I
was honestly planning on writing this just the other day, the same day
that I
found out the original creator of the Alien, H.R Giger, died.
Rest in piece for your fabulously terrifying
work.
Last
weekend I watched Aliens (sequel) for the first time after re-watching Alien as
I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid. I try not to let reviews get in the way of
my viewing experience regardless of whether or not something was met with
acclaim or contempt. That being said, Mitsuko told me this was her favorite of
all the Alien films, and I caught a look at the Rotten Tomato score in passing
as we were browsing the internet and I was astonished to see that it maintains
a mighty 98% which is actually the highest of all the films - the original is a
close second at 97%. Well we watched it, and I had some thoughts, so I thought
I’d share them here. Before that though, I have to say that I’ve never found
myself so far on the opposite end of a spectrum as far as reviews go. I
wouldn’t have placed this movie anywhere near the original. To be polite, I
thought it was a pretty mediocre B-movie spin on what I consider a Science Fiction
classic.
In
order to continue I think it’ll be helpful to introduce the concept of
“Scientific Literacy” to this discussion. This is basically an abstract
measurement of what it means to be scientifically informed which is sometimes by positing a series
of questions about basic concepts such as, atomic structures, DNA, our solar
system, the natural world etc, and determining what percentage of people within a given populace
can correctly identify true or false statements about them. I think in the
movie world of the past there tended to be an overlap between B-movie and
Science Fiction as a genre. I’m sure many of us remember or have a good idea of
these kinds of films, largely to do with aliens, vaguely science based, and
very little actual science behind them. Tales of alien invasions, flying cars,
and other such tropes of the Science Fiction genre have long been popular it
seems. But counter to this, the idea of science being taught academically has
not been.
At
about the turn of the 20
th century men such as Charles Eliot and
John Dewey propositioned to the National Education Association (of which
Charles held a chair in the committee) that it would be in the best interest of
students to learn in a manner such that he or she could take said knowledge and
make it applicable to their future endeavors.
Eliot suggested that an education
lacking this was “an education which missed its aim”. That was 1898. Over the
course of the years scientific curriculum became standard, and by today
studying science - while lacking according to many surveys – is fundamental to
our education.
So
what was the point of all that though? My point is that I believe stories in
the past (including movies) with even semi-science related concepts at heart
were not so easily separated from the B-movie classification. Hard as it may be
to accept,
we’ve increased general scientific knowledge quite dramatically
across the world, and it reflects in the less tacky science based movies of the
recent past. So now we get to why I’m even talking about Alien, and its sequel.
Please
watch Alien if you haven’t. It was made in 1979 by Ridley Scott and tells the
story of a commercial space ship crew who are asked to investigate a mysterious
transmission from an uninhabited planetoid on their way back to Earth. Okay.
I’m seriously going to talk about the movie now, so be prepared if you haven’t
seen it.
Alien seems to hit upon several
themes buried under its initial premise including: Gender Politics,
Corporatism, and Technophobia. I suppose we can start with the most obvious
one, which involves one of the most memorable and infamous scenes in Hollywood
history. The Chestburster (as it appears to be officially referred to as) is
iconic in many ways and masterfully blended the idea of Sci-Fi and Horror in
one fell swoop. But beyond the surface there’s a great deal to think about in
terms of that one scene. Officer Kane (John Hurt) was the first to discover the
alien eggs and was attacked by the (also very official sounding) Facehugger. It
bursts through his helmet and envelopes his face, as its namesake would
suggest. Fast forward, he appears to be okay, only to have whatever embryo the
Facehugger left in him to hatch and burst through his chest in an extremely
violent manner. What might be read into this? Kane never comes across as a
character worthy of this fate, but perhaps Kane is only ever meant to represent
the idea of man, who suffers at the fate of what are clearly female issues.
 |
| The appendages even come off as being finger-like |
The
sexual imagery is hard to escape with how the Facehugger forces its way over
his mouth, never allowing him to even as much as scream or otherwise protest
this invasion to his body. It clearly plants a seed into his stomach, again forcefully
and against his will. The chest bursting sequence has been argued to be a kind
of reverse rape and with one look at the alien - phallic in shape – it’s not
hard to see why.
 |
| It's a girl! |
 |
| Cheeeeeese |
In addition to this there is the character of Ripley
(Sigourney Weaver) who becomes the most capable crewmember, and is the only one
to survive. The real world timeframe in America is also important to keep in
mind as the movie was released at the tail end of second wave feminism which
included advancements such as Roe v. Wade, which established a legal precedent
for the right to abortions. There is one more scene involving Ash (Ian Holm)
that we can file in this category as well, but we’ll save Ash for later. He’s
important too. Regardless, whether or not the filmmakers were attempting to
start this kind of conversation, the movie definitely reversed the ideas of
birth, rape, and sexual assault onto its former perpetrators.
Then we have Corporatism. I was
born in 1987, so I can’t exactly speak for the America population in the 1970s,
but with issues such as Watergate, and the Vietnam War, combined with a record
high Misery Index (value measuring inflation, and unemployment rates) it
wouldn’t be hard to imagine a general consensus of doubt in the government. The
American auto industry was also beginning to suffer on the heels of the Oil
Crisis in the early 70s. Cars intended to be more cost effective, fuel
efficient, and less threatening to the environment, were built as realizations
about the unsustainable nature of fossil fuels slowly came to the surface (Fun
side note: The first Earth Day was in April 22
nd 1970). The film
perhaps isn’t speaking to this directly, but appears to include the desperation
of this time in a subplot that involves the artificial intelligence MU-TH-UR
6000 on board the Nostromo. Being that Ash is the Science Officer on board the
ship, the captain - Dallas (Tom Skerritt), hands over charge of their current
mission to him. Ash’s orders are direct and disturbingly succinct. The crew of
the Nostromo is not only to bring the specimen back to Earth for potential
profits, but the crew is later revealed to be expendable in this charge.
 |
| Well, shit. |
Again, it may or not be relevant but real world issues oftentimes provide a
useful window with which to look at the problems we fictionalize on the page,
or screen. The deadly and desperate mission of ‘suceed at all costs’ for the
crew of the Nostromo seems to reflect the notions of distrust in management
(Watergate), and the terror of being a human commodity in the face of success
(Vietnam).
So that leaves the Technophobia
element. Ash becomes a secondary villain midway through the film shortly before
we discover that he is an android. He is seemingly unbothered by his quest for
scientific knowledge, and even appears to be fascinated to the point of respect
with the Facehugger.
 |
| Magnify. |
It is Ash who communicates with Mother – which is also an
artificial intelligence – and relays the soul crushing message to Ripley before
they engage in a fight that ends with Ash orally violating Ripley with a rolled
up magazine.
 |
| I think the "men's special interest literature" on the walls there is the strongest argument for interpretation of this scene as a release of sexual frustration |
 |
| Frustrated Android |
Ash speaks to multiple issues within the movie. The magazine scene
could indicate that even though he is not a person, his male identification
(and lack of genitals with which to enact his rage) forces him to improvise a
way of imposing his authority over Ripley. That aside however, it is
interesting to note that much of the duress that comes unto the crew is
directly from two non-human entities. At the time of this film, we were merely
taking our first steps into the worlds of personal computing. For a few years
business model computers had existed but the extent of what consumers could
enjoy was limited to things like arcade classics such as Pong, Space Invaders,
and Centipede. In 1977 though Apple released the Apple II, which was indeed the
first personal computer specifically intended for home consumers. So we have a
new era of a brand new concept right around the time this film was released.
Perhaps in this case, it was not a fear so much as the initial wonderment
associated with what computers might be able to do (or be capable of) in the
distant future.
So those are the kinds of things I
thought about after finishing Alien again in my post-college-must-overanalyze-everything-from-scratch
mindset. I feel however, that regardless of the merit associated with any of
this, it is true that the first film inspired more discussion than the sequel.
It is Science Fiction in the sense that it deals with things such as aliens,
space flight, and androids. It is horror in the sense that the alien wants to
impregnate you, kill you, and smile at you as it does so. But it is also thoughtful
in that it surrounds these set pieces with literary elements that can be picked
apart and thought on.
My impression of Aliens can be
summed up via this handy clip. Thanks Youtube!
My
opinion of the sequel certainly seems to be at odds ends with what most people
think, but I probably went into it assuming that it was going to be more
Science Fiction than Action-Adventure. I believe that Alien is mostly a product of its time whether or not the creators were aware of it. The real world surrounding it shaped the way this story was constructed and conveyed. As for Aliens, I do like Action-Adventure as well, which is when I realized that it would be wrong to lambast it based on what it isn’t. It was a different time, and it's quite simply just a different movie. To quote Einstein, “Everybody
is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will
live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Aliens doesn’t climb trees. But it’s
not supposed to either.
-J
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