Quote from: whiterabbit on Jan 29, 2018, 12:01:05 AM
Honestly with the direction Ridley Scott is going the Skull is probably a left over vestige from the xeno's days when it was a more human like creature. There is no escaping the fact that in Alien Ash's is clearly monitoring a very human-like embryo gestating inside of Kane.
The Skull stays.
Probably, but I'm half entertaining the possibility as interesting, and half plugging my ears and closing my eyes and just enjoying the mystery of "Why the f**k does this well thought out biological organism also have a human skull on it, that's real f**king weird innit, why would it do that? Does it have something to do with why it was onboard the ship? But why?"
Better to just leave it at that implication.
It also is just a good design choice. It's eyeless with teeth, which recalls an animal attacking you, you just see the teeth before you die. But underneath its head, you can almost see a skull, it's just death. It's pure death. If you see something with a cowl and a misty concealed skull under it, and a jaw filled with metal teeth it's basically game over for you at that point. Giger's decision to bolt a real human skull onto it was probably just because it represents the monster, it's death. I'm not being real clear here, but I think you get what I'm saying. It was probably a decision on Giger's part to make the beast the real biological animal the script demanded, but also have an air of mystery to it, an air of terrifying mystery that just has no answers, but on top of that, the biggest reason I think it has a skull, is well
Because since it comes out of a human, or is born. And Giger is real into birth imagery, it's just a bastardization of the human form and human anatomy. It's a bastard child that is warped of flesh, metal, and bone. Having a skull on it that's visible is just a vicious parody of humanity. Almost as if it simply exists to remind its victims that its a bastardized human, and there's only one terrifying way it can make more of itself. Getting lost in the conversation of "human dna blah blah" misses the point that it is both a terrifying mystery, and a reminder of what it is, and what it wants. It wants sex, it wants rape, and it has endless wants to create more bastardized versions of humanity reduced to their base form and nature. A being that kills every threat and reduces them to material to create more of itself, and that misty impression of a skull is almost a ghostly reminder that there is a terrifying humanity in it.
If we were stripped of all humanity, we would act not so dissimilar from the alien. The skull is masked because it's supposed to be ghostly, an impression that this being has no need for a face to hide its skull. No need for soft flesh, it is purely offensive and destructive, it is every bit of humanity warped into such a thing that it is very alien and mysterious, but also very familiar, the implications being terrifying.
I'm positive that was the thought process going on in HR Giger's mind when he decided to bolt the skull down onto the suit, shielding it with a cowl that seems gelatinous or misty inside to conceal it enough; but not all the way. That it's a bastard child of humanity that becomes animal, like a science fiction vampire. Vampires are inherently sexual, and knowing Giger and his gothic nature, probably saw the cinematic nature of the movie he was making and thought, how do I out sexualize the vampire visibly with an implication that makes people squirm. But make the audience ponder enough about the nature of it, coming to their own conclusions, or maybe unconsciously knowing that it's just a reminder it has a dark humanity to it that we find alien in ourselves. Something we almost feel is insectoid and shameful, a bit of Kafka. The Alien is the prodigal Gregor Samsa almost. The fowl beast inside all of us that we hate and cannot control. We just want to slap it with a broom like Samsa's family did with Gregor, ultimately leaving him to die. Unlike Gregor, there is a ferocious need for more in the design of the alien, from the skull to the implication of stiletto like feet. The impression of both a vulva and a penis. It's Gregor Samsa without the shame.
Why does it have a gealitnous cowl? We don't know, it's an alien. Why does it have a skull? Good question, but we both know the answer.