Reinscribing Patriarchy in the Star Trek Films 1979-1994
- Submitting institution
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Canterbury Christ Church University
- Unit of assessment
- 34 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management
- Output identifier
- U34.008
- Type
- C - Chapter in book
- DOI
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- Book title
- To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe
- Publisher
- McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson, North Carolina.
- ISBN
- 9781476668536
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2017
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This chapter was an invited contribution to a collection on the Star Trek franchise, To Boldly Go: The Star Trek Universe, Identity, Gender and Beyond marking its fiftieth anniversary. Whilst the original series and its later spin-off were celebrated for the diversity of characters, first within the context of the radical 1960s and then against the later periods of representations of women and ethnic identities, Butler questions this in relation to the feature films that reunited the original central cast on the large screen and paved the way for those new television versions. Butler examined the representation of masculinity of characters more than a decade old from their first appearance, marking a shift from a contingent family of the crew to characters with family ties to children. These social relationships play out within the neoconservative and neoliberal ideologies of Reagan era Hollywood. The textual and thematic reading of six films centred on the original cast and one film which also featured the crew from The Next Generation era is grounded within the analysis pioneered in the work on Reaganite entertainments by Andrew Britton and Robin Wood which mention the first two films, in particular the recuperation of the male as father as part of the socioeconomic system rather than at war with it. The article also draws upon the philosophy of Emmanuel Lévinas’ philosophy, which connects ideas about patriarchy and filiality to death and the future. The aging male characters are positioned as potent and bearers of the male gaze – whilst the female characters are objectified – and placed in conflict with other fathers and sons, having to assert their power. Whilst Spock literally comes back from the dead during the course of the films, Kirk is given a heroes death that guarantees a kind of immortality.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
