Crash Course: Post-Apocalyptic Femmes

From METROPOLIS and BARBARELLA to ALIEN and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, heroines are a hallmark of science fiction. Through the ‘90s, a cultural whirlpool of Riot Grrrl, Madonna’s Sex-era feminism, HIV/AIDS, climate concern, and hypersexual comic books and animation all led to a new kind of sci-fi heroine: anarchist, queer, shamelessly sexually empowered, and capable of cutting down entire armies by herself.

In this Crash Course, we will watch and discuss four critically-derided, pre-FURIOSA films whose anxieties and warnings eerily echo our realities: fascist worlds run by mega-corporations, misshapen by pandemics and environmental catastrophe, and subject to the whims of sociopathic men in power. All of these films were considered failures for their ideas, content, feminism, filmmaking, and performances, and all of them are worth reevaluating for these very elements—as well as for their prescience, cultural relevance, innovative ideas, and the Post-Apocalyptic Femmes who fight for freedom.

Films:

1/7: TANK GIRL (1995, 104mins)

1/14: BARB WIRE (1996, 98mins)

1/21: AEON FLUX (2003, 92mins)

1/28: ULTRAVIOLET (2006, 87mins)

This class is taught by Hollywood Theatre programmer Anthony Hudson.  

MMU Crash Course classes offer a low-intensity way to explore a filmmaker or genre, in a friendly environment shared with fellow film lovers. Unlike our MMU seminars, Crash Courses offer a more casual approach. There’s no formal lecture or discussion, but films are curated and presented by staff experts.  

Enrollment is limited to 18 students.

Email us at education@moviemadness.org if you have any questions.