Contact (1997): Jody Foster as Female Protagonist and Scientist!

[Link to article “The Power of Feminist Representation”]

There are few “science-based” movies with strong and serious female characters; there are even fewer movies about female scientists; it is exceptionally rare to find a female astrophysicist represented in a blockbuster. Unlike the play Photograph 51 (a play about Rosalind Franklin), this movie is based on a novel, and as such, the woman on screen is not one specific woman in history whose story is being represented. It is for this reason that I’m including it as a resource here—Ellie Arroway can be any woman, in the past, present, and/or future. The concept of a character who defies “common sense” or “the way it has been” in the field of science is powerful and deserves recognition. Plus, the tension between science and religion in the movie is worth discussion further, especially given the relevance to 21st century debates on abortion, scientific research involving embryonic stem cells, and other similar controversy-laden issues. In essence, I like this movie because of the many boundaries it pushes, and the spaces of discomfort it puts us in. It is in these unsettling spaces where much pedagogical potential resides.

Here are some excerpts from an article critiquing the 1997 blockbuster that I find most intriguing and insightful:

Contact makes waves just by existing. Although the science fiction genre is peppered with extraordinary portrayals of pioneering women, it’s rare for them to actively serve as the protagonists of any major motion picture, let alone a multi-million dollar sci-fi blockbuster. Instead of maximizing the endless possibilities inherent in the genre to their fullest potential by liberating and diversifying, the majority of women take a narrative backseat to a revolving door series of leading white men. They’re lucky to do something other than fulfill the tired role of token love interest. Dr. Martha Lauzen’s “Celluloid Ceiling” report for 2015 confirms this: women comprised only 22% of movie protagonists in the top 100 highest grossing films of last year.

Contact breaks down common cinema barriers by not only featuring a complex, layered female protagonist, but a brilliantly capable, talented female scientist — a concept still lacking adequate female personification and normalization within modern narratives.

As a woman in a male-dominated profession, Ellie Arroway endures a belligerent stream of ingrained sexism. She is overruled, questioned, ignored, and derided by the men surrounding her, particularly by David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), the Scientific Advisor to the President and quasi-antagonist. He removes the funding from Ellie’s SETI research site in Puerto Rico and threatens to do the same four years later at an observatory in New Mexico because he’s convinced the effort is a waste of resources — NASA’s and Ellie’s. Not only is “looking for E.T.” a laughable venture, he argues Ellie’s squandering her talents in the department and won’t accomplish anything of note with her career. If she’s going to be a scientist, she should at least be the kind he approves of. It’s an example of paternalistic control masquerading as concern that Ellie is quick to challenge.