Disney in talks to buy Fox. What could this mean for Alien and Predator?

[The Old One]

Prometheus and Covenant are about creation and artificial intelligence.

All the others are about people running around in the dark getting eaten by monsters.  Which isn't terribly high brow.

Uh, there's a hell of a lot more going on in the 4 Alien films than just that. If that was your takeaway, then yikes.

This.

Like what?  Oh yeah - the baddies want the monster too.

In the context of the actual conversation being had here - there's no reason Alien is especially more high brow than Predator.

I'm not going to argue with you because if you genuinely believe it; there's no way I'll be able to change your mind.

I do vehemently disagree though.

[SM]

Why?

Alien having themes about rape, or Aliens having themes about motherhood - doesn't stop them being, at their core, movies about people running around in the dark trying to not get killed by a monster.  Predator isn't miles away because you have people running around a jungle or city trying to not get killed by a monster.

[Local Trouble]

Did you get your offer letter yet?

[SM]

Still contracting.  Don't want to be tied down.

[SiL]

The Alien franchise had better consistently better scripts, actors, and directors, but they're still simple monster movies at their core. Just really well made ones.

A month or so ago I had someone yet to argue that the androids were always just as important as the Alien in the original films. No Alien, no movies. No androids, no, well, androids.

[Magegg]

I'm actually bored about this "strong female protagonists"... it's a staple in the Alien and Terminator franchises, but I've found it way too repetitive over the time. I don't know, I would like to have someone completely different in the role.

[Scorpio]

I'm bored of hearing about people talk about "strong female protagonists", bit of a crass label.

[Huggs]

I'm actually bored about this "strong female protagonists"... it's a staple in the Alien and Terminator franchises, but I've found it way too repetitive over the time. I don't know, I would like to have someone completely different in the role.

Parker, Hicks, Dillon. Not to mention may of the side characters. The alien movies may focus primarily on strong female leads, but they've usually been surrounded by some really tough male characters. I don't ever feel that it's too one-sided, or that strong males are ever under-represented. And I'm a dude. I think the problem stems from the fact that nowadays you're just unlikely to get a female lead with the strength and sheer "badassness" of Ripley or the original Sarah Connor.

[The Old One]

In terms of turning the audience's expectations on it's head as the original Alien did in 1979 with the focal point of Ripley.

I think Alex White has the right idea;

Why is Blue a queer, disabled woman of color?

Because I wanted to give her every possible disadvantage in a mindless, corporate system. Weyland-Yutani represents the ultimate soulless machination, and Dorian is a force for preserving entrenched power structures.

Characters like Blue are often buffeted by stifling workforce cultures. Because she is a woman, she is less likely to be taken seriously by her male counterparts. Because she is black, she is more likely to be seen as aggressive when she stands up for herself. Because she is disabled/dying, human resources will be eager to get rid of her, considering her a drain on the insurance pool.

Even in her introduction, Kambili Okoro tells her to "man up," a clear attack on her gender identity.

[SM]

I'm bored of hearing about people talk about "strong female protagonists", bit of a crass label.

What's crass about it?

[Perfect-Organism]

I think that the Alien films are much deeper.  They're about human exploration, and about going into the unknown.  But ultimately they are about discovering the roots of our demise, and consistently, in every film, those roots are... wait for it... ourselves.  In every Alien film, the worst monsters were the people and their creations.  The prequels come full circle in that now it's our creations' creations which have the potential of our demise.  It's heady stuff.

But importantly, as I said above, it's in the subtext.  These issues are not overtly dealt with, but they are under the surface, which is very elegant.  Are they deeply philosophical films dressed up as horror flicks or the other way around?  I don't know.  But at least the question is valid.  Can you say the same about the Predator films?

[SM]

What sets Alien apart from some other sci-fi is that they're not explorers.

They're just people who work in space.

[The Old One]

That's not the only thing, as pointed out by "Perfect-Organism" it's just one of the most obvious.

[SM]

There's no creation theme in the Alien films either, (although you could make an argument for Resurrection).

[Perfect-Organism]

Androids are a creation theme.  Rather deftly explored as the series progresses into its prequels I might add.

Granted, they are not explorers in Alien, but the spirit of exploration is there, especially with Kane.  Again, it is in the subtext.  It's not about showing the hackneyed tale of purposed explorers but the grease monkeys keeping the wheels spinning on the bus.  This portrays the gritty nature of exploration rather than the pomp and glory.