INFECTED WITH EMOTION: JANE BADLER’S MUSIC AND THE MATURATION OF DIANA IN THE V SERIES (1983-2011)

Abstract

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single discipline is insufficient to “grasp the study of culture as a whole” (Johnson, 1986: 279). As a founding father of cultural studies, Raymond Williams already defined this field as “a vague and baggy monster” (1989: 158) that demands an interdisciplinary approach. Aware of the prejudice that the study of science fiction television shows arises in academia, the present study undertakes the challenge of analyzing, from a Cultural Studies perspective, a popular show—The V Series—which combines sci-fi and soap opera elements to catch the general viewer’s attention. This tandem will be explored in the patriarchal limitation of female agency behind the appearance of female empowerment. In opposition to these discourses, one of the show’s protagonists, Jane Badler (Diana), finally achieves a parodic effect in the alternative discourse of music, where she transcends the commonplace of female heroines/villains in audiovisual SF—e.g. Ripley in the Alien saga, Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica: Reimagined or Elizabeth Shaw and Meredith Vickers in the latest Prometheus. Although mainly composed by men, Badler’s parodical music—together with her performance and self-awareness of its satirical impulse—offers an alternative realm to SF, which systematically shuts the door to empowering femininity.