The decline of the bromance and the rise of human-A.I. relationships in science fiction TV and film

This article considers how Western heteronormative patriarchy defined and desexualised the bromance in science fiction TV and film from the mid- to late twentieth century. The archetypal bromance of ancient Greece, by contrast, had always recognised the homoerotic and or homosexual capacity of the bromance. Audiences today, looking back at the science fiction of the mid- to late twentieth century, often perceive the repressive and repressed (‘camp’) nature of the male-male relationships (for example Kirk/Spock) represented.
With the LGBTQ community discovering new rights, freedoms and representation within society, the bromance of the mid- to late twentieth century in science fiction TV and film has been replaced, to a certain extent, by openly gay relationships. However, with the decline of the non-sexual bromance in science fiction TV and film, there has been an increase in the representation of exploitative human-A.I. relationships, particularly when the A.I. is fetishized/sexually-objectified as ‘other’ or ‘female’. The article ends by identifying and exemplifying how society still has a long way to go if it is ever to realise genuine equality and tolerance in terms of social and personal relationships.

Articles © is with each individual author 2020. First published by Luna Press Publishing, Edinburgh, 2020
The attached document is the published version of a chapter published by Luna Press Publishing. Permission was granted In April 2020 by Luna Press Publishing (www.lunapresspublishing.com) to make the full text available in this repository after an embargo.