The Many Monsters of Alien

 Timothy Sáenz

Blog Post

Alien

Readings in Genre – Monsters

Adj. Professor Scott Johnson

Due: 19 March 2021


Alien stands regarded as one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time, directed by Ridley Scott, released in 1979, elevating a female character as the winner in a grand Darwinian struggle, and featuring one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history: the chest-bursting birth of the xenomorph.

I watched the Director’s Cut on Movies Anywhere, which ran about five minutes under two hours. The only scene added back into the film from the cutting room floor was Ripley’s discovery of Dallas and Brett cocooned for impregnation, apparently an instinctual task performed by the alien, as there is no queen to supply face-huggers in this first of what became a series of films.

The centerpiece character in Alien is the alien. Scott, principal writer Ronald Shusett, and their production team create their monster by the use of mystery, a size and appearance inspired by the hellish illustrations by H.R. Giger, darkness and shadows of darkness, an inhospitable world dominated by a blizzard, a wrecked alien space ship that doubles as a huge mausoleum and temple, and the dark and mostly close confines of the Nostromo. Where the Nostromo abandons those close confines, it takes on a role similar to the alien space ship – a mausoleum floating through the darkness.

The key character trait of the alien is its “purity” of structure and hostility, according to the robot, Ash (in subsequent movies called an “android”). I would substitute “aggression” for “hostility”. Whoever or whatever created or genetically engineered the xenomorphs made the sole and soul purpose of this being to destroy all other beings, making it not merely an apex predator but the sole survivor of a universe out of balance. If the xenomorphs were actually to accomplish what they were built to do, the result would be self-destruction, as there would be no other beings left upon which to prey. The universe would need a new evolutionary bang to get the circle of life going again.

When Ash expands on the sentiment he bears toward the alien, he speaks this bit of dialog: “I admire its purity. [It’s] a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.” (Emphasis mine)

This fascinating utterance lifts the alien out of the realm of animal instincts. A lion is a predator, too; however, the lion only kills when it needs to eat, which enables it to survive. The alien kills even when it does not have to eat. We don’t even know what the alien eats. It grows from small chestburster to more-than-mansize predator in an amazingly short period of time without consuming any crew members. It killed Kane to be born. It attacked but didn’t kill Dallas and Brett; it cocooned them for reproduction. It killed Parker and Lambert because they were trying to hunt it down and stood in the way of its escape. It never eats them, as far as we can tell. Ash is destroyed by the hands of Ripley, Parker, and Lambert and wouldn’t have been digestible anyway. The alien kills because that is its murderous nature free of conscience or morality.

In alien, we find these pillars of monstrousness: mysterious, inexplicable orgins and irrational purposes, a grotesque and horrifying appearance, murderous aggression without rhyme or reason and certainly without conscience, cunning, and apparent invulnerability. The damn thing just won’t die!

More than one monster exists in alien. Though they are linked, the facehugger qualifies as a separate creature with a specific purpose: to impregnate a host. Once it has accomplished that purpose and provided some initial nurturing, the facehugger dies. The facehugger also possesses an additional dimension of aggression. It rapes men or women brutally and lethally. The facehugger is the carrier of the seed, if you will, with its own set of biological organs and appendages. It lives to die and dies to provide a legacy. Its dehumanizing defacement of the host it selects deepens the audience’s sense of violation of the person and of nature.

The last monster in Alien would be Ash, the robot. Ash sabotages the lives of the captain and crew, and he represents either the embodiment of the greedy corporate spirit or a corporate and scientific amoral approach to life. Ash opens the doors to allow infected Kane to enter the tug in violation of quarantine protocols. He dissuades Dallas from prying the facehugger off Kane so he can see what happens. He tries to murder Ripley when she has discovered Special Order 937. He declares his admiration for a creature without delusions of morality, which reflects either a defect in his programming or the way he was deliberately programmed for the benefit of the company. Weyland isn’t identified by name in the original film, and the only link is a spread wing logo on the crew’s suits and other paraphernalia but without the wording “Weyland-Yutani” which would appear under the logo in sequels. The crew has to decapitate Ash to stop his violent actions.

I am sure books and movies have put heroines on display, perhaps even as the protagonist of a story, but I am going to step out on a limb and declare that Ripley was the prototype and cornerstone for the contemporary female action protagonist. Her legend only grew with each subsequent installment. By Alien Resurrection, Ripley has been genetically enhanced so that she is something of a demi-goddess. Mila Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Gina Carano, Scarlett Johannson, Gal Gadot, Brie Larson, and more all owe a debt to her for her pioneering work as the prototype strong woman, not just in personality, but in strength, skill, and intellect. (It is notable that after this parade of powerful female protagonists, the character of Laurie Strode – Jamie Lee Curtis – undergoes a dramatic transformation from screaming, whimpering, and running teenager to a steely-resolved woman who aggressively pursues and achieves the destruction of Michael Myers in the 2018 iteration of Halloween.) Ripley’s battle with the Alien Queen in Aliens remains the ne plus ultra confrontation in female cinematic history, and one of the greatest personal battles of all time in any film.



Comments

  1. GlennaMarch 21, 2021 at 8:23 PM

    Hi Tim, agree with many of your points here. Thanks for letting us know what was in the Director's Cut. I almost rented that one, but didn't because it was shorter by a couple of minutes than the original. But now that you've told us about the cocoon shot, I am going to have to go rent it.

    I love your point about Ripley being the prototype and the first contemporary warrior female action hero. Very true, and amazing that happened as early as '79. However, I must correct you about *Alien Resurrection*. It is not an *Alien* movie. There are only two *Alien* movies. ;)

    Before I rewatched *Alien* this time around, *Aliens* had been my favorite. But I have realized the artistry of *Alien*--in particular the sound design, and the performances--makes it the better film. But you are so right about that scene with the Alien queen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TimothySRMarch 31, 2021 at 9:30 AM

      Thanks, Glenna. It's a cliche to say it, but Ripley's battle with the Alien Queen is iconic. I only wish it had lasted longer and that Scott had thought of a different way of exterminating it. Pooping the alien out a hatch seems the only way he, and other directors, have been able to imagine.

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