female Heroine Alien

Heroine Hollywood is very influential. North American audiences in particular have developed conventions on the base of a commonality in Hollywood films. Aliens in particular, have a huge fan base, because it is impossible to comprehend the universe and thus we cannot know if we are the only life form. the movie Alien (1979) has challenged those conventions though gender role reversal, a strong female surviving heroine and unexpected sexuality. the unconventional nature of this film is what makes audiences swoon over what would otherwise be a traditional Sci-Fi movie. For the first 20 minutes or so of this film, Ripley seems like just another person on the ship only men are talking showing that this is a male driven ship. Traditionally, men put the food on the table, they make the rational, tough decisions, and protect the women. Which make people think that men know what they are doing, well at least for the first 20 minutes of the film. Ripley is first introduced as a selfish and cold hearted hybrid of masculine and feminine characteristics. She did not allow Ash to open the air lock so they can attend to Kane's misfortune. Although it is obvious that Ripley is a female physically, the way she is dressed in the overalls, the way she acts her neutral voice and her neutral personality show masculine traits. she can easily be mistaken for a power crazed woman that wishes she was the man in charge. This is because the audience is sympathizing with Kane. In hindsight Ripley seems to be the only rational thinker, opposite of what the audience and the stereotypical female traits would be. perhaps if the "men" listened to Ripley they may have survived. Rape and sex are two big themes in the film. In regards to sex there is a obvious gender role reversal which switches the movie convention that our society is use too. Kane's rape scene is proof of this as male rape is not often seen in blockbuster movies. Ripley is a key factor in gender role reversal because she is the sole representation of the traditional 'male' survivor. This keeps the audience interested because it is unconventional to have a female heroine in this type of movie. Traditionally women in films are vulnerable simply because they are women but Ripley disproves this through her intelligence. For example, she escapes her assault at the end of the movie by thinking fast and using her vast knowledge of the ships systems to defeat against the alien. Proving that there was no need for a physical male fight seen that ends with the alien dying. Ripley was definitely not introduced as a sex figure. Not to say that Ripley was not sexy she definitely is. She's attractive in a way that is unconventional because of her male characteristics. She does not indulge in the typical feminine fashion like makeup and female attire. She can also be labeled as having masculine tendencies. What makes this one of the best science fiction movies is that the movie shows the audience something that they were not expecting, something strange in our world, like having a female survivor of an alien rape attack. This is why this film is significant in gender roles. Near the end of the movie we see Ripley in her underwear for the first time which is kind of unusual since no one was waiting for a moment where Ripley will take her clothes off. The moment when you realize that this is a woman that survived, and not because of her knight in shining armor that came to her rescue. It was because of her intelligence, calm and collected manner in comparison with the other characters that gave her the advantage to survive. In conclusion Alien is iconic and Ripley's' character is unconventional. Through gender role reversal, Ripley herself and sexuality in unexpected ways, Alien challenges standard conventions and breaks down gender stereotypes. Therefore this movie is a timeless classic.