Le sigh, I typically steer clear of politics here on the forum, but I guess that's not going to be avoided now that both Alien and Predator are having accusations of "get woke, go broke!" thrown at them.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 02, 2021, 11:02:08 AM
Man, I wish I'd have saved his tweet. But to quote Tristan Jones - "Alien was never f**king asleep".
And he's right. I think the documentary 'Memory: The Origins of Alien' illustrated all of the complex themes that were included in the original film, though yes some of the analysis did reach a bit.
In a modern context (and more so a future one) corporate behavior and capitalism are intrinsically tied.
Just because Hawley wants to examine themes of wealth inequality, an issue that people of varying political ideologies are polled as being increasingly concerned about, doesn't mean he's going to turn to the audience and go: "the answer of course is communism!"
Economic inequality is a defining issue of our time, one can be pro-capitalism and still deeply concerned about this modern issue, especially given the rise of automation coupled with population expansion. If all the wealth is funneled to the top (mega-corporations, wealthy elite), and the top hordes all the wealth, capitalism doesn't keep on working too well now does it?
If one would like to see a good introduction to the problems of economic inequality (and the concept's name doesn't mean economics should be entirely equal as a solution), I recommend checking out this video:
Spoiler
I do think this theme is ripe for exploration in the world of Alien, and I highly doubt Hawley's social commentary will be as simple as "Socialism Good, Capitalism Bad." Nuance is a thing.
I'm tired of all these anti-SJW channels grifting on this constant outrage where they take a single line from an interview or that a woman will be taking on a Predator and condemn something completely that they know nothing about yet. They're doing the exact thing they accuse the SJW's of: "You can't do this, that's woke, keep politics out of my entertainment! You're ruining my childhood!" is completely akin to "You can't do that, that's insensitive, doesn't have enough representation, is offensive!" It's just a double-standard against the free-expression they claim to support. It's true that sometimes politics in modern media can be handled in a clumsy and patronizing way, but that doesn't mean everything should be written off as woke or too political before we've had a chance to evaluate it. And it doesn't mean the topic should always be avoided because: "We're trying to escape from all the politics in real life!"
But if there is a silver lining about the complaints and retorts to it... Alien is trending, people are talking about it.
