Film 301
Midterm Essay
March 25, 2009
Opposing Gender & Racial Issues in Blade Runner and Stepford Wives
Throughout the science fiction films, Stepford Wives (Dir. Bryan Forbes, 1975, United States) and Blade Runner (Dir. Ridley Scott, 1982, United States) the relationship between the robot/replicant and human represent various gender and racial issues. Both films reveal gender roles that men and women are expected to fulfill. In Blade Runner the lead female character, Rachel conforms to the norms and expectations of her gender role, while the protagonist, Joanna in Stepford Wives attempts to live her life according to her own likeness rather than according to the expectations that society has placed upon her based upon her gender. As far as racial issues are concerned, throughout Stepford Wives there are a limited amount of problems due to the fact that all of the characters are Caucasian until an African American family is present at the end of the film. In terms of a “minority” Joanna is definitely the outcast due to the fact that she does not wish to conform to the lifestyle of the typical Stepford wife. Blade Runner contains racial issues concerning Asians and the fear that their development could surpass and outshine the dominant, White male.
In Stepford Wives, the robots do not typically challenge the human, but are compliant and subservient to meet the needs of the men. The only instance in which the robot challenges the humans is when the robot begins to dysfunction and repeatedly recites the same words. When this occurs, the husbands simply reactivate the robot to behave once again as "perfect" wives. In Blade Runner the replicants challenge the humans and are dangerous and complex because they appear just as humans; however, their lives are only limited to a four year span and they do not possess their own memories, but are programmed with another individual’s memories as their own.
Issues regarding gender are evident in both Stepford Wives and Blade Runner. In the film Stepford Wives the central idea is the opposition of one female to the male dominated society.. The men have a secret society in which they develop robots to replace their wives to create "the perfect wife". Though throughout the film Joanna struggles with the idea as to why the wives are so obedient to the stereotypical housewife model of earlier time periods. Joanna represents the present and future woman, one who has ideas and desires of leaving a legacy verses the stereotypical compliant woman the robots represent. The male figure in this film is based on the idea of repression of the female gender, this is why the use of robots is vital because the concept of a robot is to repeat desired actions, movements, and ideas. At the time this film was produced the feminist movement made another wave and women were becoming more motivated to escape from their stereotypical role as housewife. This is the significance of the film because men wanted women that they could control and not motivated or independent thinkers such as Joanna. The idea of a progressive woman threatened the stepford society because the power of men would be at risk.
Blade Runner “sports a number of renegade, replicated bodies (replicants) designed to service their human counterparts. These are genetically engineered bodies; reproductions of human bodies that appear so real they throw into relief the supposed authenticity of being human" ([i]). The lead role of Rachel who later is informed that she is a replicant serves as the model of femininity while Deckard’s character represents masculinity. Both Rachel and Deckard rely on one another to provide a sense of self and confirm how their gender roles should be fulfilled. "This is because they recognise that in order pass as human subjects they must act out what it means to be feminine or masculine" ([ii]).
In the visual depicted above, Deckard portrays a dominating and powerful masculine role as he forces Rachel against the wall and directs her to repeat his words, “Say ‘kiss me’ ” ([iii]). When she does not obey his directions, he once again stresses, “Say ‘kiss me’” ([iv]). Rachel complies with the order and the two have sex in which it is not confirmed to be fully consensual. Deckard and Rachel conform to the expectations of gender: males are to be strong and commanding and women are to be submissive and fragile.
"Blade Runner foregrounds the construction of Rachel as masculine fantasy" ([v]) just as the female robots in Stepford Wives are created to remain appealing to men as well. Although both Stepford Wives and Blade Runner contain issues in gender, "Rachel survives because she acquiesces to her assigned role as feminine Other to Deckard’s masculine subjectivity" ([vi]) while Joanna’s original character from Stepford Wives is destroyed and she is forced to conform to Stepford Society even though it was out of her control.
In the film the Stepford Wives the issue of ethnicity is evident in the sense that the humans are attempting to develop a super gender, indifferent to the ethnic background of the individual woman being transformed. The role of male is to be dominant and the role of woman is to be developed and subservient to the wishes of the male. Although the film is predominantly based around Caucasian families the film shows its indifference to the issue of ethnicity by having an African American family be the next family to move into stepford.
This subtle image at the end of the film of the African American family being incorporated into the stepford society is significant because it shows that no matter what family moves into stepford they will fall in line with the rest of society. If these new neighbors do not conform, they it is evident that they will be social outcasts.
Throughout Blade Runner, "marginalised ‘oriental’ characters were consistently seen to be the makers/producers of technologies surrounding the manufacture of the Replicants, even though it is a Western male who plays the part of the ‘overlord/creator’ in charge of the whole operation" ([vii]). It is evident in contemporary American society that the White male is typically powerful and dominant over other ethnic groups regardless of how knowledgeable they may be. In the film there is an obvious "fear that American dominance was being undermined by a growing Asian economy and that American culture was being diluted or de-purified through increasing interaction and involvement with East Asian companies and markets" ([viii]).
The visual displayed above is an example of the Asian influence in Blade Runner. Although the film took place in the United States , there are various scenes of Asian marketplaces in which the employees spoke their native language The Asian influence is also apparent through the visual image of the Asian woman on the billboard that appears constantly throughout the film.
The films Blade Runner and Stepford Wives both tackle the issues of gender role and racial anxieties, but each interprets these differently. The film Blade Runner concentrates more on the emphasis of the personal interaction between male and female, while Stepford Wives delves into the societal implications of the feminine role. The issue of race is more prevalent in Blade Runner because of its reference as to the Asian culture beginning to make an impact in future American society. In Stepford Wives the lack of culture is identified as having an impact over another, rather it lumps all of humans in one category indifferent to race centrally focused on the concept of male domination.
Endnotes
[i] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 154
[ii] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 155
[iii]
Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott, perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, 1982, DVD Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982.
iv.. Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott, perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, 1982, DVD Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982.
[v] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 157
[vi] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 156
[vii] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 194
[viii] Christine Cornea, "Gender Blending and the Feminine Subject," Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. ( New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2007) p. 195
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