Topic: Alien: Covenant Has Wrapped Filming!

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[HuDaFuK]

It came up in the podcast we did the other day, but they should really kill Waterston off in this. The female survivor trope needs to be switched up for a change.

Anyone else seeing the gun slung around her chest?

[Perfect-Organism]

It's not that the female lead role needs to be switched up.  It's that the Alien films need to stop being a self-parody.  If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.  There's nothing like the real thing.  And then free the other films of the yoke of the strong female lead so they can explore a new originality.

[Scorpio]

I hope Waterston returns for sequels.  I'd rather see more of her than old Ripley or a grown up Newt.  From what I've heard, she's a well respected actress, even though I haven't seen any of her films.

She may just be the biggest surprise of Covenant.

[BishopShouldGo]

It's not that the female lead role needs to be switched up.  It's that the Alien films need to stop being a self-parody.  If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.  There's nothing like the real thing.  And then free the other films of the yoke of the strong female lead so they can explore a new originality.

Shaw was nothing like Ripley. There was one blatant Ripley variation, and that was the woman from AvPR. You're gonna have a lead, the lead will either be male or female. A female just works so much better as the lead of a horror film.

[HuDaFuK]

If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.

The constant, slavish devotion to Ripley is the worst thing that's happened to the series lately. They could really benefit from moving on and doing something different.

[me]

I agree with HuDa,  I am all for strong female characters.  However, by making it a staple of the series they are diminishing the impact.  It would be like making all Predator movies with macho men fighting the predator in a jungle environment.

[The Alien Predator]

If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.

The constant, slavish devotion to Ripley is the worst thing that's happened to the series lately. They could really benefit from moving on and doing something different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxvipSP0lE

[lv_226]

If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.

The constant, slavish devotion to Ripley is the worst thing that's happened to the series lately. They could really benefit from moving on and doing something different.

They tried with Prometheus and people still clamored for a more Ripley-esque character. I think Shaw, while being feminine, brought something different to the game than Ripley. I find her, personally, to have an interesting character arc and, in my honest opinion, rivals that of Ripley's in the first three films. I agree with you about how this Ripley worship does more harm than good to the series. Still, people in this fandom are stuck somewhere between the past and the future, with the former winning out which inevitably stops new ideas from fully realizing themselves. I contradict myself here because I feel that moderation is good and Covenant seems to be striking a balance between Prometheus and Alien.

[426Buddy]

Literally, every Alien-related film has been plagued by some sort of Ripley wannabe.  Clearly a strong female lead is part of the essence of an Alien film.  We need a film that actually brings back the real Ripley such as Blomkamp's Alien.

 

[Perfect-Organism]

If you want to have a strong female lead, bring back Ripley.

The constant, slavish devotion to Ripley is the worst thing that's happened to the series lately. They could really benefit from moving on and doing something different.

I am not proposing a slavish devotion to Ripley.  I am offering a counterpoint to the idea of having more knock-off female lead-roles.  By not using Ripley, we end up with these stories with strong female characters that all try to emulate Ripley in some way.  So to free us of this trope, let Ripley have her come-back film where she fulfills that female role, and let the other films be free of that trope once and for all.  As it stands, we will probably have another kick-ass female lead character in Covenant.  What for?  Give the fans the film they want, and move on with other films that are unshackled.

[Alien³]

David is the lead in Covenant, right?

[Mr. Clemens]

I hope Waterston returns for sequels.  I'd rather see more of her than old Ripley or a grown up Newt.  From what I've heard, she's a well respected actress, even though I haven't seen any of her films.

She may just be the biggest surprise of Covenant.

Turns out I saw her in 'Manhattan Romance' a few weeks ago on Netflix without realizing who she was. She was fantastic. Highly recommended film, too. My enthusiasm for A:C just spiked in a major way. 

[HuDaFuK]

I am not proposing a slavish devotion to Ripley.  I am offering a counterpoint to the idea of having more knock-off female lead-roles.  By not using Ripley, we end up with these stories with strong female characters that all try to emulate Ripley in some way.  So to free us of this trope, let Ripley have her come-back film where she fulfills that female role, and let the other films be free of that trope once and for all.

Or alternatively, they could do something actually original and cast a male lead. It would be a very welcome change at this point.

[Perfect-Organism]

I am not proposing a slavish devotion to Ripley.  I am offering a counterpoint to the idea of having more knock-off female lead-roles.  By not using Ripley, we end up with these stories with strong female characters that all try to emulate Ripley in some way.  So to free us of this trope, let Ripley have her come-back film where she fulfills that female role, and let the other films be free of that trope once and for all.

Or alternatively, they could do something actually original and cast a male lead. It would be a very welcome change at this point.

They could totally cast a male lead.  What I'm seeing here is the opportunity to burn the candle at both ends.  The Prometheus angle of the story is branching off in one direction, and Blomkamp's film is tackling the story from the other end.  At this moment, it looks like the upcoming Alien films outweigh the Blomkamp film by 3 to 1.  The idea that there is an obsession with Ripley is unfounded.  Blomkamp is trying to make 1 film with her, which is said to give her an "end" anyway.

By making a sequel or a prequel to an Alien film, you will never do something 100% original.  The story will always be tied in somehow to what made the first 2 films so great.  If you want a truly original film, leave the Alien universe behind.  This is a derivative fiction by definition.

[The Alien Predator]

I am not proposing a slavish devotion to Ripley.  I am offering a counterpoint to the idea of having more knock-off female lead-roles.  By not using Ripley, we end up with these stories with strong female characters that all try to emulate Ripley in some way.  So to free us of this trope, let Ripley have her come-back film where she fulfills that female role, and let the other films be free of that trope once and for all.

Or alternatively, they could do something actually original and cast a male lead. It would be a very welcome change at this point.

That would be a really interesting thing to try out.

It's like Alien has female only leads and Predator has male only leads.  Maybe both franchises can do a gender swap and let's see how it goes from there.

Because let's be real, it doesn't matter what chromosome configuration you've got, the Alien or Predator will overpower you regardless. The point of a lead is to show us humans using wits and tactics to overpower them.

So whether it's a skinny man/woman or an AHNULD/AHNETTE type character, it all boils down to smarts and environment and luck in the end.