Films: 1980s

(1986) Aliens

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Aliens
Director: James Cameron
Release: 1986

The nightmare continues for Ellen Ripley in "Aliens," James Cameron's taut, terrifying sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien."  

The heroine starts adrift in deep space, in hyper-sleep for 50 years. As far as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley is concerned, however, no time has passed. Employer Weyland-Yutani doesn't believe her story - a distress call on a small moon, LV-426, an alien introduced to their ship, its subsequent slaughter of the crew, and Ripley's escape by blowing it out of an airlock. The company demotes her to a loading dock crew on Earth, where Ripley's daughter has died of old age during her long absence. The toll is heavy. In one scene Ripley is reminded she promised to return for her girl's 11th birthday.

Soon, however, corporation representative Burke (Paul Reiser) and Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) seek Ripley's help. Weyland-Yutani has lost contact with its colonists on LV-426, and they need her to accompany a Colonial Marine rescue mission as a consultant. On the planet, mayhem ensues, the mission imploding; believably portrayed via the strong supporting cast, innovative effects, and stellar puppetry.

The aliens have multiplied dramatically, effectively colonizing the entire human colony. The Marines sustain heavy losses during the first battle. Early attempts to protect Ripley or keep her out of the action prove futile. Private Hudson (an underrated performance by Bill Paxton) makes a big deal out of telling Ripley how well the Marines are going to protect her with their massive weaponry, but it quickly becomes clear that military prowess alone is not going to save them. When Gorman panics during the battle, it's Ripley who rescues what remains of the team, deposing the lieutenant.

After the first round of slaughter, Ripley and company are stranded. The mission's unlikely repository of useful knowledge is a little girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), the sole survivor of the colony. It is Newt who tells Ripley military training "won't make any difference." And so, Ripley puts forth a collaborative, strategic approach to beating the aliens, based on her own practicality, strong moral compass, and ability to draw on the skills of her teammates. Newt's knowledge of the aliens and ability to navigate the facility, combined with Ripley's alternative leadership, calls into question the reliability of traditionally male forms of knowledge, power and aggression.

Ripley and Newt's mother-daughter relationship is central to the film. In "Alien," Ripley directed her maternal instincts toward Jones, the cat, but in "Aliens" this theme is greatly expanded. Feelings about abandoning her biological daughter create Ripley's personal mission for the rest of the film: To prove herself a mother, again.

Parallel to that goal, the characterization of men underscores Ripley's role as a female leader.

Gorman, though redeemed in the end, fails as a leader. Hudson, though trained as a Marine, cracks under the pressure. Burke places corporate gain above human life.

Only Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn) demonstrates alternative forms of masculinity. He is gentle with Newt, honest and respectful of Ripley. He's willing to follow Ripley's lead. It is Ripley who cares for Hicks when he's injured, and rescues Newt when she's kidnapped, a reversal of the damsel in distress trope.

The only other prominent adult female, Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), both challenges and affirms gender norms. Vasquez muddies a second, potentially explicit, feminist message. Initially, her over-the-top masculinity is refreshing. In her first scene, Hudson asks if she's ever been mistaken for a man, to which Vasquez replies, "No. Have you?" She simultaneously questions Hudson's masculinity while asserting her right to her own gender expression. However, Vasquez's butch appearance is offset by the implied heterosexuality of her relationship with teammate Drake (Mark Rolston), and ultimately her potentially deviant character comes off as a male-approved tomboy. Vasquez's strength comes not from subverting male power, as Ripley does, but by adopting it.

In order to fully realize her power, Ripley undergoes a dramatic transformation from the first film. This culminates in one of the last scenes, where she chooses to go back and rescue Newt from the mother alien's egg lair, at the risk of the rest of the survivors. Her physical change from "Alien" is striking. Gone is the tidy Ripley, with her long curls, running from the alien. In her place is a shorthaired, soot-stained, fully armed woman on the offensive. In an emblematic shot, Ripley carries Newt in one arm and an enormous gun in the other. This is the pinnacle of Ripley's metamorphosis into the super-mother.

Again, Cameron's message is mixed. Ripley's incredible strength comes from redeeming herself as a mother (which certainly isn't requisite for a male hero), but at the expense of another maternal figure - the "bitch," the mother alien.

The choice of survivors also fascinates: Ripley, the non-traditional woman leader; Newt, the clever little girl; Bishop (Lance Henriksen), the racialized android who proves himself "almost human"; and Hicks, the man who was willing to follow a woman. The freaks, the non-soldiers, the ones who invent their own approach to survival, are allowed a future. The others, representatives (however sympathetic) of a macho military and a corrupt corporation, are just casualties in the latest, but not the last, battle in the war with the aliens.

Erika Nelson
Cinescare Correspondent
[Erika Nelson writes about science fiction and the larger issues contained therein. Read Erika Nelson's science-fiction blog, Confessions of an Aspiring Science Fiction Scholar.]

updated 1 year ago