Dreams of a Subversive Future Dreams of a Subversive Future Sexuality, (Hetero)normativity, and Queer Potential in Science Fiction Film and Television Josefine Wälivaara Department of Culture and Media Studies Umeå 2016 Responsible publisher under Swedish law: the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities Copyright © Josefine Wälivaara. This work is protected by the Swedish Copyright Legislation (Act 1960:729) ISBN: 978-91-7601-522-3 Cover image: Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David- Lloyd). Copyright © BBC. All Rights Reserved. Electronic version available at http://umu.diva-portal.org/ Printed by: Print & Media, Umeå Umeå, Sweden 2016 I’ll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination. The soundest fact may fail or prevail in the style of its telling: like that singular organic jewel of our seas, which grows brighter as one woman wears it and, worn by another, dulls and goes to dust. Facts are no more solid, coherent, round, and real than pearls are. But both are sensitive. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii Abstract v Introduction 1 Background 2 Aim and Research Questions 6 Method, Material, Scope, and Relevance 7 Queer and Queer Readings 12 Terminology and Theoretical Perspectives 14 Gender and Sexuality 14 Heteronormativity and Subversion 17 Science Fiction as Field of Study 19 Genre Definition: The Performativity of Genre 19 Previous Research 21 Disposition of the Thesis 26 Chapter 1: (A)Sexuality and Science Fiction 29 A Technological Point-of-View 29 Legacy of the Star’verses 33 Heroes and (Sexual) Relationships 40 Male Characters 42 Female Characters 47 Regulations of Sexual Content and Changes in Time 51 Genre Identity and a Queer Hero in Torchwood 54 “It’s supposed to be sci-fi, not sex-fi” 56 A Queer Science Fiction Hero 60 Chapter 2: Heteronormativity and Science Fiction 69 Queer Possibilities 69 Unused Possibilities 78 Familiarity and Normality 81 Intelligible Science Fiction and the Otherness of Aliens 87 Science fiction and Queer Characters 89 Using Queer Potential 91 i Chapter 3: Storytelling in Science Fiction Film 97 Classical Hollywood Storytelling 97 Building Blocks of Stories 100 New Hollywood? 103 Science Fiction Storytelling 107 Heteronormativity and Hollywood 111 Heteronormative Story Structures in Science Fiction Film 117 Searching for Subversive Storytelling 122 New Queer Cinema 125 Defying Conventions: Videodrome 127 Closure and Open Ended Narratives 130 Chapter 4: Stay Tuned for the Future of Science Fiction 135 Science Fiction Television 136 Behind the Scenes: Production, Distribution, and Exhibition 137 Market and Costs 140 Television Auteurship 142 Television Storytelling 144 Seriality, Deferred Narratives, and Complex TV 145 Heteronormativity and Television 148 Adapting to Normality 149 Firefly 151 Serenity 161 Conclusions: An Adult Turn and Towards New Possibilities 169 Towards Another Future 169 21st Century Science Fiction 171 The Cancelation of Firefly 179 Conclusion and Final Remarks 185 References 187 Filmography 202 List of Illustrations 212 Index 213 ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisors, Per Ringby and Christina Svens. Per, for being solid as a rock, who with a relentless enthusiasm and vivid knowledge has guided me into the world of academia. Thank you for watching and discussing, (and eventually even likening), the films and television series that I have thrown your way. Christina, thank you for always looking out for the creators and the storytellers, the ones hidden behind the finished product – including me. And also, thank you both for all your reading, discussions, and ideas and for your unwavering trust in my abilities. I also want to thank the participants of the higher seminars that I have read, commented and discussed my ideas and my texts in different forms. Thank you to Van Leavenworth and Chris Pullen for being special readers on my mid- and final seminar. Also, thank you Annelie Bränström Öhman for your input at the very end of this process. Your readings of my dissertation drafts have helped me tremendously. Thanks to my colleagues at the department of Culture and Media Studies and also, thank you Maria Lindgren Leavenworth for your help and insights into English academic writing. A special thanks to those of you who shared these years as doctoral student with me, especially my work-sister Tamara Andersson, Sun Kyoung Choi, Julia Pennlert and Ann Enström. Also, thanks, Holger and Thyra Lauritzen’s Foundation for the Promotion of Research into the History of the Cinema, for a contribution to print this book. Also, thanks to my family and friends. To my mom, Gertrud. Without your bravery and strength all those years ago, I would not have been where I am today. To my siblings, including one cousin, for all the hours of science fiction, fantasy, and horror (both on-screen and off-screen). To my friends, both old and new, for being there. Finally, to my heart and the love of my life, Johan. “What can't we face if we're together?” - Thank you for putting up with sleepless nights, endless ramblings and redecorations. Without you, this would not have been possible. This book is dedicated to Lo, who taught me to slow down and play in the moment – I hope the future holds endless possibilities. Umeå, June 2016 iii iv Abstract The aim of the thesis is to explore depictions of sexuality in popular science fiction film and television through a focus on storytelling, narrative, characters and genre. The thesis analyses science fiction as a film and television genre with a focus on the conventions, interpretations, and definitions of genre as part of larger contexts. Central to the argumentation is films and television series from Star Wars and Star Trek to Firefly and Torchwood. The approach allows a consideration of how the storytelling conventions of science fiction are, and have been, affected by its contexts. Through a consideration of a historical de-emphasis on narrative complexity and character formation in science fiction, the thesis displays and analyses a salient tendency towards juvenile and heteronormative narratives. This tendency is represented by a concept that I call the Star’verses, through which this dominant idea of science fiction as a juvenile, techno-centred, masculine, and heteronormative genre became firmly established. This generic cluster has remained a dominant influence on science fiction film and television since the 1980s. However, as argued, a major discursive shift took place in science fiction at the turn of the millennium. This adult turn in science fiction film, and television in particular, is attributed to contextual changes, but also to the influence of television dramaturgy. It explains why science fiction in the 21st century is not as unfamiliar with depictions of sexuality as its predecessors were. This turn does not signal a total abandonment of what the Star’verses represent; it instead contributes to a change to this dominant idea of the generic identity of science fiction. While sexuality has been disassociated from much science fiction, it is also argued that the science fiction narrative has extensive queer potential. Generic conventions, such as aliens and time travel, invite both queer readings and queer storytelling; the latter however is seldom used, especially in science fiction film. A majority of the examples of science fiction narrative that use this queer potential can be found in television. In cinema, however, this progression is remarkably slow. Therefore, the thesis analyses whether the storytelling techniques of Hollywood cinema, to which science fiction film owes much of its dramaturgy, could be considered heteronormative. A comparison is made to television dramaturgy in order to display the possibilities for the serialised, character-focused science fiction narrative. Ultimately, the thesis investigate the possibility for subversive storytelling and v whether a normative use of dramaturgy needs to be overthrown in order to tell a subversive story. Keywords: Science fiction, film, television, genre, sexuality, queer, storytelling, gender, subversive, intelligibility, Torchwood, Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, adult turn, Star’verses, dramaturgy, heteronormativity, film history, Hollywood. vi Introduction The topic for this dissertation – sexuality in science fiction - originated from my dual position as a former student of cinema studies with a feminist and queer theoretical approach and a fan of science fiction. The combination of these two positions resulted in disappointment with the unfulfilled possibilities of science fiction narratives in film and television. While science fiction narratives gave the impression of endless fictional possibilities, the absence of certain stories and characters was apparent. Though these narratives focused on the future, on different times, places, societies and even species, the construction and depiction of these were often extremely normative in terms of gender, and even more prominently - sexuality. Thus, despite what can be called a queer potential of the science fiction narrative it is seldom used in popular science fiction film and television. These heteronormative depictions upheld heterosexuality as something everlasting and unchangeable in narratives about both human and alien societies, and imagined futures. Furthermore, issues of sexuality were not only peripheral to narrative concerns but also to the critical study of science fiction. While, for example, the unsatisfactory portrayal of women is a subject well researched and critiqued, the limited amount of research into sexuality, and queer sexuality in particular, in science fiction made clear the necessity of this study. As I encountered some examples of films and television series that actually made use of this queer potential of science fiction, they illustrated how generic conventions, such as depictions of aliens and the future or time travel, could be used productively to question normativity. In addition, these examples underlined changes across time and the normative construction of genre.