Representation

Science fiction is well knowns for its clever use of allegories. Incorporating political undertones to characters. For example in “The Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street(1960), the terrifying witch hunt of a suburb expecting an alien invasion is a burning satire on the Red Terror, and translates just as easily to our fear of terrorists today.” These allegories can go unnoticed because they are overshadowed by the fanaticism of the story.

Furthermore the LGBT community is highly underrepresented in the science fiction genre. Both science fiction comic books and films are at fault. “'We’re not talking about gay people, honest' moment in science fiction is the famous “Have you tried not being a mutant?” line in X-Men 2.” This line has strong homophobic undertones to it. Even the term ‘Pride’ infers that “the idea that to be anything but straight and cis is something seedy, deviant and shameful.” Films attempt to include minorities into their films but ultimately fail because they portrayal of the minorities are false and stereotypes. This applies to people of different ethnicities, races, disabilities, classes, body types and genders. In many early science fiction movies there was always the female in distress because she was helpless against the monster. Or women are oversexualized and viewed as suductrisses and to be cautious of. The protagonist of theses films would be strong, white, straight men who would easily defeat the monster and get the girl. People with disabilities in science fiction movies are generally seen as helpless. However in X-men Professor X is in a wheelchair and uses mental strength over physical strengths. In this case a minority group is put into a position of power, they are represented by the leader of the school. Body types is another commonly missed representation of science fiction movies. Stereotyping the “fat friend” because they are not as “able” to be a hero. There are only a few curvy protagonists in science fiction movies, some of which are used in a satirical manner. The diversity gap is an element in which all film genres need to address.

History is also represented in science fiction films. Narratives tend to mirror events that have taken place in the past, or even ongoing issues. Villains have been compared to communists and nazis. For example the scene in Star Wars The Force Awakens were the stormtroopers give a nazi salute to the empire. The scene was very controversial in its blatant comparison of the Empires regium, to that of Hitler and the Nazi party.

There is a lot to be said about representation of different minorities in science fiction. This post is only a small tip of the iceberg to the depths of all of the underrepresentation and false representation of minorities in film. There are so many examples from science fiction televisions shows to films to books. It important to analyzed how people are being represented in films because it helps form the audience's perspective of those minority groups. This potentially causes social issues which is a whole other topic altogether.

I can't hate on X-Men to much. Superhero movies were my childhood. So here is a gif of my two favorite characters from X-men, Jubilee (left) Nightcrawler (right). (X-Men Apocalypse 2016.)

Sources: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/science-fiction/261921/how-allegory-in-sci-fi-can-narrow-representation

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3330168/Nazis-space-Star-Wars-fans-react-astonishment-new-trailer-Force-Awakens-shows-massed-army-stormtroopers-giving-Nazi-looking-salute.html

https://thehumanist.com/arts_entertainment/culture/racial-representation-final-frontier-science-fiction

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120903/?ref_=ttls_li_tt

https://bigliberty.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/fat-heroes-in-science-fiction/