So far I'm about halfway through the Aliens part of the book, and while there were some hard things to swallow initially in the chapter discussing Alien, after some explanation I agreed with much of it.
That said, I'm still having trouble believing some of the stuff in the second film they are trying so desperately to tie in with the first one.
For instance, the authors say that the cat, because it is lying in Ripley's lap during the dream sequence near the beggining of the film, represents Ripley's vagina (because of its location..........and some other things) and the cats teeth represent the potential alien inside. In other words the cat is suppossed to be rerpresenting Ripley as a mother of a very deadly creature.
Perhaps it is because it has been said Cameron practically dropped the psychosexual nature of the first film that I find this and other connection's to the original movie somewhat unbelievable.
There are also some passages saying that Aliens was a reagen era film (and it was) that was suppossed to represent USA vs communism (this I'm not sure I buy either). Cameron is canadian. I'm not sure he much cares (or people that were actual alive and "political" at the time it was released might say different) about that kind of thing, and aside from the book, haven't really heard it mentioned before. The film as an allegory to Vietnam yes. But more the fact that a superior technological force is outmoded by the enemy, rather than the fact that they were fighting a communist party.
Hive=Communism.
Alien (the creatures not the title)=nuclear missles
Marines=good ol USA.
I suppose what I'm asking is: Have you read the book and do you buy it?
The sources mostly include critics. The actual movie sources are based more on creature designs, settings etc, than actual symbolism involving the current events at that time.
It seems like the two authors are trying to carry over the first films symbolism and standards over to the second film, while negating the fact that they are two entirely different types of films, with different writers, and characters.
