Militarism, Misanthropy and the Body Politic: - Brunel University

directors may have needed to create a sense of shape for the extended scenes where
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David Levinson and Steven Hiller go up and enter the alien ship, pilots and aliens fight,
and the men restore security back at home. Male romance and sexual desire add intensity
to what would have been long sections of uninterrupted jousting.
Levinson and Sergeant Hiller’s relationship begins with a manly dare. “Do you
really think you can fly that thing? Do you really think you can do all the bullshit you
said you could?” 61 They begin their journey with a long and delicate “hand holding of an
erect cigar,” one hand on top of the other (for six or seven seconds!) and it’s almost as if
one has to remind the other to remove his hands. As previously mentioned, the long, thin,
detracting bomb transmitter under them (attached to the base of the alien spacecraft)
conflates the thread of the cigar, phallus, and weapon. There are the tentative first
rejoinders. One quickly calls the other “Girl.” There is Smith’s intimate disclosure, “I’ve
been waiting all my life to fly something like this.” Both men wear low-cut tanks, and we
spy a lot of David’s chest. Soft focus enhances the men’s dreamy eyed appearance. We
see the “gay closeted” activities of David and Steven, who, like little school boys, hide
behind the seats, away from the alien/mother’s gaze, and smoke cigars. The final line
between David Levinson and Steven Hiller before they return to earth is “I love you.”
Russell Casse’s explosion of the spacecraft is highly sexualised. He says “I’m
packing,” and we see a phallic bomb in the frame’s lower right corner, in golden hues.
The President uses the military expression “let’s plow the road;” Rogin might argue that
the men make way for the dominant sperm. 62 All of the men deliver variations of the
phrase “Come on, come on now” which, within the context of the film’s opening, carries
sexual connotations. The film keeps switching orifices. We can’t tell which particular
Carol Vernallis: Independence Day 99