In Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Worlds of Science Fiction Television, author Sherry Ginn explores the portrayals of female characters in popular Sci Fi television programs. The programs examined include The X-Files, Babylon 5, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, and all five Star Treks. The major female characters on each program are discussed with respect to their quest to establish a sense of identity within their particular universe, as depicted on their series. By using current psychological and feminist theories, Ginn skillfully evaluates each character in terms that best...

This book is a collection of new essays, with the general objective of filling a gap in the literature about sex and science fiction. Although some work has been published, none of it is recent. The essays herein explore the myriad ways in which authors writing in the genre, regardless of format (e.g., print, film, television, etc.), envision very different beings expressing this most fundamental of human behaviors.

Although it lasted barely more than a season, Dollhouse continues to intrigue viewers as one of Joss Whedon's most provocative forays into television. The program centered on men and women who have their memories and personalities repeatedly wiped and replaced with new ones by a shadowy corporation dedicated to "fulfilling the whims of the rich." This chilling scenario was used to tell stories about big issues--power and resistance, freedom and servitude, class and gender--while always returning to its central themes of identity and individuality. In Joss Whedon's Dollhouse: Confounding...

With diverse contributions from scholars in English literature, psychology, and film and television studies, this collection of essays contextualizes Fringe as a postmodern investigation into what makes us human, and as an examination of how technology invariably transforms our humanity. The essays provide a provocative meditation on how a stellar example of science fiction television comments on the state of personal identity in a 21st century society dependent on technology that both enlivens and threatens the individual. In compiling this collection, the editors sought material as...

Stories of time travel have been part of science fiction since H. G. Wells sent his nameless hero hurtling into Earth's distant future in The Time Machine. Time travel enables the storyteller to depict alternate realities, bring fictional characters face to face with historical figures, and depict moral and ethical dilemmas in which millions of lives (or the world as we know it) are at stake. From Doctor Who and Quantum Leap to the multiple incarnations of Star Trek, time travel has been a staple of science fiction television for more than fifty years. Time-Travel Television: The Past from...

Throughout the long-running BBC series Doctor Who, the Doctor has rarely been alone--his companions are essential. Male or female, human or alien, young or old, the dozens of companions who have travelled with him over the past 50 years have served as sympathetic proxies for the audience.

First appearing in Marvel Comics in the 1960s, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, was introduced to movie audiences in Iron Man 2 (2010). Her character has grown in popularity with subsequent Marvel films, and fans have been vocal about wanting to see Black Widow in a titular role. Romanoff has potent appeal: a strong female character who is not defined by her looks or her romantic relationships, with the skill set of a veteran spy first for the KGB, then for S.H.I.E.L.D. This collection of new essays is the first to examine Black Widow and her development, from Cold War era comics...