Alien versus Humanity

[Accaris]

This is a thread about themes in ALIEN.

Two very common interpretations of the A L I E N are that it is either a reflection of humanity, or the antithesis of humanity.

Reflection: The Alien is a manifestation of the primordial human self, i.e. the essence of human experience reflected as a symbol. It could represent subconscious but universal tensions about human sexuality: fears of gender identity symbolized by male child birth; fears of rape, etc. Or, the Alien represents inherent human immorality manifested in a dark, mechanical, nihilistic form. Taken even further, the Alien is a reflection of deeper yet more ubiquitous fears: a nightmare come to life; fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, and of death (the fear of death particularly expanding into a reflection of religion and a lack of faith in promises of eternal salvation.) This is the "H.R. Giger" approach.

Antithesis: The Alien is a perversion of humanity. It represents everything that humans are not; an incomprehensible cosmic terror with no sane terrestrial basis. A warning against the hubris of science represented by those aspects of science which cannot be understood or controlled; in fact, its very existence is enough to drive a scientist to madness. Pure deadliness in physical form, without the potential for emotion, warmth, or kindness. A psychotic, twisted melding of cold mechanical precision and hostile organic life. Humanity is defined in its survival upon encountering it. This is the "H.P. Lovecraft" approach.

Which thematic framework do you adhere to more? Or should the two be combined? Any further thoughts on the theme of A L I E N?

[Private Hudson]

I prefer the Antithesis aproach to alien, it makes them more of a hostile creature than the Reflection Aproach.

[Irritator]

I personally think it's both.

So, we have two basic themes: the primal savagery of man - his more or less concealed human desire to be unbounded by society, morality and the limitations of his mortal body and the fear of the unknow, of death from without, a danger hiding in the darkness beyond our sight.

Like Paul Church said in the Aliens Labyrinth comic:

"In their hearts, all men would like to be like the Alien: hideously strong, unchained by conscience, charged by the black heart of the cosmos to go forth and annihilate.".

You can translate it as a fascination with sociopathy.

Now if you look at sociopaths, you can see they are both human and inhuman: they are the core of human insticnts - selfish, egocentrical, arrogant. Yet they lack traits that are widely considered as those defining human beings: empathy, morality, remorse. So they are monsters, inhumans.

They both repel and fascinate. There's a weird ambiguity here, and I think the Alien is such an ambiguous symbol: it is both human and inhuman, alive and dead, sexual and asexual (lack of gender). It represents both the unknown within (instincts, desires, destructive tendencies) - the Giger approach - and the uknown without (other people, threat of death, fear of sexuality) - the Lovecraft approach.

You can both identify with and fear a sociopath. Be the agressor and the victim at the same time. It doesn't have to be sociopaths, that's just my kink. Same can be applied to forces of nature, sexuality, etc. That's why the Alien can represent both the inside and outside world of the human mind.

I probably sound a bit chaotic, but that's my two cents.

[ShadowXeno]

Woah....deep. I liked both but I guess I like reflection. It seems more like something Giger would add in his paintings and since this Alien was designed by Giger, it would make sense for Giger to add a little bit of something from his mind into it. Also because it pretty much IS a nightmarish human-like figure.

[The Chibi Kiriyama]

I've always said it's a reflection. It's just that we don't like to acknowledge it. We prefer to believe the best of ourselves until the evening news proves otherwise. The same goes for the Predator; while some would call him evil, we hunt all kinds of inferior life for various reasons only the individual would be able to reveal. Both of these creatures have human traits. It's what makes them appealing. The Alien is inhuman in design, yet its cruelty has a deliberate nature we can relate to. The Predator kills us, but we would be sort of hypocritical to claim we're saints in comparison. I've also felt that some of the films have blurred these traits; Aliens took away the evil human subtext from the Alien, and Alien Vs. Predator took away the role reversal the Predator brought to make the creature heroic.

It's sort of a shame that both fanbases seem to think that it's the worst additions that define these creatures.

[Xhan]

Can't be an antithesis without comparable thematics to render differences from, IE reflection.

[Robotpo]

Good analysis.  Overall, I prefer the "reflection," theory. Remember, the aliens are inside man, and are born from man, ultimately killing him. Our darker urges will lead to our inevitable downfall.

Also, the human skull in the dark dome of the original alien seems like a pretty close link to homo sapiens sapiens. You're confronted with a manifestation of human death and man's transit nature right before being snuffed out of existence. Overall, the alien couldn't exist without man, just as our more insidious side will always be "inside" us, until it bursts forth, leading to the loss of our humanity...

[Accaris]

Can't be an antithesis without comparable thematics to render differences from, IE reflection.

I disagree, because an antithesis is not a representation of the original. The process of rendition may involve reflection, but the end result is anything but.