Author Archives: Aumit Leon

Ridley Scott, Alien

As one of the more modern films we’ve seen up to this point, Ridley Scott’s “Alien” mirrors many of the contemporary patterns in space-based science fiction that main stream works exhibit today, while serving as a reflective piece of popular culture from the late 70s and early 80s. The design of the spaceship in the film itself is not speculative, as it might have been in a previous generation. In terms of chronology, the film has a basis for depicting space travel since the United States put Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969. As part of the space race that contributed to American lunar missions, there was an associated movement to increase interest in science and technology within popular culture — math and science education were prioritized in order increase the number of people with the training necessary to help the United States win the space race. While “Alien” came out almost a decade after Armstrong walked on the moon, the film can be considered as part of the growing cultural appreciation for science, engineering, and space — a trend visible in the popularity of modern films such as Interstellar. “Alien” depicts notions of space travel and human contact with a deadly organism. The alien form in the film is monstrous and its actions are based in hostility towards humans — this hostility is central to the depiction of many modern Alien vs. Human films. While the depiction of the alien is speculative, this film and science fiction works dealing with space in this era can be considered both a product and catalyst of a larger cultural appreciation of science, especially in the wake of Cold War conflict. Much in the way that the Apollo 11 mission inspired a cultural reverence for science, films like “Alien” were able to generate a popular base for scientific exploration and speculation.