In the final segment of Alien we see Ripley somewhat differently than we have to that point. Most obviously, she undresses in the escape pod, puts on a bulky space suit, than appears at the very end in kind of nightshirt. Ripley continues, of course, to fight resourcefully against the alien and, by extension, The Company and its profit-driven, dehumanizing, militarized vision of the world, so that’s nothing new. But how, if at all, do these costume changes in the final scenes alter your vision of the character?
5 thoughts on “Alien–Group 2”
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When Ripley escapes into the escape pod and begins to undress we the audience are led to believe that she is safe. Additionally, undressing certainly seems to suggest Ripley is in a more vulnerable state, which makes the discovery of the alien even more unsettling. At this point when she is half naked and hiding in the closet she seems even more terrified of the alien. She then suits up once again to fight the alien. Finally, after the fight she is back to wearing her nightgown. These scenes suggest Ripley is safe and exposed when she is wearing clothes that are not related to being an astronaut. Overall, I found the half naked scene unnecessary and forced. It did not fit with the rest of the movie, but my vision of Ripley was not really affected either.
Seeing Ripley change from her bulky space suit represents an intermission in the movie in which we believe the alien has been defeated only to find out later that the alien is still on the next ship. I do not think that this scene made me change my opinion of Ripley, however it gave the audience a sense of hope that the alien was defeated. Throughout the movie, Ripley is able to evade and fight against the alien using her remarkable intelligence, bravery, and resilience, and to me this scene represents a moment of falling action in the film as opposed to the rest of it. I personally believed that the alien was finally defeated only to find out that Ripley has one final encounter with it. For me, this scene didn’t lead to a change of opinion of Ripley but rather as some sort of plot twist that was uncovered once we found out that the battle with the alien menace was not quite over yet. It more so served as a testament to Ripley’s perseverance throughout the deadly encounter to be able to unwind then suit up for one last encounter.
I was struck by the final costume change where Ripley strips her factory worker-like jumpsuit and is left in her underwear and t-shirt. As mentioned in the slides, this appears to be Ripley shedding her association with the Nostromo and the oppressive capitalist ideals it imposed. To me, her undergarments were particularly ragged; in the scene where she is hiding in the locker before putting on the spacesuit, there is a close-up of her body, and we see she is wearing underwear that is almost flagrantly skimpy. The exceptionally worn underclothes could be used to highlight Ripley’s lower-class worker status. Alternatively, perhaps it is used to elicit a sexually-charged response from the viewer, which would be in line with O’Bannon’s goal of sexually disturbing the audience. From this lens, Ripley’s loose hanging underwear could be used to show a kind of sexual vulnerability in addition to a general physical danger.
When she is sitting with Jones in the final shot, we see she is still dressed loosely, but now she wears a clean white shirt open over her undershirt. With the soft white light of the hypersleep chamber around her, complemented by the stark white exterior of the shuttle, her clothing evokes an image of purity and renewal. As she leaves the ruins of the Nostromo behind, she leaves for “the Frontier”, whose name reminds me of possibility and freedom, and for Ripley could mean a safe haven from the grips of the Company.
At first review during the movie, I did not immediately notice the outfit change after Ripley defeated the Alien. I believe that this was the directors (Ridley Scott) attempting to subtly show the audience that Ripley’s mission was complete, even though that was never their intended mission until they heard the S.O.S. signals. Once the Alien navigated its way onto the ship, it was out of control, killing nearly all members of the crew. Stopping the Alien from total destruction immediately became their goal when the crew realized how deadly it was.
Ripley defeated her other main nemesis, Ash the robot, who’s purpose was to bring the Alien back even at the expense of all of the crew members. This is a heroic act by Ripley, even though she needed some help from her fellow crew members, because she is effectively deciphering and altering the plan of the company to bring the Alien to Earth. Then, she ends but being solo with the Alien, and has some near death experiences. After Ripley blew up the other ship, she believed she had successfully killed the Alien and was safe in her escape ship, hence why she had on relaxing clothes. But, she soon realizes the Alien is in that ship as well, so she has to act fast, which leads to her putting on protective clothing to at least give her the opportunity to fight the Alien. There seems to be a portion of time between Ripley defeating the Alien and her recording the final monologue/manuscript of the mission. Ripley has finally taken a deep breath, and her life-threatening problems have been removed.
The clothing change does not effect my view of Ripley, if anything, it changes my understanding of the director’s perspective and what they want the audience to envision with this movie. This entire movie was very hectic and nerve-racking with the constant horror of the Alien. The directors want us audience members to relax for the final scene, the final send-off/goodbye, and appreciate all that Ripley has done throughout the film.
Seeing ripley change from bulky space suit to night shirt was definitely a subtle and interesting transition that was included in the movie. One of my interpretations of this transition was a triumph of regular human’s over what was supposed to be an apex predator. There is a certain regularity that the movie highlights with Ripley in casual clothes, which in turn draws attention to the dynamic that plays out between Ripley and her team and a monster that was artificially engineered to be superior.
However, I do not think that my perception of Ripley changed as a result of this final scene. If anything, it reinforced my perception of her as a hero. After losing her crew members to the Alien, and waging an exhaustive battle against the creature, we the audience see her calmly speaking a log into the record in regular clothes. The way she is depicted implies triumph in that she remains calm, strong, and visibly unscathed after such a taxing battle.