Writing the Woman: An Exploration of Domesticity and Feminine Power in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film and Television

Abstract

In 1979, Ellen Ripley appeared on screens as the first female lead in a science fiction film. Forty-five years later, the genre of science fiction and fantasy in film and television has introduced the world to a plethora of strong, powerful, and iconic feminine characters like Terminator’s Sarah Connor, Star Trek’s Captain Janeway, and Wonder Woman’s Diana Prince. The development of these feminist powerhouses has coincided with a steady rise in popularity of the speculative fiction genre, facilitating strong, independent women who defy the tired femme fatale or damsel-in-distress archetypes to mainstream audiences. These powerful cinematic incarnations showcase women’s capacity to be independent and powerful modern-day paladins who have ventured where no women in film had gone before—outside of the home. As this paper argues, however, this rearticulation of women across these genres has come at a cost, one that has problematised the representation of women as both powerful and feminine. Through the lens of two of the genres’ more recent protagonists, Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections (2021) and Galadriel in The Rings of Power (2022), this paper utilises interpretative analysis and critical feminist film theory to highlight how domesticity and heroism are represented as incompatible. The analysis reveals that female protagonists in recent speculative fiction, such as Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections (2021) and Galadriel in The Rings of Power (2022), are systematically distanced from domestic roles. Furthermore, this paper highlights how this very binary is inherently harmful and problematic, as it naturalises this distinction.