Alien and Sexuality

[Brasil]

After doing a bit of researching on Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens, I came across this article.

[url="http://rescomp.housing.umich.edu/users/sarrica/alien.html"]http://rescomp.housing.umich.edu/users/sarrica/alien.html[/url]

[font=New York][quote]Unusual sexual themes weave their way through Ridley Scott's [/font][u][font=New York]Alien[/font][/u][font=New York], touching on artificial mother figures, the possibilities of a male giving birth, fear and repression of female sexuality, impotence, and fear of male sexuality. The film is a smorgasbord of sexual themes and undercurrents (like so many horror films), and is especially interesting because of the unusual manner in which these anxieties and fears are dealt with and the non-traditional science fiction settings in which the action takes place. In a broad sense, the film is a commentary on gender roles in society and the gender stereotyping commonly done in society.[/font]

[font=New York]One of the opening scenes shows us the the Nostromo in a dormant state. The only movement on the ship is caused by Mother, the ship's main computer, or by other non-human sources such as the ventilation system. The camera follows a passage, the lights come on, and we enter the sleep chamber? the passageway and the increased light levels suggest the birthing process. Mother acts as an artificial, surrogate mother, protecting the crew in a womb-like sleep chamber. Mother is a poor substitute for a human being and we later learn that her nurturing only goes so far. When Mother is finally destroyed along with the ship, some interesting Freudian Oedipal/Elektra emotions are violently resolved. The maternal theme plays an especially important role at the film's conclusion, which will be examined later.[/font]

[font=New York]The names of the crew (Kane, Brett, Ripley, Parker, Lambert, Ash, Dallas) are, for the most part, androgynous. Their names suggest a sort of sexual confusion, repression, or a sexual absence. In particular the women's names (Ripley and Lambert) are decidedly unfeminine and hint at the theme of fear of female sexuality present in the film. There is no suggestion in the film that there are any sexual liaisons taking place between crew members. The androgynous names of the crew members and their apparent lack of interest in each other sexually makes the Nostromo seem to be an asexual environment. This "sexual disarming" of the crew is in stark contrast to the disturbing sexual elements introduced into the film by the derelict ship and the arrival of the alien creature.[/font]

[font=New York]The alien vessel that Kane, Lambert, and Dallas inspect is highly unusual and suggestive. The entrance to the derelict vessel towers over the three explorers is taller than it is wide and appears to have labia? in many ways it is vaginal in appearance. The passageways in the vessel glisten and are composed of what appear to be bones or bone-like shapes buried in a wall. The very structure of the vessel ties together the themes of female sexuality and death.[/font]

[font=New York]When Kane enters the egg chamber he breaks through a layer of blue mist or light that he refers to as a "membrane." Kane's breaking through this membrane may remind one of the breaking of the hymen, indicating the loss of virginity and loss of innocence that is often associated with a woman's first experience with sexual intercourse. Kane, a male, is then penetrated and impregnated by an alien creature that issues forth from an egg. This alien creature looks like a hybrid between a spider, a hand, and, because of its long thrashing tail, a sperm cell. This "sperm from an egg" reinforces the sexual (and abnormal sexual) themes that are being carried through the film. When the parasite implanted in Kane is born in a shower of blood after tearing through his chest, the scene has several layers of meaning. At the simplest level, we are disgusted and stunned by the parasitic horror that issues forth from Kane's chest. We then realize that we have seen a man give birth and die in the process. The primal female fear of the birth process and what it will produce is as old and powerful as the process itself. In [/font][u][font=New York]Alien[/font][/u][font=New York], by having a male give birth, this fear is camouflaged, but not diminished.[/font]

[font=New York]When the creature first emerges from Kane's chest, its elongated head is tipped up, making it resemble a penis. This linking of blood, birth, death, and sex is extraordinarily powerful. Once full grown, the penile resemblance of the immature creature is even more evident, in fact the head of the creature looks like a male version of dentada? a toothed penis. At this point in the film, the horror seems to be associated more with the male than the female. A marauding toothed penis introduced into the Nostromo by Kane (a male) and Ash (ostensibly a male) begins killing off the remaining crew members. Brett, Parker, and Dallas are impotent in their attempts to deal with the creature, a creature that is the behavioral embodiment of the worst aspects of warlike, aggressive male behavior as well as the physical exaggeration and perversion of male anatomy.[/font]

[font=New York]Female sexuality reasserts itself in the face of the alien's twisted male sexuality at the end of the film when Ripley, unknowingly, changes in front of the alien. While it was suggested in class that Ripley's femininity was used as yet another manifestation of the "suffering virgin" idea (which is, admittedly, a workable view), this viewer feels that Ripley's femininity was deliberately used in contrast to the alien's psychotic masculinity and, when she defeats the alien, was used as statement against the male repression of female sexuality.[/font]

[font=New York]When Ripley strips off her uniform, she sheds society's professional, stereotypical male outer self. Throughout the film Ripley acts as the rational, white bread, stereotypical male. The audience laughs at Ripley or gets upset with her when she spends a lot of time trying to find the cat instead of saving herself. Her concern for the cat is a manifestation of her maternal instincts? instincts that up to this point have been repressed by her need to fit into a male dominated society. When Ripley makes her final effort to save herself and her "child", she does so as a competent, courageous, intelligent woman who is acting by and for herself outside of the artificial constraints placed on her by a society, corporation, and ship dominated by males.[/font]

[font=New York]By initially making an absurd female sexuality the source of horror (the derelict ship and Kane's unfortunate experience) and then later making an equally absurd male sexuality the source of horror (the mature alien), the film effectively shows that neither gender is superior or inferior and that each gender carries a set of psychological insecurities and complexes with it. By making Ripley prevail in the end, the film is not stating that female sexuality is better than male sexuality, it is attempting to break old stereotypes and demonstrate the values of female sexuality? the very values that predominantly male society has been ignoring or has been afraid of for so long.[/font]

[font=New York]The horror in [/font][u][font=New York]Alien[/font][/u][font=New York] is so effective because it deals with the same issues, concerns, and fears that the audience deals with on a day to day basis. The film is a masterpiece because it deals with these topics in a thrilling and entertaining way without being preachy or obvious. This viewer does not mean to suggest that the audience is aware of the gender and societal themes discussed here or, if they were, that they would reach the same conclusions. What is suggested is that these themes are present and are deserving of the moviegoer's careful consideration, if for no other reason than the filmmakers paid considerable attention to them in the crafting of their work.[/quote][/font]

It's a really stunning look at Alien, I think. I've read it a few times now, and I can't find any fault with his interpretation. It all makes sense, and his point about the androgynous names is really smart. If we just read the script to Alien, without any mention of who is female or male, the script would be totally asexual. There's such a powerful sexuality to the actual film, and anyone looking to understand the series better should read this, I think. It's really a fantastic piece of interpretation.

[Muad'Dib]

Absolutely no offense to anyone, but this rates among the top ten of biggest loads of **** I have ever heard. When they made Alien, they were trying to scare people, not create a bunch of sexual.... stuff. I mean, whoever wrote this obviously has a talent for interpretation, but geez... he/she's making the movie sound like some pervert's dream.

The part where it's talking about the layout of the alien craft... the inner design was meant to make it look bio-mechanicle, not... organic.

I heard a commentary on the making of Alien, and the artist that designed the xenomorph ( H.R. Giger) always designs his creatures to look bio-mechanicle, therefore, the ship was some-what designed from Giger's work.

The comments on the alien bursting from the egg and the 'membrane' etc, etc, were just... well, the best phrasing I can think of is 'out of line'. The alien life-cycle is just like that of an insect... it comes out of larva state and finds a living human host whom it later bursts forth from. It was based on bugs, not sexuality. Why do you think they call the xenomorphs 'Bugs' in various video games and articles? 'Bug' was the original name they were going to give the film!

Again, no offense, but the guy who wrote this is just a little too imaginative.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Well the author is very convincing, but without doing further research on my own I'm not entirely sure the article is right on the dot. In the end the film was meant as a new kind of horror, but by that I mean it created suspense through very unfamiliar and morbid set design. It was only later in the film that the alien creature really appeared.

I wouldn't say that the director or screenwriter really gave too much focus to anything dealing with sexuality. But the set designer and creature designer, H.R. Giger, on the other hand, is a very sexual-theme-focused artist. If you have seen his works, he has alien-textured penis-in-vagina paintings. Yeah it's some bizarro techno-erotica. I'm sure he put that, both consciously and subconsciously, in his designs for alien.

So I'm not surprised that one can find a lot of sexual elements in the film, but I think they are mostly there from the creature designer, not from anyone else. Although I can't say for sure. I'm just guessing.

For a sample of what I'm talking about, do a search for "Necronom V Giger" in google or something. It's not exactly what I mentioned above, but it gives you an idea of the artist's inspiration.

[sublime2004]

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If I am not very much mistaken, IT WAS A F**KING MOVIE. No more or less, in my opinion. I have a strong suspicion that the person who wrote that piece was a woman or a very effeminate man. Not that the author's gender makes me think that it was total bulls**t...the article itself took care of that.

I think this is a classic case of blowing something waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of proportion. It seems uneccessary to even waste time on giving such a detailed and well thought out piece on a friggin' movie. Try reading a book.

What?

A book. You know...paper...ink? Ringing any bells?[/color]

BTW: Those last lines were to the author, not any OB members.[/b][/size]

[TheShinje]

[font=Arial]Exactly what is wrong with reading into a movie, Sublime? Reading into movies can be enjoyable, and it can provide some very interesting discussions that looking at the movie on a Superficial basis simply cannot provide.[/font]
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Absolutely no offense to anyone, but this rates among the top ten of biggest loads of **** I have ever heard. When they made Alien, they were trying to scare people, not create a bunch of sexual.... stuff. I mean, whoever wrote this obviously has a talent for interpretation, but geez... he/she's making the movie sound like some pervert's dream.[/quote]
Sure, it's meant to be a scary movie, but that doesn't mean that they didn't also put this imagery in there also. No one is suggesting that Alien was a closet porn film.

[quote]
The part where it's talking about the layout of the alien craft... the inner design was meant to make it look bio-mechanicle, not... organic.[/quote]
Again, the Bio-mechanical look can also encompass a sexually-suggestive design. Desn't mean that it aint bio mechanical though. Thi point also for the next quote.

[quote]I heard a commentary on the making of Alien, and the artist that designed the xenomorph ( H.R. Giger) always designs his creatures to look bio-mechanicle, therefore, the ship was some-what designed from Giger's work.[/qoute]

Another point of interest. Deos he say outright that there isn't anything else in the imagery? The Warchowski's didn't exactly go off trumpeting abotu the religious symbols in Matrix either, but they're there.

[quote]The comments on the alien bursting from the egg and the 'membrane' etc, etc, were just... well, the best phrasing I can think of is 'out of line'. The alien life-cycle is just like that of an insect... it comes out of larva state and finds a living human host whom it later bursts forth from. It was based on bugs, not sexuality. Why do you think they call the xenomorphs 'Bugs' in various video games and articles? 'Bug' was the original name they were going to give the film![/quote]
But it does look like, I mean, Don't you think?

[quote]Again, no offense, but the guy who wrote this is just a little too imaginative.[/quote]
None taken. I think you'll find the symbols are there though. Who cares if it takes a little imagination to see them? aren't movies (most) meant to stimulate your brain?
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[James]

[color=#707875]This is a really interesting article. I'm not sure how much of it is "spot on" in terms of relating to the creator's intent. But I think it's a good interpretation regardless.

In regard to The Matrix, all of the symbolism apparent in the films was deliberate -- the Wachowski brothers carefully planned every scene. This becomes particularly evident when one both examines the film [i]and [/i]reads the discussions that the two directors themselves had with fans and media.

In regard to Alien...I think there's probably a middle ground. In other words, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Much of what this article says about the depictions of two genders is pretty accurate, especially if you have a clear memory of the film. There's definitely a whole "play on genders" thing going on and Ripley's maternal instincts are brought out as a prominent feature of her character; a feature that disassociates herself with other members of her crew in general.

Remember the scene where Ripley is holding Newt and they are in the Queen's chamber, while the Queen is laying eggs? The way that there's a kind of stand-off between Ripley and the Queen was pretty interesting, especially if you look at the gender roles aspect.

For example, Ripley was always seen as the maternal figure up until that point. And here she is, confronted with the Queen; the Queen doesn't attack her because she's standing there with a flamethrower, in amongst a field of eggs. In that scene in particular, it seems to me that the Queen is portrayed as the more motherly figure, with Ripley being the more masculine one. She goes in there and she burns all of the eggs and so on. At that point, one may almost feel [i]sorry [/i]for the Queen.

So, in that sense, I'm not sure how much of it is like a "traditional" horror film. And maybe it's that dynamic which made the series so popular, especially in Aliens. This article does raise some great points, regardless of whether or not they are intended or unintentional. It's definitely worth examining movies in this way, because some of them definitely deserve that kind of examination. I'm sure that the creators throw a lot of things in there that most people aren't noticing, as is the case with a whole variety of films.

EDIT: I just considered something, which I noticed upon reading that article again. You know how both the men and women in the ship basically seem to shower/dress/sleep together without any obvious seperation of genders? I think the article brings up a good point in relation to that. And then you have some women members being very butch and aggressive, with some male members being very timid and frightened. The more I think about it, the more it seems apparent that there's something deliberate with the "asexuality" aspect.[/color]