(no subject)

[oulfis]

So, I was reading John Scalzi's blog, and he had a quote from the director who is currently working on Old Man's War. The director mentions his previous SF film, Enemy Mine, about which I knew nothing. The director says,

In Enemy Mine it was the strange relationship between these two guys. One was a hermaphrodite and one was a human being, so that’s wild.

My first resonse: eurgh. Hermaphrodites are not human beings, it seems! Well, ok, humans can't be true biological hermaphrodites, since that requires viable self-insemination, but I have encountered several people referring to intersexed folks as 'hermaphrodites,' including a grad student who was researching 'hermaphrodites' extensively, learning about specific intersex conditions, and yet failing to regard her 'subjects' as human. So I naturally translate 'hermaphrodite' as 'person who is intersex or trans, as described by an idiot.'

So naturally I do some research, to see if the character is trans or intersex, and also because sometimes I like to make myself miserable. The 'hermaphrodite' in question appears to be reptilian rather than humanoid, but, as my instincts suggested, still not a hermaphrodite - the Drac reproduce asexually. So, upside: the movie itself is probably totally fine.

But, now I have all these skeezy feelings, wondering who would look at reptilian aliens and say, "one's a hermaphrodite, one's a human being" rather than, oh, I don't know, "one's a lizard."

Why is asexual reproduction the first point of difference to spring to mind? And why did it stick in the director's memory as 'hermaphrodite'?

Comments

[indywind]

Those "why" questions deserve more soapboxing than I presently have braincells for. But yes, the movie is fine. considering the era in which it was produced, it's actually pretty darn good. The human and the alien begin as sworn enemies, become grudging allies and at last develop great respect for each other, perhaps even a kind of love. they are both presented as relatively flawed-yet-sympathetic characters, and there are some bits where the human realizes (and so the audience can realize too) that he is also alien, that (post-USA-American) humanity is not more inherently 'normal' than any other kind of life.