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akashasheiressSo, in my Prometheus-induced curiosity I finally watched Alien. Here's a few thoughts:
- Wow, it's really atmospheric, isn't it? I was expecting something much ''sleeker'' and sci-fi-y, but while the shots from outside are almost 2001-worthy, it's definitely more of a Used Future on the inside of the ship.
- Ripley is surprisingly non-Action Woman-y. She's basically just an engineer, who survives on a combination of luck, intelligence and resourcefulness. While the 70's might have had fewer female leads in that type of role, the female lead roles that were there had more variety than they do today.
- Y hallo thar John Hurt in His Underwear! Of course I already knew that this adorable piece of man is the one who gets his Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong and then gets the honour of being surrogate mum to the Alien, but his character is actually very likeable, too. Probably the most likeable crew member, with some competition from Brett, Parker, and Jones the Cat (Kitty!). Even so, there are also hints that he's a greedy bugger, perhaps even manipulative. That's one thing I like in this movie; the characters are very flawed and yet all sympathetic in their own ways. Which finally brings me to...
- ASH!!! I don't think it'll come as much of a surprise to most of you that The AI is my favourite character. However, I think he would be even if he were human. There is just something about that inscrutable, withdrawn scientist, isn't there? Here are some thoughts I've been having about him:
1. Honestly, if I hadn't already known about his true agenda before watching the film, I would have guessed that he'd turn out to be Ultimately Heroic, surprising everyone, perhaps even making a Noble Sacrifice. OR he'd have ended up, in true Cynical Bastard form, floating through Space in the escape shuttle muttering ''The horror, the horror...'' I don't think I'd have gotten a sense of any malevolence. What's more his look and mannerism is maybe the most ''human'' out of the whole crew. Yes, he's withdrawn and detached, but this isn't because he's an robot, it's because he's British :D
Also, Ian Holm does some great, understated acting, which gives the character quite a bit of intrigue and depth, without knowing that much about him. His awe at the Face Hugger could just as well be interpreted by a singular curiosity and passion for his profession. Ultimately, I think that that's how the rest of the crew sees him up until The Reveal. One of my favourite scenes is when Ripley, while trying to press him about breaking protocol, expresses curiosity about his equipment (fner fner) and he snaps ''Don't touch that!'' (giggity)in the manner of an adolescent being discovered playing with his clay soldiers or something. Which brings me to:
2. Holy sexual tension batman! This is apparently just me, as I haven't seen anyone else mention anything like it, but that scene in the lab is so totally a taciturn early pubescent boy being teased by his crush. I know they say it's just supposed to show us that Ash and Ripley don't trust each other, but come on, there's totally some weird form of sexual attraction going there, at least from his side. Have you no imagination, people!? She gets way up into his personal space and he's not really sure what to do about it or whether he dislikes it at much as he should. There's even dimmed light and everything! I don't know if he would be sexually ''functional'' or not, but he might still have unfulfilled urges in a different way. Also, he apparently reacts to cold, so it wouldn't be that big of stretch if he were, er, capable. He is supposed to blend in perfectly, after all.
3. His psychotic break in the end isn't a result of a lack of emotions, but of having emotions that he doesn't know how to handle. This very common with AIs in movies, only people usually interpret it as them being incapable of true emotions. Rather, I would suggest that Ash does feel a lot of stuff, but that he has the emotional maturity of a toddler, perhaps with a bit of teenager thrown in, but mostly like a toddler, lack of developed empathy and all. So, his homicidal meltdown is basically like a two year-old with a temper tantrum. I'm not going to go into the whole obvious metaphor with the dirty magazine because that's been written up and down about elsewhere. The Toddler with a Giant brain theory is also suggested in some of his expressions and interactions with the crew throughout the film. Like someone on a message board said:
The more that I watch the film, its actually Ash's facial expressions that I find fun to watch. Some of the little glances that he makes (particularly towards Dallas) are so well done and are a total give away once you have seen the film and know he is the bad guy. The glances are almost childlike and remind me of when my young son has done something naughty and thinks I havent seen him do it.
Also, the way he looks at Ripley and says ''There's an explanation for this, you know'' is almost reminiscent of a kid trying to impress his crush with how smart he is. And then she pushes him against the wall and his top buttons are opened, my mind immediately Went There, but apparently that's not something commonly noted by Alien fans. But then, I have that sort of mind :D
4. I don't think Ash feels much of any loyalty towards Weyland-Yutani. I think by the time he gets his head cut off he's gone totally rogue and obsesses over the Xenomorph. He almost seems to love it, in his own way. But when he says he admires its completely animalistic, yet coldly efficient nature, and its lack of anything resembling ''delusions of morality'' I don't think he's comparing it to himself as much as he's describing what he wishes he was. I think he's confused and even resentful, both about feeling resentment and confusion, but also because he feels like an Other, even though the rest of the crew don' know what he is. That brilliantly smug little smile when tells them ''You have my sympathies'' almost looks like he feels like he's got back at not only the Nostronomos crew, but also his own makers, in a way.
5. Yes, I do find him hot. Deal with it.
And I forgot: KITTY! I just love the fact that they were all concerned about the cat, and that Ripley wouldn't leave without it. Critics have argued that the cat was a completely pointless addition, and that it was unrealistic for the crew to be so set on rescuing it. While I can see the first point, I don't really agree with the latter. I can totally imagine how the crew would become very attached to the cat, who might serve as a de-stressor of sorts. Animals are very comforting, that way. Also, KITTY!
Anyway, that like, my opinion, man.
- Wow, it's really atmospheric, isn't it? I was expecting something much ''sleeker'' and sci-fi-y, but while the shots from outside are almost 2001-worthy, it's definitely more of a Used Future on the inside of the ship.
- Ripley is surprisingly non-Action Woman-y. She's basically just an engineer, who survives on a combination of luck, intelligence and resourcefulness. While the 70's might have had fewer female leads in that type of role, the female lead roles that were there had more variety than they do today.
- Y hallo thar John Hurt in His Underwear! Of course I already knew that this adorable piece of man is the one who gets his Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong and then gets the honour of being surrogate mum to the Alien, but his character is actually very likeable, too. Probably the most likeable crew member, with some competition from Brett, Parker, and Jones the Cat (Kitty!). Even so, there are also hints that he's a greedy bugger, perhaps even manipulative. That's one thing I like in this movie; the characters are very flawed and yet all sympathetic in their own ways. Which finally brings me to...
- ASH!!! I don't think it'll come as much of a surprise to most of you that The AI is my favourite character. However, I think he would be even if he were human. There is just something about that inscrutable, withdrawn scientist, isn't there? Here are some thoughts I've been having about him:
1. Honestly, if I hadn't already known about his true agenda before watching the film, I would have guessed that he'd turn out to be Ultimately Heroic, surprising everyone, perhaps even making a Noble Sacrifice. OR he'd have ended up, in true Cynical Bastard form, floating through Space in the escape shuttle muttering ''The horror, the horror...'' I don't think I'd have gotten a sense of any malevolence. What's more his look and mannerism is maybe the most ''human'' out of the whole crew. Yes, he's withdrawn and detached, but this isn't because he's an robot, it's because he's British :D
Also, Ian Holm does some great, understated acting, which gives the character quite a bit of intrigue and depth, without knowing that much about him. His awe at the Face Hugger could just as well be interpreted by a singular curiosity and passion for his profession. Ultimately, I think that that's how the rest of the crew sees him up until The Reveal. One of my favourite scenes is when Ripley, while trying to press him about breaking protocol, expresses curiosity about his equipment (fner fner) and he snaps ''Don't touch that!'' (giggity)in the manner of an adolescent being discovered playing with his clay soldiers or something. Which brings me to:
2. Holy sexual tension batman! This is apparently just me, as I haven't seen anyone else mention anything like it, but that scene in the lab is so totally a taciturn early pubescent boy being teased by his crush. I know they say it's just supposed to show us that Ash and Ripley don't trust each other, but come on, there's totally some weird form of sexual attraction going there, at least from his side. Have you no imagination, people!? She gets way up into his personal space and he's not really sure what to do about it or whether he dislikes it at much as he should. There's even dimmed light and everything! I don't know if he would be sexually ''functional'' or not, but he might still have unfulfilled urges in a different way. Also, he apparently reacts to cold, so it wouldn't be that big of stretch if he were, er, capable. He is supposed to blend in perfectly, after all.
3. His psychotic break in the end isn't a result of a lack of emotions, but of having emotions that he doesn't know how to handle. This very common with AIs in movies, only people usually interpret it as them being incapable of true emotions. Rather, I would suggest that Ash does feel a lot of stuff, but that he has the emotional maturity of a toddler, perhaps with a bit of teenager thrown in, but mostly like a toddler, lack of developed empathy and all. So, his homicidal meltdown is basically like a two year-old with a temper tantrum. I'm not going to go into the whole obvious metaphor with the dirty magazine because that's been written up and down about elsewhere. The Toddler with a Giant brain theory is also suggested in some of his expressions and interactions with the crew throughout the film. Like someone on a message board said:
The more that I watch the film, its actually Ash's facial expressions that I find fun to watch. Some of the little glances that he makes (particularly towards Dallas) are so well done and are a total give away once you have seen the film and know he is the bad guy. The glances are almost childlike and remind me of when my young son has done something naughty and thinks I havent seen him do it.
Also, the way he looks at Ripley and says ''There's an explanation for this, you know'' is almost reminiscent of a kid trying to impress his crush with how smart he is. And then she pushes him against the wall and his top buttons are opened, my mind immediately Went There, but apparently that's not something commonly noted by Alien fans. But then, I have that sort of mind :D
4. I don't think Ash feels much of any loyalty towards Weyland-Yutani. I think by the time he gets his head cut off he's gone totally rogue and obsesses over the Xenomorph. He almost seems to love it, in his own way. But when he says he admires its completely animalistic, yet coldly efficient nature, and its lack of anything resembling ''delusions of morality'' I don't think he's comparing it to himself as much as he's describing what he wishes he was. I think he's confused and even resentful, both about feeling resentment and confusion, but also because he feels like an Other, even though the rest of the crew don' know what he is. That brilliantly smug little smile when tells them ''You have my sympathies'' almost looks like he feels like he's got back at not only the Nostronomos crew, but also his own makers, in a way.
5. Yes, I do find him hot. Deal with it.
And I forgot: KITTY! I just love the fact that they were all concerned about the cat, and that Ripley wouldn't leave without it. Critics have argued that the cat was a completely pointless addition, and that it was unrealistic for the crew to be so set on rescuing it. While I can see the first point, I don't really agree with the latter. I can totally imagine how the crew would become very attached to the cat, who might serve as a de-stressor of sorts. Animals are very comforting, that way. Also, KITTY!
Anyway, that like, my opinion, man.
