Alien sex the body and desire in ...

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ALIEN SEX
Challenges in Contemporary Theology
Series Editors: Gareth Jones and Lewis Ayres
Canterbury Christ Church University College, UK and
Emory University, USA
Challenges in Contemporary Theology is a series aimed at producing
clear orientations in, and research on, areas of ‘challenge’ in contem-
porary theology. These carefully co-ordinated books engage traditional
theological concerns with mainstreams in modern thought and cul-
ture that challenge those concerns. The ‘challenges’ implied are to be
understood in two senses: those presented by society to contemporary
theology, and those posed by theology to society.
Already published
These Three Are One
David S. Cunningham
After Writing
Catherine Pickstock
Mystical Theology
Mark A. McIntosh
Engaging Scripture
Stephen E. Fowl
Torture and Eucharist
William T. Cavanaugh
Sexuality and the Christian Body
Eugene F. Rogers, Jr
On Christian Theology
Rowan Williams
The Promised End
Paul S. Fiddes
Powers and Submissions: Spirituality, Philosophy, and Gender
Sarah Coakley
Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology
Gerard Loughlin
A Theology of Engagement
Ian S. Markham
ALIEN SEX
The Body and Desire in Cinema
and Theology
Gerard Loughlin
© 2004 by Gerard Loughlin
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA
108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK
550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
The right of Gerard Loughlin to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in
accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the
prior permission of the publisher.
First published 2004 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Loughlin, Gerard.
Alien sex : the body and desire in cinema and theology / Gerard Loughlin.
p. cm. — (Challenges in contemporary theology)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0–631–21179–9 — ISBN 0–631–21180–2 (pbk.)
1. Body, Human—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Sex—Religious aspects—Christianity.
3. Motion pictures—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title. II. Series.
BT741.3.L68 2004
233
.5—dc22
2003015211
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Set in 10.5/12.5 pt M. Bembo
by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom
by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
For further information on
Blackwell Publishing, visit our website:
The author and publishers gratefully acknowledge the following for permission to reproduce copyright
material:
W.H. Auden, ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’ from
Collected Poems
, edited by Edward Mendelson, (London:
Faber and Faber, 1976), pp. 146–7. © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W.H. Auden. Used by permission
of Random House and Faber and Faber.
Derek Jarman,
Derek Jarman’s Garden
, with photographs by Howard Sooley, (London: Thames and Hudson
1995). Used by permission of Thames and Hudson.
The publishers apologize for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful to be notified
of any corrections that should be incorporated in the next edition or reprint of this book.
Cover illustration: Barbarella ( Jane Fonda) and Pygar ( John Phillip Law) in
Barbarella
( directed by Roger
Vadim; France/Italy: Paramount Pictures, 1968).
Barbarella’s adventures on the planet Lythion are structured around a series of amorous encounters
involving different forms of alien sex; from popping pills with Dildano (David Hemmings) to wearing
out Duran Duran’s (Milo O’Shea) ‘excessive machine’, and spurning the advances of the Black Queen
(Anita Pallenberg). Only the blinded angel, Pygar, whose sight is touch, offers her true clarity. For, as
he says, ‘an angel doesn’t make love, an angel is love.’ Strangely, this theological thought is already that
of St Augustine, who taught that the end of all our desiring is to dwell with the angels in the heavenly
city, in the love of God, which will no longer have to be made to appear, for it will be apparent in all
things, perpetually manifest.
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