Solid Snake

So as some of you know, I'm still going to school. I already have a Bachelor's in Radio, Television, and Film. Emphasis on film. And...well for a
38-40 page paper in my grad class for next semester...my Science Fiction film prof wanted me to choose a topic or have somebody else to choose our research topic and have some type of evidence that they really chose it, for 5 extra points. This part is essentially proven to her by audio conversation, email response, video, or...you type of fucks. I'm a cheap bastard so I'll go w/ the 5 points for being lazy.

This whole thing horrifies me. Not so much that someone else has to choose it but that I'm writing a fucking huge ass paper that's more than my preferred 5 pages, FUCK. Thankfully it's double spaced...somehow this makes it better for me...but I'm a bitch and that still freaks me out.

I like Science Fiction fine, but not enough to be confident in writing about it in a research paper. I personally wouldn't know where the fuck to begin on that thing.

ANYWAY...the topic is in the science fiction genre and my prof recommends me to do something about women in Science Fiction. So women and Science Fiction.

The topic itself needs to be somewhat contained but not too big that a 10 page rough cut of the whole thing's exposition doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how that works out..but whatever.

Go motherfuckers. I'm sure she'll be entertained by how fucking odd you fucks are w/ the possible responses...you fucks.

Jules Winfield

You should name the paper Women who leave the Kitchen: A History of ****s in Space. Or Space ****s.

candyrocket786

You should write something on the "Lack of female nudity in Mainstream Science Fiction". It was pretty apparent in the 80's, but pretty rare now.

fumanstan

Alien rape.

TimeandTide

This.

Or, probably too obvious and too broad, but how about the evolution of women in sci-fi, from the mid-20th century damsel in distress to today's alien ass-kicking protagonists (you could use Prometheus's Shaw as a recent example). The evolution of the sci-fi heroine archetype, perhaps. (You've written about archetypes in other threads, IIRC.)

Or better yet, some sort of treatise on the most jerked-off to sci-fi characters of all time (Kelly LeBrock in Weird Science, Jane Fonda in Barbarella. Adrienne Barbeau in Swamp Thing, etc.)

islandclaws

Snake pushes the limits of what I consider to be acceptable no-homo gayness, but I think he can go further.

As for the paper, I'd have to agree that alien rape seems best suited to your interests. Otherwise, I'd like 40 pages on why women shouldn't be allowed in space, buttressed by an extensive breakdown/analysis of why Vickers runs in a straight line at the end of Prometheus.

brayzie

Science Fiction films and their relevance and influence in regards to society and vice versa.

For example overpopulation was actually an issue people thought was going to cause problems for the world back in the 60s/70s. Soylent Green came out utilizing that as part of its plot.

Gattaca was about genetic engineering and genetic discrimination and that film ended up being showed in highschools across the nation, and may have influenced public opinion on the issue because it came up before congress and I believe that everyone except for Ron Paul voted against businesses being able to discriminate based on genetic/health profiles. Something like that. All I remember is it was a Time Magazine article.

It would be interesting to find out if any older science fiction films that hypothesized future inventions had an influence on inspiring any relatively modern technology.

van der graaf

Do a paper on Ghost in the Shell...there are a million papers on the film related to gender and science fiction, so, being the lazy dumb fuck you are, you can basically legitimately "cheat" by citing them up and down with no original or creative thought(s) of your own.

inri222

Yeah we need more films like Tobe Hooper's Life Force.

devilshalo

By large worms. ie. Galaxy of Terror.

TGM

How Erin Gray's Spandexed Camel Toe Got Me Through Puberty - volume 2.

van der graaf

Pics or it didn't happen.

Lt Ripley

I'd wipe the floor with Shaw.

Dr. DVD

How is doing any of this going to help you in the real world? I only say this because I am trying to convince as many people as possible who know not what to do with a liberal arts degree to avoid getting an advanced liberal arts degree. Been there, and it doesn't help in any way whatsoever. Nobody cares about the big papers you write unless you want to teach film yourself, and jobs are few in that area. If film is what you want to do, you need to toss all comfort out the window (which I know you are capable of doing) and just start making movies.

That said, I have always thought a good topic would be Women in Science Fiction Movies by Ridley Scott. Think about it. Ripley in Blade Runner, Several female replicants in Blade Runner, Vickers and Shaw in Prometheus, and while it's not Sci-Fi, Scott did direct Thelma and Louise. Food for thought.

Lt Ripley

I agree with you though. I read something about Ridley and feminism a while ago.

PopcornTreeCt

I imagine the real usefulness of the degree is when Criterion calls you up asking you to do an audio commentary or write an article about a film. Even then you have to be a total expert on the film and be somewhat known.

Ash Ketchum

In the 1950s, men from Earth kept landing on planets filled with hot babes:
FLIGHT TO MARS
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS
WORLD WITHOUT END
QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE

What the hell does all that mean?

There's your research paper.

Why So Blu?

In the future...women still bake cakes.

RocShemp

Honestly, Ripley (though from the late 70's to mid-90's) would be a better example. Shaw was just a whiney, self-righteous ass. Vickers gave off more of a Ripley vibe.

Supermallet

Come on, man, this paper practically writes itself:

"Visions of Women in Sci-Fi: From Defenseless Maiden to Ass-Kicking Heroine"

You start in the 50's with women being nothing but shriek machines, move into the 60's with them being lust objects, then in the 70's as they start to come into their own, 80's with Aliens and empowering women, 90's and on with plenty of examples of smart, decisive women in sci-fi.

But please god don't use Prometheus. Even Chronicles of Riddick has better examples of a badass female than Prometheus does.

d2cheer

Tentacles..

RocShemp

to all of this. Especially the last two sentences.

d2cheer

That is good!

fumanstan

I hope you cite Supermallet in the finished paper.

RocShemp

Hell, I think Snake may just pay Supermallet to write it for him.