Still, Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeaunet, 1997)According to Barbara Creed ("'Alien' and the Monstrous-Feminine"), why is the "mother" perceived as a threat? What is the "abject" and how does it secure boundaries between the human and non-human (monstrous) in Alien? What is the "primal scene" and how does Alien as horror/science fiction represent the primal scene for the spectator? According to Creed, why does the spectator derive fear/pleasure from viewing the horror film?
According to Creed, the “mother” is represented as a thread because of its corrupted roles throughout the film. It is the alien mother, a vagina with teeth, as well as the “Mother” computer who betrays her children. The abject is the combination of both the evil and good mother and is presented to us by having Ripley as a good/reassuring mother and the alien as the evil/corrupted mother. Having these two forces creates the boundaries between the human and non-human. The primal scene is basically the scene of birth, or some variation of sexual intercourse and birth. This is represented several times in Alien. Firstly in the opening scene where the crew are woken up by the mother ship in a symbol of birth, secondly when the explorers enter the alien spaceship, thirdly when Kane is “violated”, impregnated by the face-sucker, and violently gives birth to the alien, and fourthly when Ripley ejects herself into space from the now hostile mother ship. All of these representations show that the primal scene is forbidden, that in the film the pure scene of intercourse and birth are corrupted in some way. The spectator derives fear from the horrific representations of the mother figure in the film. The pleasure an be found in the viewing of Ripley as the pure/normal mother as well as representations of our own human desire to return to our origin, to the womb in an expression of Freud’s Oedipus Complex theories.
ReplyDeleteToby Staffanson - 319
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ReplyDeleteCreed states that the mother is perceived as a threat because the mother offers the world what it does not know, enveloping the participants in that mystery of birth. This occurs often with the facehuggers (from the egg) as well as the alien creature (from the chest). Creed goes on to state how the Mother computer is present during all the horrors and developments throughout the film, becoming a “mother of the primordial abyss.”
ReplyDeleteThe “primal scene” occurs when Kane peers into the egg, curious of the mysteries. It represents Freud’s theory of every child imagining being placed back into the womb and viewing their own conception. When Kane is attacked by the facehugger, Creed views this as his travelling back into time, into his mother’s womb (the alien chamber), and being attacked by the phallic device of his conception. The boundaries between human and non-human are, therefore, met when this union is bound between Kane and the facehugger. “He becomes a ‘part’ of the primal scene, taking up the place of the mother, the one who is penetrated, the one who bears the offspring of the union,” Creed states.
In the end, with the pleasing vision of Ripley undressing, the viewer acquires pleasure in the sight of the wonderful nakedness of mother that contradicts the mother as a cannibal (alien) and as a betrayer (computer), two forms of fear also delivered to the audience.
Matthew Balz Film 319
The “mother” is perceived as a threat for a number of reasons: suffocation/overbearing, castration, the re-birthing of an individual back into the womb, the vaginal black hole, and the toothed vagina. These perceptions of threat derive mostly from the theories of Sigmund Freud and the Oedipus myth. With the movie Alien Barbra Creed takes the threat perception of the mother and projects them on to the creature, and the ships computer. The creature derives its threat from the mother who births with out the accompaniment of the male. In combination with the appearance of the creature (toothed, and with the bloody death of its victims) it also represents the toothed vagina, and the main computer on the ship represents the threat of the overbearing mother.
ReplyDeleteAlong with this perception of threat comes the “primal scene” where the child who walks in on his/her parents perceives the act as a beauteous violent act. In the movie, we are subjected to the violent mating of the creature and the human, when he himself looks into the forbidden realm of the womb. The result of this birth is what states the “abject” of the film, the horror of the monstrous creature running through the ship. Even though this creature was from the combination of a human and non-human, it is the horror/fear that separates the two.
The enjoyment of the spectator in this case can be driven by two elements. The first is a dichotomy between wanting to live and wanting to die, for death is the desire and attraction of a return to the original state of oneness. The other is a masochist element in being punished for the pleasure of looking and voyeuristic enjoyment.
Nicholas Lawrence Film 319
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ReplyDeleteThe "mother" is represented in a number of ways throughout the film "Alien". There is the most sinister representation, the vagina with teeth. There is also the exploration of the Freudian concept of the male fear of castration. The vaginal "black hole", the betrayal of the "mother" computer, and the recurring theme of birth/rebirth all serve to further this concept and purpose throughout the film.
ReplyDeleteThe overall concept of the "abject" securing boundaries between the human and the non-human is the paradox between the "good" mother, Ripley, and the "evil" mother, represented in various forms throughout the film.
There are a few parts that serve as the "primal scene" throughout the film, most notably the scene where Kane "looks into the abyss" by peering into the egg that contains the face hugger alien. The subsequent "fertalization" and "birth" of the alien serve to represent Kane's regression into the birth canal and the "rebirth" of the alien by bursting through his chest.
The spectator derives fear and/or pleasure from the viewing of Ripley undressing near the end of the film. The experience is seen as a primitive pleasure, viewing the female form in its most "pure." This contrasts to the paradox of the evil mother the film puts forth, acting as a soothing cathartic alternative.
Mark Semke Film 301
The “mother” is considered a great threat for a number of reasons, the first and most obvious, she lets those humans die at the hands at the alien mother, quite the bonding experience between mothers wouldn’t you say? Both give the stereotypical roles of protectors in the beginning, caring for they’re young (the humans to the computer as the offspring is the alien) however in the end, the computer betrays the crew, and then hunted down by the alien (I am unsure of the order because I have not seen the movie). The signs of castration, (vagina with teeth) continuous rebirths of an evil offspring are all prevalent to the threat that is the evil alien mother. “The chameleon figure of the alien, the monster as a fetish-object of and for the mother” (128) The Abject in this film are the main protagonist, and antagonist, Ripley and the Alien. A simple battle of good vs. Evil, one the role of the good mother whom must protect herself and her crewmates and the alien who is the spawn of everything evil, however I believe that the computer mother is the true evil one in this case.
ReplyDeleteThe Primal Scene is a scene in which messages or images are sent to us on a deep level by use of a basic primal image, IE birth, death, violence, sex, all basic primal urges. Alien represents this scene in great instances the first is when the crewmembers enter through a vaginal opening, and when they do there seems to be organic material. The atmosphere seems to be dark dank and mysterious, giving into the stereotypical misconception that the vagina is a dark and mysterious place. The spectator derives fear and pleasure from viewing the horror film because of the adrenalin rush, they them selves do not want to die, but they place themselves in the shoes of these characters to better understand what they are going through, they then expense a new fear they would not get in everyday life.
Jon Elliott
Sec 319
According to Creed, the mother is perceived as a threat because she is unknown. People fear the unknown, it is more frightening than knowing sometimes. She stated that the mother is a toothed vagina, threatening in nature but because she is a combination of both a mother figure and a monstrous alien, this makes her the abject of the movie and differentiates between human and non-human in Alien. Primal meaning the most basic of instincts which in this case can mean sex, birth, and death. When Kane is essentially raped by the alien is the sex scene. The so called "birth" of the alien is in the beginning of the movie when the crew first discovers the alien aboard the ship. Death is each time a crew member is taken by the alien and killed. Creed believes that since these primal instincts are all present in Alien the audience can get enjoyment out of the movie even though it is a horror movie that plays on emotions that are usually associated with fear.
ReplyDeleteGreg Borkman, section 319
Eric Wescott -301
ReplyDeleteThe crew trusts "Mother" to protect them as they sleep. To ensure their survival. When "mother" decides that the alien life form is more important than protecting the crew, "mother" loses all credibility (from both viewer and her crew) as being motherly.
The "abject" in the film is the battle between Ripley, the good mother, and the alien evil mother. I find it sort of strange that Creed uses the labels of good and evil when in actuality both Ripley and Alien are only protecting their crew/offspring. The other strange aspect is the alien never waivers in it's defense of it's young where Ripley attempts to follow quarantine protocol sacrificing Kane to protect the rest of the crew. In many ways this is the same logic the computer uses to justify the importance of capturing the alien over the safety of the crew.
Freud seems to define the "primal scene" as the act of returning to the womb and witnessing ones own conception. Creed seems to extend this idea really cover the entire spectrum of procreation from the act of copulation to birth itself. Creed points out several scenes that meet her definition in the film. For example the scene where the crew awakens from cryostasis. Creed considers this version ideal in that it's clean, painless and well controlled. The opposite of this would be the birth of the alien inside Kane where it rips itself free killing Kane in the process. Another example is where the facehugger alien attaches itself to Kane and impregnates him with the alien life form. Finally, Creed mentions that virtually any scene where a object, person, or ship is expelled from a larger one is almost a staple in science fiction films. In the case of Alien there are several examples. One being where Kane's body is ejected into space. Another example where Ripley flees in the smaller craft just before the larger ship explodes.
Creed explains spectator experiences fear by being able to relate to the crews horrifying experience at the hand of the evil mother. The spectator then goes on to experience pleasure by witnessing Ripley undress and protect the cat as she returns to her sleep.
The "mother" is portrayed as a threat on both the human side and alien side by betrayal, fear and reproduction. From the Alien mother with the teeth-filled vagina, which represents the miracle of birth, yet is changed to a threading experience rather than beautiful. The backstabbing of the computer, “mother”, who is in charge of the safety of the crew, and thus destroys the bond of trust between protectors and protected, furthers the idea.
ReplyDeleteThis leads to the, "abject" of the film, by describing the correlation between Ripley and the Alien mother. Both are trying to be in their own views protectors of their young. For Ripley though her protection takes sacrifice with the murder through birth , where the Alien's protection is always about the survival of her young, no matter the cost.
As for the, "primal scene", in which Sigmund Freud describes as the return to birth, or conception, Creed points out the significance in "Alien". Such can be seen in the beginning of the film in which John Hurt's character, Kane births an Alien from his stomach. This act is unnatural and continues on with the concept of being forced to impregnation as the film progresses with the methods in which the Alien takes the choice away from the humans. This creates fear by the loss of control over the natural order of existence and reproduction, thus making the viewer feels powerless.
Various aspects of the “mother” figure in Alien cause her to be perceived as a threat. First, there is the obvious terror aspect of the mother – a vagina with teeth, exerting fear, power, and control. Barbara Creed makes mention of the vaginal black hole which is represented through the “facehugger” creature, using a male as the host for its offspring. The human is at the alien’s complete mercy, because it keeps the host alive and in a vegetative state long enough to allow the alien to grow in the “womb” of the human, then allows the host to die. There is a threat to overall male sexuality as a result of the asexual reproduction of the alien, a Freudian concept using themes of castration. In addition, the Nostromo’s main computer can be seen as a mother figure betraying its children because the computer is responsible for the safety and life of the crew yet cannot help when the they are threatened.
ReplyDeleteA separation of fear and connection is the “abject” of the film. The human gives violent birth to the alien but is also threatened by it. The “primal scene” of the film occurs as the character Kane peers into the egg. It suggests a sense of fear of the unknown because the mating ritual is unknown and violent, much like a child unknowingly observing his or her parents during intercourse. The spectator derives pleasure from Alien because of the outlet of the primal instinct of fear. There is a sense of sexual gratification but also maternal connection as Ripley undresses. We observe that she is a woman with motherly instincts as she nurtures the cat, and the spectator senses this maternal comfort after observing the horror film.
David Myszewski - Film 319
Barbara Creed, in talking about Alien, uses the “mother” as a metaphor for other things. She equates the idea of the mother to the vagina as Pandora’s box, a harbinger of destruction. She attempts to separate the imaginings of the “archaic mother” from the maternal figure, but finds they are all equal representations of the maternal figure as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe primal scene can be described as the beginning of life, the conception and birth, the coital act and also the entrance into the world via the womb. Alien us the primal scene in the manner of a role reversal, using Kane’s disturbance of the egg as his symbolic transgression and the facehugger as the phallic mother as it penetrates him and he becomes the womb, which bears the monster.
According to Creed, when confronted by these horrific images the viewer is tempted to look away from the screen, to re-identify with their surroundings in order to separate them from the film. We enjoy this because it tests our threshold, the pleasure we derive from seeing how much we can take. Horror films try to create and tempt a fetish in the viewer, always seeing how much more pain they will endure for pleasure.
The mother is viewed as a threat in the film in a very disturbing way. Her vagina with teeth is feared and is seen as a threatening power that holds the control. Creed also compares the vagina to a black hole type creature—very threatening. The mother in Alien is view as an “abject” rather than a “subject” because of the role the female plays in the film. Monstrously viewed, the female is viewed by the audience in an unusual way causing a fearful attitude towards the mother.
ReplyDeleteThe “primal” scene in the movie takes place when the child walks in on the mother and the alien undergoing a violent act of intercourse. The birth of the alien/mother mix becomes the “abject” and represents Alien as a horror/science fiction film. Clearly, this is a perfect example of a “primal” scene because it shows a definite difference between the human and non-human creatures in the film. The spectators can observe the primal relations between the human and the non-human.
Creed argues, and I agree, that the spectators find pleasure in viewing such films as Alien with these “primal” scenes because they are in a twisted way committing forbidden acts. The “primal” acts are viewed in a negative way to society. Society, fortunately for the film, eats negativity and forbidden deeds up.
Rebecca Rippl
301
Ron Film 301:
ReplyDeleteThe term mother which many would assume would be a very loving, caring, and nurturing figure is turned into the figure that is ruthless in which there is an almost certain death would .This is definitely seen in the movie ‘Alien’. The mother is seen as a threat in many films such as ‘Alien’ because the mother signifies the origin of all life. In the movie alien a man is gives birth to this alien but this procreative process that is occurring is still a trait of a mother figure. The abject would be the alien using the mother figure to show its power by taking over a human body and after being born, killing not only the human that bared this alien but killing other humans as well.
The ‘primal scene’ involves seeing the sexual relations between parents either through peer observation or fantasy. The child may not be able to understand the activity but has excitement over the event. One example of a primal scene is from the movie ‘Alien’ when Kane looks into the egg/womb trying to investigate the mystery of these eggs in this womb-like chamber. In doing so Kane is forced into primal scene when he is forced to bear and give birth to this alien offspring. The fear/pleasure is derived because this project wants to use the imaginary ‘other’ to which must be controlled to restore social order.
In "Alien" the mother figure is seen through the view of a "patriarchal idealogy". She is seen as a treacherous (Ship)and oral sadistic (alien monster) mother. There are two parts where the abject comes into play or the "immemorial violence with which a body becomes separated from another body in order to be". One is when the alien rips its way out of Kane's body. The other is when Ripley is forced to blow up the ship in order to survive. The first instance shows how the alien creature is not compatible with our moral views. It is a primal creature that forced its way out of what was no longer a viable living space and killed the host in which it incubated.
ReplyDeleteThe primal Scene is any scene that alludes to the ideas of birth and death. There are numerous example throughout this film. The first is the open scene of the corridors leading to the stasis chambers. It shows "Mother", as the crew referred to the ship, giving birth to crew. The 3 crew members going into the other ship was another primal scene. They enter via the dark opening between the two "legs" of the alien ship. Kane feels compelled to go deeper into the ship even though the woman crew person repeatedly asks to go back. Kane eventually comes into contact with the eggs on the ship and while curiously inspecting the vaginal type opening in the top of the egg is violently attacked by the creature and its egg tube is forced down its throat. The horror film according to creed stimulates the audience by putting them in a "crisis" when the scene is too much for the viewer to handle. The view then has the option to continue to look, in an almost voyeuristic manner, or to turn their head and separate themselves from the imagery put forth.
michael adams
319
The mother is represented as a threat in the film Alien, according to Creed , because she appears many times as the treacherous mother throughout. She is the “oral sadistic mother”, as well as the mother of the primordial abyss. The mother figure is basically present at all of the films bloody, haunting moments and is looked at as a threat. She is represented by the devouring vagina, toothed vagina, and by the vagina as Pandora’s Box.
ReplyDeleteThe abject represents the inherent good and evil within the mother figure and this helps represent the boundaries between the human and non-human. Ripley represents the good mother, while dichotomously the bad mother is represented in many hideous forms throughout the film. This helps put up boundaries.
The “primal scene” is a scene that relates to a child’s observation of sexual intercourse, especially between its parents. The primal scene is represented in a few different ways within Alien. The first representation takes place inside the space ship refered to as “mother” and the camera movements and mise en scene depict a very womb like atmosphere. Seven astronauts eventually immerge from sleeping pods in a very sterile, new, clean, and well controlled environment. This could be looked at as primal fantasy in which the subject is born fully developed. The second representation takes place with the astronauts entering the “vaginal” opening of another space craft. They begin walking through coridoors in a seemingly more gloomy, dark atmosphere, only to find a central “womb” like room with alien pods. Kane ends up being penetrated and impregnated by an alien, after examing too closely one of the pods. This brings up primal fantasies of seeing one’s own conception/ watching parents have sexual intercourse. A final representation of the primal scene occurs in many science fiction films, and that is the jettison pod from the mother ship, as if the ship is giving birth. Some pods may even remain attached through an “umbilical cord”.
The spectator derives fear/pleasure from the sci-fi/horror film genre because they can relate to the closeness of death and the fear of dying. They get kicks out of seeing gore, violence, and death but can be empathetic towards the characters at the same time.
-Alex Sokovich 319
Tom Burns Sci Fi 319-002
ReplyDeleteThe theme of a mother and its literal and metaphorical relation to Alien as discussed heavily by Creed, there is a strong Freudian, psychoanalytical examination taking place that relates the events and element in alien to the Oedipus complex or the attraction of a child to the opposite gendered parent. This is discussed in terms of the vagina with teeth, or the vaginal black hole correlating to the role of a mother and the reality of betrayal, instillation of fear, and castration. This mother aspect is represented through many characters and structures Creed writes. The positive mother role is fulfilled by Ripley, and initially, the computer generated AI, as creed describes the “birth” scene in the beginning as one of the primal scenes, where the crew is awakened inside a chamber , much like a womb. The computer generated AI, then does in fact betray the crew, playing of one of those primordial fears of motherdom. Another primal scene Creed writes about is that of Kane's gaze into in the womb, and his subsequent “giving of birth” through his torso, Creed points out two interesting elements to this scene, the first is that Kane is a man, not a woman, and he is thus punished with a brutal death after fulfilling (although unwillingly) the females role in procreation. The second part takes it further and points out how the creature coming out of the stomach relates to a freudian idea that some children believe babies are conceived through the mouth, thus going down to the stomach. As to why audienced have such a strong attraction to the films is a loaded question. I think as with anything, horror films are stimulation, they can elicit a strong chemical reaction, giving the viewer a flush of endorphins, adrenaline and the like. Viewers like the extreme feeling they can get at a horror film, as Creed talks about, that most likely, viewers cannot get anywhere else.
Alicia C Cruz
ReplyDeleteIn the Alien, the "mother" is perceived as a threat for several reasons. First being that the mother of the film is both the nurturing mother, the mother with whom "oneness" is desired and the archaic mother, the mother that seeks to devour everything around it; absorbing its offspring.
The "abject" is the duality of both the bad mother presented by the Alien in the film and the good mother portrayed as the character Ripley (S. Weaver). The duality created assures us of the different-ness of the human and the nonhuman.
According to Creed, the spectator derives both fear and pleasure from viewing horror film because of the fetishistic voyeurism that is derived from the sport of viewing the horrific and subsequently the viewer is punished for the act of doing so.
The primal scene as described by Freud is the episode of viewing one's own birth. The film Alien represents the primal scene in several instances in the film. Firstly represented in the beginning narration of the film where the camera explores the "womb-like" chambers of the ship and its support computer "Mother. The crew is then awakened from their sleep pods, which constitutes their birthing scene.
Another notable instance of the primal scene in the film Alien takes place when the baby alien emerges from the stomach of a crew member as the others look on. The crew member is impregnated by the mother and subsequently consumed by her.
Victor 319
ReplyDeleteTo be frank, the book's tendency to over complicate the mother is irritating and absurd. She's a threat because even if she's the only monster, she has the ability to make more. A father would be alone. But according to Creed, it seems that there's a basic mystery to a mother's unique role in things, and that seeing her power corrupted is disturbing to us at a basic level. The cold, overbearing mother that is the computer and the “evil vagina” alien mother contrast with Ripley as the protecting mother.
The Primal scene is that of the first facehugger encounter. From a Freudian viewpoint, it represents viewing conception, something both forbidden yet familiar. The familiarity, combined with the foreign setting and players, is what makes it a horror in the viewer's mind.
In contrast and connection with the fear is the physical pleasure of seeing the “good mother” undress, which is a manifestation of the Oedipus Complex.
Though I must now re-iterate, anyone who manages to over complicate the already fascinating and deep psychology and undertones of a film like this should get a nobel prize for services to pretension.
Sorry, but aspects of this class are starting to get to me.
Clarissa P. Ramos
ReplyDeleteFilm 301
The mother is perceived as a threat because she represents "the monstrousness of women's desire to have the phallus" (Creed 139). The significance of this is that women would have control in the process of reproduction. This idea defies the norms of science and poses a threat to the idea of women needing men to reproduce.The abject is the issue of the maternal figure and the reproduction process. This is what separates the humans and nonhumans because humans rely on both male and females to reproduce while the alien reproduced on its own.
The primal scene is the representation of birth. The movie Alien depicts the primal scene in a variety of ways. The significance of the primal scene in Alien is that the mother is not present during the births, Creed writes, "Although the mother figure does not appear in the sequences" (131). This is the key because it places the focus is on the offspring and their separation from the mother.
The film Alien draws fear from spectators because of the idea of the monstrous feminine, a woman that takes the role of a male. The self reproducing being becomes frightening because through this being the use of males becomes obsolete. This fear can be developed because we as humans rely on the idea of man and woman to reproduce. The thought of a self replicating being causes one to think of the scientific theory of evolution, that would it be possible to totally evolve to where a female would be able to reproduce.
Mothers are perceived as a threat for two reasons. First, mothers signify a monster “which threatens to give birth to equally horrific offspring.” Since mothers are givers of life, the only way for something horrible to come into existence is through birth, and therefore a mother. Secondly, “birth can only exist as the other face of death,” so while a mother gives life, she also takes it away.
ReplyDeleteThe human and non-human are shown in the “abject” by two different kinds of women and therefore “mothers.” Ripley is shown undressing in the final scene of the film, and her body is “the acceptable form and shape of a woman.” Further, she is “pleasurable and reassuring to look at” – as human women should be. The alien and spaceship computer represent the non-human monstrous woman: the “uncontrollable, generative, cannibalistic mother” and the “betrayer.”
The “primal scene” is when a child either sees or fantasizes about their parents having sex, but perceives it as a “monstrous act.” Alien presents several versions of the primal scene. The first it when Kane is impregnated by the alien. This particular scene also plays upon a common childhood misconception that babies are conceived through the mouth. A second version of the primal scene – this one representing birth – is when small pods are ejected from the “mother” ship, still attached by a lifeline (almost an umbilical cord).
Alien and other horror films present a kind of fetishism and play to a viewers voyeuristic desires. A viewer is tested to see how much of what is presented on screen they can view before having to look away in disgust or fear. The threat is that one might “be drawn into the place ‘where meaning collapses,’ the place of death.” This “near death experience” can create pleasure for some, and fear for others.
Sandra Figueira - Film 301
In the movie Alien, the “mother” is a threat because birthing means one’s own painful destruction. The birth – so to speak – also threatens sexual boundaries in the way that both men and women can take the place as mother to an alien offspring. I believe Creed was talking of the mother figure being an abject character in Alien and in other horror films. What is interesting is that Kane, a male character, gives birth to the first alien while that alien, also a male, has a slender, feminine physique with a phallic head containing a something similar to that of a toothed vagina.
ReplyDeleteThis leads to the many representations of the “primal scene” present in the film: Firstly, the opening of the film where the audience is led down corridors to the “womb-like chamber” where crew is “re-birth[ed]” by the Mother computer system. (129) Secondly, when the crew explores the planet, they – more or less – enter a womb-like chamber through an vaginal opening where they are met with rows of eggs. Lastly, in the final minutes of the film, the small escape pod and the alien are ejected into space; the alien still affixed to “the umbilical cord.” (130)
For Creed, an audience derives fear/pleasure from horror films because of the confrontations with death and the voyeuristic qualities involved in doing so. The audience is challenged to keep looking at the screen and face their own self-disintegration.
Joseph Michals – Film 319
According to Barbara Creed in the movie Alien the “mother” is perceived as a threat. The “mother” represents figures like the treacherous mother, the oral sadistic mother, and the mother as primordial abyss which create images of fear and the idea of the unknown in audiences. The fear is created when images like the all-devouring vagina and the toothed vagina are depicted into the aliens. This is portrayed in Alien because the “mother” uses males as hosts for the reproduction of their eggs. This threatens the male society in the fact that they die after the birth of the alien they are hosting. The concept of abject explains the unknown by securing the boundaries between the human and non-human through the concept of good and evil. The threat of evil and the human form the mother takes creates an evil and good image of the alien.
ReplyDeleteThe “primal scene “or the image of sexual reproduction and birth is shown in scenes throughout the movie Alien. Creed explains that the idea of sexual production between a male and female is discarded in the movie Alien. The first example of this would be in the opening scene when an alien is born, breaks out, of Kane’s chest. An example like this shows the difference between the human and non-human ways of reproduction. The audience derives both fear and pleasure from the mother figure in the movie Alien. The fear of death derives in the audience when the aliens are born; also the mother brings pleasure to the audience when she puts on her seductive act.
Alex Moehn Film 301
According to Creed the mother is perceived as a threat in the film Alien(1979), because she is associated with the primal scene of birth and death, she is presented as being treacherous, and sadistic as well as “the mother as the primoral abyss.” She is also in the film’s images of blood, as well as references to the toothed vagina. Also she is represented in the figure of the evil alien.
ReplyDeleteThe abject is a sort of good vs. evil scenario, with Ripley as the good mother and the alien mother as the portrait of threatening maternity portrayed throughout the film.
The primal scene is the scenario of copulation and birth. In Alien it is first presented as the inside of the mother ship, which has qualities similar to the inside of a whom. Also the way the astronauts emerge from their sleep pods is seen as a fantasy where the human is born fully developed. The second representation is when the crew members enter a hole in the ship within a “vaginal” opening. In the dark and cavernous inside they find hatching eggs. One of the creatures from an egg attacks the Kane character and penetrated his mouth to fertilize itself in his stomach. representing the primal scene as violent and monstrous.
The spectator can derive fear or pleasure from the horror film, from images of the archaic mother as a force that threatens to reincorporate what it once gave birth to. We associate death or darkness in horror films as a sort of returning to what we came from or a returning to oneness with the mother.
Joe Steigerwald 319
According to Barbara Creed the mother is perceived as a threat for a couple of reasons. First of all is her appearance is a very intimidating factor, which is a devouring and toothed vagina and she rebirths individuals back into the womb. She is perceived to be an unknown object, which at times can be more freighting. The “abject” is the fact that she appears to be a mother figure and a vicious alien. This shows the differences and boundaries of human and non-humans in Alien. The “primal scene” is when Kane is lowered down into the gigantic womb-like chamber in which rows of eggs are hatching. Kane touches one of eggs and the creature jumps out and fertilizes itself inside his stomach. This is considered to be the birth of the “alien”.
ReplyDeleteFilm 301
As Cornea points out, and Creed expounds on, the one of the biggest threats presented in sci fi regarding the feminine is the ability to procreate. However, as Creed writes, there is a significant emphasis presented in the Oedipal complex or, the fear that one’s mother will become one’s lover and the obsession surrounding that. In Aliens, Ripley is scene in both the mother surrogate role and later in the mother destruction role as she takes on Newt as her substitute child and later watches as the Alien/human hybrid is sucked from the womb of the space craft.
ReplyDeleteIn earlier sci fi most scientists are depicted in as males and science is typically a male oriented field. Creed writes, the fascination come from the mystery surrounding the womb. In Aliens all of the death sequences take place in “dimly lit, enclosed, threatening spaces reminiscent of the giant hatchery where Kane first encountered the pulsating egg.” (pg138) Here the womb is presented as a threatening space with the majority of its victims being male. It’s enjoyable because it deals heavily with the voyeuristic fetish of consuming and embodying what is female. That is, to procreate. As Cornea writes, “At the very least, a comparison based upon the use and adoption of generic codes suggests that powerful male protagonists in science fiction were often figured as threatened whereas the powerful female was frequently seen as threatening.” (pg 154)
film 319
The movie presents essentially three different "mother" figures: Ripley, the Alien and the "Mother" Computer. The scene of birth is observed many times throughout the film metaphorically when the crew is awakened from their sleep and literally when a new alien erupts from Kane's chest. The Mother is perceived as a threat because she not only gives life, but also has the power to take it away, as shown by all three mother characters. The primal scene is described as when Kane peers into the "womb" or egg compartment of the alien and becomes "impregnated" by the Alien. This is (according to Freud) reminiscent of all people's desire to go back to the womb.
ReplyDeleteThe abject is described as the battle between ripley (the good mother) and the alien (evil mother.) The movie represents the primal scene for the viewer by allowing the audience to vicariously live through the birth/death sequences of the characters without going through the experiences themselves. The movie ends with the "pleasurable" scene of Ripley undressing and this is juxtaposed with the Horrific, fetishistic Alien creature. This reassures the audience that this "mother" is pleasing and nurturing as she did save the cat. The movie instills fear in the audience as it reminds them of the destructive power that all mothers possess ( as we see with all 3 mothers are capable of throughout the film.)
Dave Nawrocki 301
The "Mother" Is perceived as a threat, because for so many people it is something completely unexperienced and also unknown. Going further, a great many people are completely ignorant to how birth happens, and so a grotesque rendering of birth is shown in such scenes as the chest bursting scene. To many men who don't know better, that is how they view child birth. The abject has its boundaries clearly set in the form of the good mother in Ripley, and the bad mother in the super computer. The main "Primal" scene in the movie is the part wherein Kane stares into the alien egg. It is primal according to Freuds theory that every boy imagines and sometimes longs for being back in the womb. It is one of our most primal instincts of wanting warmth, comfort, and shelter.
ReplyDeleteThe spectator gets fear/pleasure from viewing a horror film as a sort of catharsis. They go knowing that they are going to get frightened, but also knowing that they are in no imminent danger. They then feel that after facing the "danger", they have also braved their fears and completed some sort of test.
According to Barbara Creed the mother is seen as a threat because she is the driving force behind the destruction caused by the alien, Creed referred to it as the “phallic mother” wherein the mother has her male offspring do her evil work. She is centralized in the womb setting of the ship and her offspring come to her and get their love from her. The abject that I think could be seen in the film is the idea of the toothed vagina, or the destructive matriarch. As opposed to the “Mother” life force of the ship that takes care or “her” crew and helps guide them through space. It flies in the face of Ripley’s character that is pleasant and then is made to do destructive things in order to save her. In the film we have the human who is good and trying to get out alive and then we have the non-human female who is trying to kill and continue in the monotonous procreation that she does. The primal scene I believe is seen right in the beginning when we see the eggs. There is a primal interest in seeing these eggs and we are fascinated by the idea or birth and coition. We get to see then the result of that fascination when the man is impregnated and the alien is hatched. In other words we like to see sex and watch giving birth, it’s just natural. Barbara Creed made the point that the spectator may derive fear because each member of the crew met the alien in a scene of sheer terror of the idea that they may die by the hand of the alien. As an audience we love to be scared and love to have the idea of dying or making it out alive from the most repugnant of circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe mother is seen as a threat because she is taking away lives by giving birth and what she's giving birth to will take more lives. What is considered the abject of this situation is that both "mothers" are only doing the right thing by caring for their "children" for one it means the sacrifice of someone and for the other it will take care of the "child" at any cost.
ReplyDeleteThe most prominent primal image of the scene is where the crew enters the cavern that is shaped like a vagina and discovering these rows of eggs. There is this natural fixation on anything sexual in nature especially feminine sexuality.
Creed thinks the viewer gets a certain fear and simultaneously pleasure from horror films because they are in a position to vicariously face death and also be able to passively watch the adventures of the characters in the film.