland Emmerich, 1996); one can clearly see the above pattern of male/female power relationships in full effect. Both films present female characters as victims, reasoner/comforter, and sex objects. Furthermore, the pattern demonstrated in these two film

Are both of these films merely reflecting the views of society today when they portray patriarchy and the power systems in society? They both describe patriarchy today in terms of the masculine being defined by the feminine. They both portray the masculine male as strong, driven, independent, clear thinking, and unfeeling except for lust and rage. By contrast feminine female characters tend to be passive, compliant, understanding, compassionate, team players, empathetic, and of course sexually appealing. All of these perceived characteristics for both the masculine and feminine could be used to describe the characters and their actions in both of the films, suggesting again that the gender representations in the works are a construct of our society and not as much the opinion of the filmmakers themselves.

The audience reaction to both of these films would seem to suggest that the gender roles portrayed within them are not controversial to society. If people had a problem with the portrayals of women in the films they probably would not have achieved the box office they did - $369,169,255 domestic box office gross for "Independence Day" and $91,968,563 domestic box office gross for "Star Trek: First Contact". The audience reaction suggests that the representations, whether right or wrong, are what people today except as normal and thus as part of the mainstream. Therefore, both "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Independence Day" can be said to be formed of stereotypes that reinforce the views of mainstream society today. Without societal change, unfortunately, it is unlikely that the representation of women in mainstream cinema will change anytime soon.

In one example, The First Lady serves as comforter even while she is being rescued. As she lies dying in the hospital ward of the secret complex, Mrs. Whitmore comforts her grieving husband, strengthening his resolve to fight back against the alien invaders. In essence, her rescue provides him with both the power of being a rescuer (he did not physically rescue her, but his societal position of power allows for her being rescued) and the comfort and reason which he needs to succeed. Mrs. Whitmore's function in regards to her husband are almost exactly the same as Lilly's function in relation to Jean-Luc Picard.

After being rescued, Lilly is able to fulfill the role of comforter and reasoner to Picard. In two key sequences she can be found to be the voice of reason and comfort that counter Picard's powerful rage. The first sequence involves Picard and Lilly's encounter with the Borg in the hollodeck. As Picard relentlessly riddles two Borg with a barrage of bullets, Lilly calms his rage by saying, "I think you got him." Although the line is delivered as comic relief in a rather intense sequence, it also demonstrates the woman's role as a reasoner and comforter to the physically and socially powerful male. Picard is the captain of the fleets most prestigious and advanced ship, a position of considerable power, yet he needs to be comforted in his physical dominance by Lilly telling him its all right to stop.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2230
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)