Before we proceed I'll just go ahead and let you all know that I don't claim any of the ideas I discuss here as original. Mostly I'm just summarizing what was discussed in the forum thread.
Blow it out the goddamn airlock!
Let's take a look at Alien, the origin of the franchise. What was it about this film that terrified audiences when it came out? Giger's Alien, that's what! Look at that thing. (In fact it's probably because you don't ever actually get a good look at it that it's even more terrifying). Is it made of metal? Does it have eyes?? It is otherworldly to say the least. In fact I would posit that the Alien is less of a creature grounded by reality and more a demon from the blackest corner of space. Space Hell if you will. The Alien does not eat, it does not sleep, it feels no compassion. As Ash put it in the film, the Alien is "unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality". It exists for a singular purpose: to rape and murder everyone.
Wait, what?
That's right, rape. Alien is terrifying because it is a movie about being horribly raped and murdered and it plays up this fear by taking the typical victim of rape, the female, and making her (Ripley) the only member of the crew who isn't. This movie subverts our preconceived ideas about sexual violence, horrifying and fascinating us in the process.
Curiosity killed the cat.
Let's start with the setup. The crew of the Nostromo wake up in the middle of the galaxy because they intercepted a signal of some kind coming from some uninhabitable rock designated LV-426. They set down and investigate. They find an alien spacecraft that appears to have been there for years. Note that Kane, Dallas and Lambert enter the derelict craft through a large opening that looks suspiciously like a giant vagina. Alien is full of weird sexual themes and imagery so bear with me. There's more to come.
Once inside, Kane (played by John Hurt), lowers himself into a vast cavern populated by leathery "eggs or something". He gets up close to one to investigate. Suddenly, an Alien facehugger erupts from the egg and attaches itself to Kane's face, forcing a tube down his throat and literally subjecting him to oral rape.
So Dallas and Lambert bring Kane's unconscious body back to the Nostromo and the infirmary where they attempt to remove the creature but quickly find out that it's impossible without probably killing Kane in the process. Just as a rapist will be more likely to murder an uncooperative victim, so too will the facehugger finish it's task or kill the unlucky host.
Somebody get some Pepto-Bismol!
Before long, the creature removes itself from Kane and he wakes up, seemingly none too worse for wear. Which brings us to the most iconic scene in the film. Enjoying one last meal before returning to their cryogenic slumber for the home trip, Kane begins to act a little odd. And by a little odd I mean thrash around violently before a small alien creature explodes from his chest. You could say that Kane was reverse raped by his own child which itself was the product of rape.
It's no strange coincidence that the full grown Alien is itself basically a giant walking penis. Just look at its head. It doesn't get much more obvious than that, people. So anyways, what does this giant walking penis do? It sneaks around in the dark, jumps on its victims when they least expect it, and forcefully penetrates them with its second mouth which fires out of its bigger mouth with enough force to kill.
It goes on like this for the remainder of the film as slowly the crew is whittled away until all that's left is Ripley and her cat Jones. While it's tempting, I won't go into the implications presented by the fact that the alien is wholly uninterested in the cat. I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions there.
There are plenty of other themes in Alien that I'm ignoring in this post. Maybe I'll talk about them some other time. Really though, Alien is one of the scariest movies ever made because whether you realize it or not, it toys with your fear of being raped and murdered in a horrible fashion.
Alien is one of my favorite movies ever. It's too bad garbage like Alien: Resurrection and AvP had to get made. I like to pretend they don't exist.
Amazing post, Action. I just watched Alien with the commentary last week but Ridley Scott only barely touched on the presence of sexual themes (namely the final scene where Ripley's in her underwear). But I totally buy it, and perhaps that final scene is the ultimate evidence of what you're saying.
ReplyDeleteCurious to see what you have to say about Alien 3. I guess I'm in the minority of people who liked that movie a lot.
Anyway, keep the posts comin'.
Greg
Ahh, a rival! Excellent, excellent.
ReplyDeleteAnd starting off with an Alien/rape/murder post!? Well played, sir. Well played.
I have to say interesting take, though forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical (this is coming from someone who was told in high school that when Chief tore apart the bathroom in "Cuckoo's Nest" that the gushing water represented his ejaculate and thus his embracing of his manhood. Which, who knows, could be completely true).
Anyway, I've always thought it interesting that two of, what I consider, the greatest horror movies ever (Alien and Terminator) were immediately followed by two of the greatest action movies (Aliens and Termination II).
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. If you like this, wait until you read my post about Predator I've been mulling over.
ReplyDeleteReally all the sexual/rape stuff in Alien can be traced back to H.R. Giger. The guy who designed the Alien. Just google him if you've never seen his other work. He has some, shall we say, interesting ideas in his art.
And Will, I was told in highschool that the broken and gushing fire hydrant in the scene in The Godfather where Sonny beats the crap out of his brother-in-law has similar symbolic meaning. I can see it.