Motherhood, Aliens, and a very special episode of Law & Order May 4, 2007
Posted by mehass in Alien, law and order, motherhood, whoopi goldberg.add a comment
Last night, I saw an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that ties into our discussion of Aliens and the representation of parasitic overreproduction. In this episode, Whoopi Goldberg plays a woman whose main role is a foster mother for a long string of boys. She uses their loyalty and masterminds a scheme to have four of them perpetrate a series of home invasions and multiple homicides (with machetes) in a fancy neighborhood for the purpose of theft. Throughout the episode, she is very motherly (even to the detective, who tries to reject it), but also very manipulative. The detectives theorize (more…)
Ripley and Motherhood May 4, 2007
Posted by Wednesday Girl in Alien, Empowerment, chick flicks, motherhood, power, xena.add a comment
Ripley’s motherly instincts in Aliens are similar to those of Xena in the TV series Xena, Warrior Princess. As Alison Futrell points out, the TV series Xena, takes motherhood and makes it “the family’s ethical and emotional center.” Furthermore, it is Xena’s motherly ethics which contribute to her heroic acts. Historically, motherly instincts were seen as weaknesses, but Xena turns this around. Similarly, Ripley’s motherly bond with Newt is the reason she was so protective over her. She takes Newt in as her own, ultimately risking her life to save Newt. At the end of the movie, Newt calls Ripley “mommy,” vocalizing their relationship.
I wonder how this twist on motherhood heroicism would hold up under other situations. What if the victim was a grown man or woman? What if there was no victim, only enemies?
Nationalism and the “other” May 1, 2007
Posted by rebeccao in Alien, Empowerment, GI Jane, Whale Rider, Women Who Kick Ass, identity, military, nationalism, power, theory.3 comments
I just had a quick comment on the discussion we’ve been having in class dealing with the construction of “nationalism” and gender’s role in a nationalist power structure. (more…)
Vasquez May 1, 2007
Posted by csfogler in Alien, Women Who Kick Ass, military, power, sexuality.2 comments
Just a quick “Aliens” question…
Ripley is feminine and maternal. She is obviously scared at the beginning of the movie, and she is cautious and more or less levelheaded except when she is overcome by her “maternal emotions”. She would be a fine heroine without any sort of foil.
So what is the role of Vasquez? Does she exist just to prove how “special” Ripley is that she can be both feminine and kickass? Her masculine persona, “butch looks,” and go-down-in-flames mentality, plus the overt references to her lesbian sexuality are obviously intentional. She is there to prove some sort of point- it could easily have been the choice of the produceers/writers/directors to have no female Marines on the mission. So what exactly is the point she is there to prove? Any ideas?
And let’s not even talk about whether there was a point to her being Hispanic beyond the ability it gave for them to make the “illegal aliens” joke.
Aliens and the Specter of the Incontinent Female April 30, 2007
Posted by Marina in Alien, Freud, Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not, Sigourney Weaver, bodies, conception.add a comment
Watching Aliens, I was struck by the consistent references to female fertility that seemed to pervade the most horrific aspects of the movie. Sigourney Weaver’s final battle scenes with the Queen Alien seem to involve maternalism, but Weaver’s surrogate child Newt, being only one child, proves easier to protect than the Queen’s hundreds of eggs. Unchecked, irrational female fertility – as represented by the constantly laying queen, and the multiple larval-things waiting to lay embryos in humans – is a volatile and all-consuming force, as is Burke the greedy bureaucrat’s overly-selfish desire for financial reward. Weaver’s character, Ripley, must balance these two opposing forces of (emotional) self-sacrifice for Newt and (rational) self-preservation to succeed, while vanquishing both Burke and the Queen. Her name, which evokes the “believe it or not” reference, seems like a writer’s pun on the outlandish tale she tells at the beginning of the movie, and her own faith in it despite the patent disbelief of the government and their recommendation of her for psychiatric evaluation. This minor detail becomes relevant in light of the connection between the “hysterical” female mind as documented and labeled by Freud and the pathologized, “incontinent” female body.
These ideas are based on the idea of the male body as the “default,”
and subsequently present the female as the perpetual deviant, the “Other.” It’s not hard to see how a combination of horror and fascination with this other might lead to the construction of the monstrous female body as presented by the female alien.
