How Alien Defined Sigourney Weaver — And How Sigourney Weaver Defined Alien

Weaver told Reuters that the reason that the female Ripley was the sole survivor in the movie was purely for shock value. Even Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia from “Star Wars” two years prior — the new face of female rebellion in Hollywood — needed rescuing. Ripley, however, did more than survive. The antagonist in “Alien” is the alien species Xenomorph, a perfect killing machine described in the film as “structural perfection, matched only by its hostility.” But the Xenomorph hadn’t seen the likes of Ripley. No one had, certainly not in Hollywood.

By the late 1970s, American movie audiences had been programmed to expect heroes to save the day through sheer brute. Weathered tough guys like Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson carrying big guns had become the Hollywood action hero norm. Literally no one saw Sigourney Weaver joining the club. In “Alien,” Ripley rises from the rank of Third Officer to lone survivor, accomplishing what her mostly male counterparts on the commercial starship Nostromo could not. The balance of power shifts her way when the ship’s captain, Dallas (Tom Skerritt), is killed. Weaver’s performance becomes even more pronounced when compared with Nostromo’s other woman, ship navigator Joan Lambert (Veronica Cartwright). When Dallas is hunted down by the Xenomorph, Lambert turns on the histrionics while Ripley stays cool and calmly assumes command of the ship.

Dallas’ death served as a metaphorical passing of the torch for women in cinema. Weaver proved that not all heroes have Y chromosomes, and women can be action heroes defeating the most ominous of villains, even in the cold vacuum of space. Ellen Ripley offered the total package of brains, brawn, and beauty. But in “Alien” she didn’t have to rely on the beauty. Ripley does the impossible and defeats the Xenomorph using cunning tactics and determination. Weaver’s good looks are happenstance, a byproduct of Hollywood, but something that never comes into play in the film’s narrative.

But it was never supposed to be that way.