The Science of Being a Woman on Screen

Francisco Payó González

Mexican filmmaker. He has made short films, advertising productions inside and outside Mexico, and assisted in the directing and production departments, and as script advisor, of various film projects.

Behind many of the greatest discoveries, advances, and achievements of humankind, there stands not a great man, but a great woman. The audiovisual world has recreated many of these historical figures and transformed so many other women into historical figures that, in spite of existing only on the screen, they have inspired many of us to change our lives and the world in which we live.

As we wait for the premiere of the motion picture Radioactive, based on Lauren Redniss’s graphic novel inspired by the life of Marie Curie, and directed by none other than Marjane Satrapi (the creator of the comic Persepolis), let’s look back over some motion pictures and TV series that, each in their own way, break or have broken with female stereotypes, making an impact on viewers of every gender.

Agora (2009)

A life devoted to knowledge, in which the heroine develops visionary theories that would be corroborated centuries afterwards, forms the axis of this impeccable production about the philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer Hypatia, who found herself confronting one of the greatest historical enemies of science and women’s rights: the then nascent Catholic Church.

the X Files (1993 – 2018)

Dana Scully was so inspiring that she set off the “Scully Effect” in the 1990s, when an unprecedented number of women in the United States began to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at university. According to one study, more than 50% of these women were fans of the series The X Files.

Hidden Figures (2016)

On 24 February 2020, the mathematician Katherine Johnson, known as the “human computer,” passed away. Her contributions marked a before and after in space exploration, although both her race and her gender caused her to be denied her due. The passage of time and this motion picture have undertaken to mend the injustice.

Star Trek (1966 – ?)

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, expert linguist and cryptographer, in charge of communications on the Starship Enterprise, was a pioneer among fictional female characters with more active and decisive roles, while at the same time breaking racial barriers that were still very much in place at the time.

Gorillas In The Mist (1988):

This motion picture is based on the life of scientist Dian Fossey, whose entire career was devoted to the cause of protecting the African gorilla from extinction. Fossey rejected her preordained role as housewife and homemaker and risked her life to the ultimate consequences. Starring an incomparable Signourey Weaver, this is a genuine classic of the 1980s.

Jurassic Park (1993)

““God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man… Man creates dinosaurs…” reflects one of the male characters, to whom the paleobotanist Ellie Satler replies: “Dinosaurs eat Man. Woman inherits the Earth…” In her case, at least, the planet would be in good, responsible hands.

Arrival (2016)

With the arrival of two extraterrestrial spaceships and the global hysteria that follows, Earth’s only hope is not a man armed to the teeth but a female linguist endowed with the intelligence and sensibility needed to decipher the language of the alien visitors before other human beings react as they always do to the threat of the unknown…

Contagion (2011)

A new virus begins to spread across the planet, infecting people quickly and lethally, while a group of experts from the government and civil society race against the clock in search of a cure. Kate Winslet plays Dr. Erin Mears, whose great determination and courage will be vital to saving us from the pandemic.

Contact (1997)

Based on Carl Sagan’s novel, this motion picture stars the matchless Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor Arroway, an astrophysicist who has devoted her life to making contact with extraterrestrials. The paradoxes of faith and science, of merit and opportunism, of pain and transcendence, make for moments of great intensity.

The imitation Game (2014)

Although the film centers on Alan Turing, it also pays special attention to Joan Clarke, another character based on real life: a codebreaker whose contributions not only helped the work of the team coordinated by Turing, but also may have tipped the balance in favor of the Allies in the Second World War.