The Mediated Body in Contemporary U.S. Science Fiction Cinema: Tron: Legacy (2010) and the Hunger Games (2012)

Abstract

It is commonly agreed that we are immersed in the information order where classical dichotomies body/mind, human/machine, natural/artificial, reality/fantasy are dissolving. The science fiction genre particularly offers opportunities for understanding the complex relationship between the human body and the media. This essay intends to explore the implications of the “mediated body” as conveyed in contemporary science fiction cinema, focusing on how visual texts articulate the idea of gender as construction or performance, and how this connects with contemporary anxieties concerning how media affect the materiality of our bodies. In order to carry out this study, two contemporary science fiction films will be analyzed: Tron: Legacy (2010) and The Hunger Games (2012). From the analysis of cinematic representations of the “mediated body,” the idea of performativity is highlighted, focusing on how corporeality becomes key for understanding contemporary (posthuman) subjectivities.