Alien (1979) Review
This review will be covering director Ridley Scott’s 1979 film, ‘Alien’ and how feminism fits into the film, and how
it has impacted the film and how it has gone on to affect future films. Keys sources used in this review will be
Ann-Marie Imbornoni’s article ‘Women's Rights Movement in the U.S’, which talks about the women’s right
movement and how it has changed, Enya Dupree and Holly Morgan article ‘has feminism had an impact on
films?’ which talks about different lead actress before and after ‘Alien’, and strange shape’s article ‘Roby to
Ripley’ which talks about the directors and writers decision to change Ripley from a male character to a female
one.
Fig 1: Alien (1979) Poster
Alien is a 1979 science fiction film which follows a seven-member crew aboard the Nostromo spaceship on a
voyage back to Earth. Woken from their artificial sleep by a distress signal, they land on a nearby moon to
investigate when one of crew members is injured and later killed by an alien creature. Through out the film, each
of the crew members are picked off one by one by this creature, leaving Warrant Officer Ripley (played by
Sigourney Weaver) as the sole survivor of the Nostromo, and must escape before it self-destructs. Ripley
eventually finds herself in a confrontation against the alien that had hidden inside of the escape shuttle and
survives as she blasts it out of the shuttle using the engines.
A definition of feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. This
movement of feminism first started in 1849 when the first convention was held in Seneca falls, New York. This
convention consisted 68 women and 32 men, who signed a declaration of Sentiments after 2 days of discussion
and debate. The declaration of Sentiment held a set of 12 resolutions that outlined Grievances and the agenda
of the women’s rights movement. The declaration called out for equal treatment of women and men, and the
right for women to vote.
As said by Maggie Humm and Rebecca Walker, “The history of Feminism can be divided into three waves”. The
first wave, started in the 19th and 20th centuries, focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights
for women and the ownership of married women. This however changed in the 19th century and became more
about the right to vote. The second wave, between the 1960s and 1970s, focused on more of the cultural and
political inequalities. It tried to make woman focus on their lives and to encouraged them to understand aspects
of it. The third wave, started in 1990s and to present day, started as a response to the second and its failures
and the backlash that followed it towards initiatives created by the second wave. During the publication of the
declaration of Sentiments, it was met with extreme hostility from the American people.
Fig 2: The second wave of feminism(1960s-1970s)
Linking feminism into films came about in the 1960s and 1970s and is referred to by the feminist film theory. It
was influenced by the second wave and women studies at the time and was based on sociological theories and
focused on the function of female characters in film narratives, along with common stereotypes depicted in
films.
The roles of women have changed drastically throughout film history. With films such as king Kong (1933) where
the main female character is submissive and always being in Peral and having to be saved, Jurassic world (2015)
shows a much different story with their main character, Claire, who saving the day running in heels.
Other such films would be a film called “it” (1927), which was a film that focused on the female character
attracting the attention of the male through making him jealous. The film is a good example of how woman
where used for the sole purpose of impressing men, as this was shown by overly sexualizing women in the film.
This technique was shown in many films around this time. One of the actresses who played a role like this, Clara
Bow, said “Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.”
Whereas, Audrey Hepburn roles in films were different as she was almost always given the role of the perfect
woman, which is shown in my fair lady (1964) where she plays a cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons
from a professor, so that she may pass as a lady giving the impression that anything that doesn’t follow the
standards of being a lady is wrong and must be corrected.
1979 was the year that the role of the woman changed with Ridley Scott's “Alien” which is considered one of
the first films to see a female character take charge and is not overly sexualized.
Fig 3: Marilyn Monroe
Looking at actresses such as Marilyn Monroe and Sigourney Weaver, each one has bought something to how
female character have started to change throughout history. Although Monroe was known to play the “dumb
blond” characters and conforms to the stereotypical idea of a women for her time, she shows that women can
be more confident with themselves and their body's, creating a new outlook for women on the big screen.
However, Weaver is thought of being one of the pioneers to stop women being the stereotypes in films through
her many roles which have many different personalities but stays being a strong character throughout the films
and her role of Ripley, which was a turning point.
Looking at Ripley, when she is first introduced, she’s just as petty and aggrieved as the rest of the just-awakened
Nostromo crew. Her actions very nearly save the crew of the space craft towards the end of the film’s first act if
only they had listened to her. She’s curious and brash and outspoken, unafraid of voicing her opinion to either
Dallas or Ash during the chaos that has set the Nostromo alight, much different from what most main female
character in that time was represented as. Linking in to a quote by John Scalzi, (2011) “She's not a sidekick, arm
candy, or a damsel to be rescued. Starting with Alien, Ripley was a fully competent member of a crew or
ensemble — not always liked and sometimes disrespected but doing her job all the same.” And a quote by
Entertainment Weekly, (2009) “one of the first female movie characters who isn't defined by the men around
her, or by her relationship to them.”. She was referred to a breath of fresh air across genres, horror and sci-fi,
that were targeted at men.
Fig 4: Ellen Ripley
One curious thing about the film was that Ripley’s character was original written as a male lead by screenwriter,
Dan O’Bannon, however Fox and director Ridley Scott completed the idea of making Ripley a woman, which later
came about in the final version. The character that would become Warrant Officer Ripley was at first known as
Martin Roby. He still had the job of being the ship’s executive officer and was described in the script as being
‘cautious but intelligent-a survivor’ which shows no real difference from the Ripley we know and love. The
change from Roby to Ripley was not immediate, and Ripley was still actually Roby in the early 1978, and the
script wasn’t finished till after principal photography had concluded in 1978. Many of his scenes are carried over
to the final movie. O’Bannon made Ripley a male lead as he said “Having pretty women as the main characters
was a real cliché of horror movies, and I wanted to stay away from that. So, I made up the character of Ripley”
Fig. 6: Ripley Guns
Fig 5: Alien Script
The fact that they haven’t changed the script much from its original male lead, allowed the final Ripley to keep
her masculinity and intelligent which if she original started as a female lead, she wouldn’t have. Alien diverting
from the norms that surrounded the female leads in most films in the past, has paved the way for new
characteristic for future female leads to emerge. The film not only keeps Ripley’s feminine side in tacked with
her masculinity, but it also shows how woman can be muscular in nature and shows how they play a man’s role.
Ripley was a female role that re-defined the heroine role for films to come, by giving female leads similar traits
to that of Ripley’s, for example being able to defend themselves and survive, doing the same things that their
male protagonists counterparts do. Mad Max’s: Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) or Star Wars; Rey (Daisy
Ridley) are just a couple of examples of modern-day Ripley’s, female leads that are strong within their films
despite genre, shown by way of personality as well as physical strength.
A strong female lead in todays present day is not just the physical abilities of the character but their ability to
rise to meet the challenges imposed on them by their environment, relying on intuition, intellect and personal
values to guided them out of sticky situations, for example Katniss from “The Hunger Games trilogy” and Tris
“Divergent series”. Each of these characters share something with Ripley, whether it be her intellect, instincts,
physical ability or her misplaced maternal instincts for her cat or have similar bland clothing making them seem
unimportant, they all have something in common.
When Alien was released, Ripley gave a new meaning to the female leads of her era, leading them out of being
submissive damsels in distresses and in to a more confident, intelligent role but all being slightly different.
In conclusion, feminist film theory has impacted how women were viewed in films through its use of stereotypes
and by making women damsels in distress. However, the creation of Alien’s Ripley showed the 1970s film
industry not only that Woman can be more then supporting roles but that they could also play in more
prominent part roles in film and was a catalyst for the evolution of the female lead in the modern era.
Illustration Bibliography:
Fig. 1: Alien Poster (1979) [Photo] [Online] at: https://listas.20minutos.es/lista/top-10-terror-gore-366466/ [Accessed 20 December 2018]
Fig. 2: The second wave of feminism (1960s-1970s) [Photo] [Online] at: https://studybreaks.com/news-politics/feminism-gender-rights/
[Accessed 20 December 2018]
Fig. 3: Marilyn Monroe [Photo] [Online] at: https://www.headliners.org/has-feminism-risen-in-film [accessed on 20 December 2018]
Fig. 4: Ellen Ripley [Photo] [Online] at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/1337074860123146/ [Accessed on 20 December 2018]
Fig. 5: Alien Script [Photo] [Online] at: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/alien_shooting.html [Accessed on 20 December 2018]
Fig. 6: Guns [Photo] [Online] at http://comiccrossroads.wikia.com/wiki/Massacre_on_the_Nostromo_(Earth-5875) [Accessed on 20
December 2018]
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