New 'Trek' Has It All ... Except Strong Female Characters
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom
Cartoonist/writer Alison Bechdel is credited with coming up with something called "Bechdel's Law" as a gauge for whether she'd be interested in seeing a movie. (See our Cinematical Seven on Bechdel Law) It first appeared in a 1985 installment of her long-running strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, and it goes like this:1. The movie has to have at least two women in it.
2. Who talk to each other.
3. About something other than a man.
Sadly, if you were to restrict your film-going to films that comply with Bechdel's Law, you'd find yourself avoiding about 99 percent of Hollywood movies, including those that are ostensibly produced for the female audience.
And the new Star Trek? Oh, that's right out.
Like most of America, I love J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot. It's exciting, funny, smart, and the special effects are awesome. But it's a serious sausage fest. If Star Trek were a treehouse, it might not actually have a sign on the door that says "He-Man Woman Haters Club," but there would definitely be free cootie shots available in the sick bay.
How nice it would have been if this brand-new Trek for a brand-new generation reflected some of the strides that women have made in society (if not motion pictures) since the series began in 1966. But the Enterprise's lone named female crew member, Lt. Uhura, is nothing more than The Girl, to be ogled in her miniskirt -- and, at one point, in her underwear -- and lusted after by both Kirk and Spock, if only to make it clear that these new Starfleet men aren't nearly as slash-ficcy as their predecessors.
To be fair, there are other women in Star Trek. Sort of. There are doomed mothers. And in a nod to Kirk's randy reputation, he gets some smoochin' from a scantily clad green-skinned maiden who turns out to be Uhura's roommate, and they talk about ... men. So much for that. Oh, and in a scene on the bridge, Abrams regular Amanda Foreman has one line as an anonymous crew member. But other than that, the women of Starfleet are nothing more than extras in go-go boots walking around in the background.
As for Uhura (played by Zoe Saldana), once it's been established that she's a genius at xenolinguistics, and that her translation skills are responsible for the Enterprise avoiding a potentially deadly trap, her entire role in the proceedings is to look soulfully into Spock's eyes and ask suggestively if there's anything, if you know what I mean, she can do to make him feel better. Considering that he's her superior officer, that's inappropriate in a whole Starfleet Rule Book of ways, and serves to make Uhura less a competent officer than she is, well, an easy lay.
As I mentioned above, I loved the new Trek. I even went to see it a second time on opening weekend. There's a lot to enjoy in Abrams' reimagining, and I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes the franchise.
But guys? Just because the franchise changed the words from "where no man has gone before" to "where no one has gone before" you don't have a Get Out of the Brig Free card where sexism is concerned. Try making Uhura something more than a space hooker who can speak six languages, and you'll boldly go in a much more progressive direction.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
5-12-2009 @ 9:15AM
Dodger said...
I totally agree. I absolutely loved the movie, but I left sort of taking issue with the fact that nothing cool about Uhura was highlighted, not really, and that she had this thing going on with her instructor. I was a little disappointed in that.
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5-12-2009 @ 10:04AM
Susan said...
I'd like to see more women find the courage to get out there and start business', direct scripts,etc. Women hide passively behind men for the most part, and then complain when they get treated as second class citizens in movies. But they're happy to play that role in real life. I'm a successful female freelance artist, and you'd be shocked at the amount of backstabbing gossip that goes on amongst women. The jealousy is awful. And they when they're around men, these same women present themselves as nurturing supportive types. They do that so they can find a meal ticket to support them so they can sit at home.
Ladies, develop a spine. There is still a tendency to kick back and wait for the knight in shining armour to rescue , and to talk catty and nasty about the few brave women who do put themselves out there.
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5-18-2009 @ 6:27PM
shannon said...
I totally agree. More women need to get involved in writing and producing to help develop a less sexist culture. As long as men are dominating the scene, how can we expect to see strong female characters in comfortable clothes?
5-12-2009 @ 9:59AM
rivndellelf said...
Uhura and her roommate do talk about the transmission she translated for a second before she discovers Kirk under the bed.
It's not much, but technically it IS something other than men, even if only for a second.
Other than that, yeah, it's pretty much just the guys... although at least Uhura isn't relegated to just repeating what the computer says... That is a step (albeit a small one) in the right direction.
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5-12-2009 @ 10:37AM
Muffin said...
So glad to see a post on this! That really frustrated me too. It was certainly a step up from TOS, but so far away from anything that would resemble feminist filmmaking.
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5-12-2009 @ 10:32AM
Cincinnati Mike said...
She doesn't get credit for being the ONE girl superstud Kirk can't land?
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5-12-2009 @ 11:03AM
Steve said...
Yep - noticed this too. While I am a total fan of anything sausage festy -- cough -- Vin Diesel -- cough -- Star Trek could have stepped up to the plate and given us an Uhura (or Chapel, who's name you hear in the background in one scene) who is more in the vein of Ellen Ripley (Alien/Aliens) or Sarah Connor (Terminator). My favorite female character in all Trek is Dr. Kate Pulaski (season 2 doctor in Next Gen) who was as fully realized as the male characters.
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5-12-2009 @ 11:53AM
Astin said...
Except that would go against the character entirely. Stepping Uhura up from a glorified switchboard operator to a brilliant linguist advances the character without destroying the history. Making Chapel, a nurse, a tough-as-nails commando also would make no sense.
I agree that Uhura is little more than eye-candy in the film, but this is an introduction. Eventually, they may show that she's a fully competent soldier on away missions (which would make sense for her to go on being a xenolinguist and all), but for the first offering in the series, that would be too much, too soon.
What they could have done is bring in a Saavik or other female officer who has a voice and role that would make sense for her to be at the same level as the senior staff.
5-12-2009 @ 12:26PM
kieltheslayer said...
Ok seriously, yes the women didn't have a huge role, and the biggest reason behind that is that this entire movie was built and based around the relationship between Kirk and Spock. Two dudes. Now for the complaining of Uhura, oh my lord you narrow minded people. Zoe is gorgeous so of course they're going to market that. You're just not going to get around that, so complaining about that happening is like complaining the sun is too bright when the clouds aren't out. Also Uhura is incredibly independent, and we see that right away early on when her character is no longer the girl for Kirk to get, but the girl Kirk can't get. She obviously could handle her situations. Also does no one understand the importance of what happened when she took over as communications officer on the bridge!?!?!??! Its the freaking bridge for crying out loud. Only the best sit up there. Period, no other way around that, and that is the same standard we use today on modern Naval Ships. And she replaced a dude, why? Because she proved incredibly skilled. Cpt. Pike realized she was a great asset and quickly put her as his most trusted communications officer. Yeah there could have been more women, that much is obvious, but they were building the movie around an original cast made mostly of men in the first place. All these blogs are starting to pop up about how the women were useless in the movie. Yeah am I the only one that realizes the entire plot revolved around Uhura's ability to understand the communication she intercepted?
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5-12-2009 @ 12:49PM
Scott Weinberg said...
Plus the whole reason she's even aboard the Enterprise is because she used her relationship with Spock as a pout fulcrum.
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5-12-2009 @ 3:06PM
Kevin said...
No, the only reason she was on there was because she was the most qualified. If she hadn't been put on the enterprise it would have been because of her relationship with Spock.
5-12-2009 @ 6:38PM
Ellen Kimball said...
It's been a long, hard fight, but overall, there were a lot of strong females in 2008 movies. At least it's an improvement since I started reviewing films in 1971.
I'm turning 70 years old on May 31st. My current obsession is trying to support older women in movies. Meryl Streep is certainly holding her own.
I don't know whether to count Justin Timberlake's current effort in the video "Mother Lover" with cameos by Patricia Clarkson and Susan Sarandon. Wonderful!
I haven't seen Star Trek yet, but I'll be there with my man when he gets back from a "male bonding" session in Utah -- grandfather, my biological son, and our two "bonus" grandsons.
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5-12-2009 @ 1:48PM
taybo20 said...
Wow...I really can't believe this has been brought up. Kirk, Spock and Bones arguably make up the perfect trinity in the Star Trek universe. And unfortunately for you writer, they are all men. Even though the history of Star Trek was progressive and idealistic, doesn't mean that all of sudden Uhura or anyone else becomes the main character that we should all care about. There is a reason that Kirk and Spock, specifically, have become stereotyped, parodied and well-known. They are fascinating, polarized characters that come to be friends amongst their differences. The STORY is about them! Never mind the fact that Uhura is a straight A student, never mind the fact that she found a transmission in sub space, never mind that she is strong and independent. Wait for the sequel to expand on the women or woman of the Enterprise. But for now, enjoy Star Trek for what it is instead of complaining that women didn't get a fair shot in the film. Honestly, it seems you went into this movie looking for women to be brushed aside just so you could write about it. But then again, a 20-minute monologue from Uhura showcasing the xenolinguistic capabilities she possesses would have been so enjoyable...
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5-12-2009 @ 1:58PM
Ivana said...
"Plus the whole reason she's even aboard the Enterprise is because she used her relationship with Spock as a pout fulcrum."
The whole reason she's on Enterprise is because she is competent and would have been on that ship anyway. The whole reason Spock reassigned her was because of their relationship, for fear of being accused of favoritism, but he changed his mind because he knew that she deserved to be there on her own accord.
OK, I don't understand, what is so awful about Uhura in the movie? Let's see: she is smart, educated and good at her job, she can fight off unwanted advances by drunken men in bars (including by punching them) and doesn't think she needs protection, but oh, she undresses in her own room, when she thinks that nobody but her female roommate is watching? How terrible! And she offers comfort to someone she loves and who's just lost his mother and homeworld? Well, that makes her weak and anti-feminist, because woman can't possibly have feelings, look sexy, act caring, or - God forbid! - be in love with a male - and be strong at the same time. If she has a job, she has to completly forget about any sex and romance in her life (although, curiously, this does not hold true for men, they can sleep with whoever they want and we won't question their competence or strength). Do you realize just how sexist that attitide is?
Also, "she is ther just so we could see that Kirk and Spock as not as slashy as their predessors"? Huh? They both had love interests and romances and showed interest in females on the show, what has changed? If there is a reason why they wer so 'slashy' (apart from the fact that many people have problems conceiving the idea that not every relationship is sexual and that it's possible to love your best friend deeply without wanting to sleep with them), it is because they were either paired up with a guest star who would disappear at the end of the episode, or a weak recurring female character with whom could never have the kind of chemistry they had with each other or McCoy (Kirk/Rand, developing Spock/Chapel unrequited love storyline on the show a lot more than the more interesting Spock/Uhura pairing).
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5-12-2009 @ 4:53PM
John Campbell said...
While I acknowledge that the original Star Trek isn't exactly a feminist mecca (one of the first episodes is called the "Man Trap" after all), I find it ironic that Star Trek is being criticized for being insensitive, when its progressive message has been a standard other TV shows have been looking up to for fifty years.
Star Trek was created before feminism took hold in America, yet it had female crew members working alongside men. At the time, that was pretty damn progressive, and criticizing Star Trek for being sexist, while accurate, shows an ignorance of context.
I've also yet to see a complaint about Star Trek's sexism coupled with a genuine suggestion for how it could have been done better. Should we have switched the gender of some of the crew? Invented new female crew members out of nowhere to inject into the bridge? Made Uhura completely sexless rather than a genius, successful woman in a meaningful relationship?
This is an unnecessary and empty criticism. Personally, I'm glad J.J. Abrams didn't push a feminist agenda into the movie. I wanted to see Star Trek. Having to watch it as "Lifetime presents: Star Trek" would have ruined it.
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5-12-2009 @ 6:58PM
Katie said...
Wishing there was a female character with a speaking role who wasn't the girlfriend or mother of the two leads is hardly "pusing a feminist agenda".
Star Trek is smart and funny and generally well-made but once you look past the main characters, whose racial complement was set in 1966 to be fair, Star Fleet is the same white man's world it always was and that is disappointing. If nothing else, it demonstrates a lack of vision or imagination on the part of the writers and directors that does not necessarily bode well for future movies from this team now that they've played their flashy, updated-nostaligia card.
5-12-2009 @ 2:04PM
AJ Wiley said...
I had the exact same thoughts. The scene of her in her underthings was just...gratuitous. (But proving that I'm a male chauvinist pig, I will excuse the scenes with Rachel Nichols as the scantily-clad green woman.)
Serenity was a whole hell of a lot more progressive than the new Star Trek.
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5-12-2009 @ 2:28PM
Bill W.gr said...
I think it's a rather silly complaint. Uhura was more important to the plot and had more screen time than Doctor McCoy. And realistically, Star Trek's core audience is male. And is it really such a terrible omission? This Uhura didn't just sit there and say, "hailing frequencies open," or "I can't reach Star Fleet command." She had a strong part. If you really long for that kind of politically correctness, you can always go back and watch reruns of Star Trek Voyager. You'll be sacrificing cool storytelling and action for the sake of you pc sensibilities, but knock yourself out if you prefer that.
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5-12-2009 @ 2:44PM
Kip said...
If you think Uhura's behavior is embarassing or insulting to women, how do you think Kirk's behavior comes across to men?
Works of fiction that address social issues don't need to have characters who are completely politically correct or even socially responsible. In fact, it would be boring if they did.
Star Trek, like anything else, is not perfect. However, just as the original show was for its time, the movie is more progressive and relevant than most other examples in the media.
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5-12-2009 @ 4:21PM
brandon said...
if the majority of women in our society didnt portray themselves as weak or objects, then maybe we wouldnt portray them like that in movies. instead of complaining about one movie you should be compaining about the general population. i'm sick of these "equality" complaints. how about this, whenever women decide they should have to register for the draft like men have to, then equality will make more sense to us men. also, you want to be treated as equals and yet you want us to be more sensitive towards.
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