Aliens Vs. Predator: Race and Gender Politics in Horror

In his 1981 book Danse Macabre, a treatise on the horror genre, Stephen King writes that horror stories hits us on two levels. There is the "on-top" level, where we are alternately trilled and grossed out by the gore. It's the exploitive pleasure, similar to rubber-necking a highway collision, and although we may be wracked by guilt, or bad-dreams... dammit we just can't help but look.

And then there is the "down-below" level, where the horror hits us in the deep dark places. For all our technological progress, North American society generally remains a tribe of Puritans, and we like to inhibit our psycho-sexual race consciousness as much as possible.

In other words, we like to keep things bottled-up. Much like Victorian Age Brits, we don't like to look too deeply at ourselves. Maybe this is why we generally feel like we're under so much pressure. The Apollonian outer image we present is sometimes at odds with the "down-below", truer Dionysian inner reality. Stephen King summarizes that the horror genre serves as a pressure valve to help us relieve that pressure every once in a while.

So what is it that we North Americans are so afraid of. Well, my friends, pull up an armchair, and sit with me as we (without benefit of degrees or training) psychoanalyze ourselves for a while. We shall begin by looking at the two most evocative horror villains of recent history: Aliens and Predators.

Gay Aliens From Outer Space

Ever look at an Alien? I mean really look at one. The Alien creature that was first introduced in 1979 in Ridley Scott's seminal science fiction masterpiece was designed by H.R. Giger. It's inspired by one of his earlier works, titled Necronom IV, reproduced here for your inspection:



I don't think that there's any overstating that the Alien (aka, "xenomorph" as it was called in James Cameron's sequel, Aliens) is essentially a seven foot bio mechanical penis. Let's also take a look at the key features in the creatures canonical lore:

• it reproduces by forcing an ovipositor down your throat (note the creature design... Giger based it on human hands, spine, vagina and testicles);
  
  



• after incubating inside a human host it "hatches" by forcing its phallic little body from inside your body;
  
  



• it's blood is deadly acid.

Hmmm, a horror story about forced oral-genetic rape from a toothed phallus with deadly blood... made just around the same time the AIDS epidemic was becoming known. Story creators Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett knowingly including these elements in the creature design for the express purpose of scaring the crap out of the males who fit the general demographic markers of a horror movie audience. You see, there's nothing the red-blooded North American males loves more than his own dick, and nothing scares him more than having to take somebody else's dick.

All this is known. I mean this is not a secret. And this is not in itself what makes the Aliens franchise special. Really, what resonates with us is not the villain, it's the villain juxtaposed with the hero. The Alien wouldn't be as evocative if it wasn't for Ellen Ripley as played by Sigourney Weaver. It is notable that in a genre dominated by muscle men, all perish at the hands of the Alien except a woman.

In the original 1979 movie, one scene that masterfully (and somewhat exploitively) displays the character's savvyness and vulnerability. In the closing minutes of the movie, Ripley slowly becomes aware that the Alien that decimated her crew has stowed away on her escape space vessel. The only way to get rid of it is to blow it out the main hatch using depressurization in the vacuum of space. The only way she can survive that is to don a pressurized space suit. So slowly, carefully, Ripley doffs her crew uniform in the presence of the malevolent creature (why? who cares?) so and dons the space suit in time to save herself.


So here it is: gender politics writ large. Gay sex and heterosexual titillation. Our nasty little sexual secrets, the things we don't like to discuss in polite company. But when it's shown on the big screen, we can't get enough.

The Universal Zulu Nation

In the 1987 film, Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a rag-tag bunch of mercenaries discover themselves in the South American jungle fighting a technically advanced, completely ruthless alien, who seems to be hunting humans and taking skulls and spines as trophies. The alien in question was designed by Stan Winston, based on a brief conversation with director James Cameron. (Coincidentally, Stan and James both had the opportunity to further the xenomorph design in Aliens.) James had the idea of the mandibles, but it was Stan who had the idea for the dreadlocks. And it's the dreadlocks I want to discuss, because of the statement it makes on the creature design, and the impact it has on the overall character traits.

The dreadlocks imply a race based on Caribbean/African cultures, a pastiche further reinforced by the tribal nature of the Predators. They are hunters and take trophies. They wear tribal markings and ornamentation on their flesh and armor. They are bred for strength and are physically larger, faster and stronger than humans. The weaponry they wield are based on spears, knives and bladed weapons. (Younger Predators are known to use guns and plasma blasters, but apparently according to canon, older, more experienced Predators look down upon that practice). The race is matriarchal, and employs rites of passages, the most well known being that only the most experienced of hunters make their way to Earth to hunt humans. Returning to the home planet with a human skull was a sign of great worth.



Does the Predator serve as a proxy for Earth based tribal warrior races? In my mind, I would consider it representative the most prevalent stereotypes of brown-skinned peoples. I find it an intriguing concept. Note, in the first movie Arnie mortally wounded the Predator creature, but did not kill it. It killed itself by activating its self-destruct mechanism, laughing all the way to the end of its life, satisfied that the Guv-nuh was denied credit for the final kill. In Predator 2, Danny Glover was the first human ever to fight and successfully kill a Predator. It is also notable that at the end of that movie, the Predator brethren recognize Mr. Glover's prowess by awarding him a Civil War era pistol, his very own trophy and a sign of grudging respect.

Requiem

Aliens and Predators have been around for over 20 years. The early movies from each franchise are significant, earning recognition from the esteemed American Film Institute. Later movies have provided diminishing creative returns. Based on the box office of the last two movies, combining the characters will continue to be financially profitable, although creatively limiting. Part of the reason is that the movies are not really scary anymore. They are not hitting our deep "down-below" spots as effectively.

Why? Maybe it's because we live in a society where gay folks can marry (at least up here in Canadaland... we love ya!), and a Black man is running a legitimate campaign for Presidency. I thing though, it could be attributed to other reasons. We have other things to fear.

What do we fear now? Let's look at today's horror movies. The Saw franchise doesn't quit, and ushered in a new genre called "torture-porn". In the movies I Am Legend and Cloverfield, we are destroying New York again and again, much like how Japan is always getting blown up by nuclear blasts in anime (seemingly strange for the only country attached with nuclear weapons).




In this, the Age of Terrorism, our fears have transmuted, and we have other things to bury deep down in the dark.

Review: The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs

First a digression...

Jasper Johns, the American artist, has created this following sculpture (the title escapes me):



A good friend of mine had a debate over this an other similar pieces of modern art. The subject of this debate was: "Does this really count as art?" The debate we had about this sculpture, which was very similar to the internal debate I have about the Bible, went something like this:

NOT ART:
For all intents and purposes this is nothing more than a few paintbrushes stuck in a paint can and covered with some sort of shellac. Anyone could do this, therefore it doesn't deserve any merit. It's nothing special, except to a bunch of people are attributing a whole lot of meaning about something that is inherently meaningless.

IS ART:
The sculpture has hidden significance. It shows that one can find meaning and relevance in the simplest items. It invites us to look beyond the literal to see that extraordinary beauty can be found within the ordinary. There is something special about the piece and we have to actively engage to appreciate the technique and discover the art.

The debate between my friend and I was never settled. My internal debate about the Bible continues still. One one hand the Bible seems to be a collection of rules, some practical (like the thou shalt not murder thing) but a lot of archaic, outmoded rules. Whenever I've attempted to read the text, I've been baffled by the language, and thus it's hard for me to find meaning from the words. Even Proverbs, my favorite book of the Bible can be incoherent in parts. On the other hand many folks derive a lot of meaning from the text. They see beauty in the language and can feel that the words carry some deeper spiritual significance.

So my desire to experience deeper meaning while not having to go through the hard work of reading the Bible is reason why I picked up the A.J. Jacobs' most recent book, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.



A.J. Jacobs is a bit of a "stunt-writer". His last book detailed his exploits of the year he spent reading all 32 volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He participated in an experiment inviting the Wikipedia community to edit one of his intentionally error-ridden articles. Personally, I think he's a bit crazy, but there's no denying that the man has impressive commitment. And you gotta admire his elan. A lot of people nowadays have been crowing about the literal word of God, but really, has anyone had the gumption to actually try living his or her live in accordance to Biblical rule? I mean the literal wording of each rule? Not just the Ten Commandments, mind you... the crazy ones too!

Jacobs did for one year. He didn't shave for a year because there is a rule in the book of Leviticus that bars a man from trimming the corners of his beard. He stoned an adulterer in Central Park. He didn't wear mixed fibres and wore fringes on his clothes. He sacrificed an animal. He wore white. He refrained from marrying his wife's sister (she doesn't have one, so that was easy).

During that year, Jacobs also met with men and women from many different faiths who claim to live the literal word of God, including Jewish rabbis, members of the Amish community, evangelical Christians, and folks the evangelicals considered way too conservative. It's a charming story, sometimes quite funny and refreshingly open-minded and even-handed. To be fair, I think the term "stunt-writing" might be a disservice to the author, because his motives were genuine. He, like the rest of us, is searching for meaning, and ultimately his journey may prove to be quite illuminating to all "people of faith" (or even to those "without faith"... Atheists, Agnostics, Scientologists and those of similar ilk).

SPOILER ALERT
At the end of the book, Jacobs come to realize two very significant points:

1) No one lives the literal word of God. People may claim they do, but they don't. They pick and choose like the rest of us.

2) Who says the Bible is the final word of God? For all we know, God has whispered in the ears of other writers, artists, musicians, dancers, mimes, TV producers... (okay, maybe not TV producers, because they are obviously Satan's lackeys).

These two points really resonate with me and I'm glad Jacobs had the balls to vet them, 'cause I certainly would not have done what he did.

God bless.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Quite often, when stand-up comedians write books, they are rarely auto-biographies. Rather, they are reprints of their most famous routines, which are enjoyable to read at first, but as the book ends, you realize you really haven't learned much about the subject. And quite frankly, there are very few comedians I would think would have the kind of self-awareness and integrity to write a proper, warts-and-all, autobiography. I mean, really who would want a fucking memoir by Carlos Mencia?



Funny, well-crafted, minimalist and absurd. If I had to describe Steve Martin's auto-biography, Born Standing Up, in one sentence... well.. there you go. My wife and I are fans of his novels Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Own Company. We found that the best way to enjoy either of those books is via book-on-tape, read by the author.

It's strange that I am a Steve Martin fan, because I really don't enjoy his stand-up. I'm not from that era of comedy. I grew up in the Eddie Murphy Era. The Steve Martin Era of comedy is just slightly before my time.



On the other hand his movies, writing and TV show appearances are enjoyable. Generally, when I view, read or listen to a Steve Martin performance, I can trust it will be quality entertainment. It's obvious the man works hard at his craft, and takes is seriously. He is economical in his gestures. He can be surreal but still dances within the limits of comprehension. Also he's maintained a sense of integrity that his peers have somehow lost. For example, Billy Crytal started funny and charming, and ended up boorish and pompous. Monty Python started out unique and daring and now have sold out to a degree that cannot be justified even by their self-awareness. Steve Martin on the other hand just writes his books and makes his movies and I still remain a fan.

This is all to say that Born Standing Up is a great book and is a quite enjoyable read. As good as the book is, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the book-on-tape version, read by the author is probably the better purchase.

Buffy Blogcast - Issue 1 (In which we welcome old friends to a new medium)

In the spirit of the Buffy Buffcast at www.geekshow.us and Scott Tipton's great Comics 101, I've decided to write my own Buffy 'blog. I will be providing a rundown of the new, highly coveted, best-selling canonical series of Buffy comics, colloquially known as "Buffy Season 8". And by full rundown I will be discussing the issue arcs in detail, which necessarily mean... spoilers.

In Defense of Spoilers: Spoilers often get a bad rap because many folks think they ruin climactic surprises. I've waited this long to write this 'blog in the hope that most Buffy fans have already read the first two comic arcs and are well familiar with the material. For the rest of you, maybe you're like my wife, Teresa, who loves Buffy, but is not a real comic book fan. Or maybe you're not a real big Buffy fan at all. Well, perhaps a blog like this is for you (well, not really, but read it anyways). Please, feel free to comment on this blog, but you are hereby forewarned that I will be discussing spoilers, so no whining! 'Kay? 'kay...

Buffy Season 8 - Episode 1, The Long Way Home, Part 1.

When last we left the Sunnydale gang, Sunnydale was no more. The town was completely destroyed in a climactic battle with the First Evil. The Watcher's Council was blow'ded-up, along centuries worth of information on the demon world. All seemed lost, but Buffy, with significant help from (sometimes evil) uberwitch, Willow, was able to activate all the Potentials into full fledged Slayers, with all the attendant superpowers. Thus the worldwide Slayer population grew from two to nearly two thousand. The Sunnydale Hellmouth was destroyed, taking the whole town with it. When the TV series ended, we Buffy fans wondered for years at the possibility of a world full of Slayers. Finally, Joss Whedon and Dark Horse Comics decided to show us that world.

That world kinda kicks ass!

The Long Way Home is first arc of Buffy Season 8, and it starts in classic Buffy style, with a fight. We quickly learn some info: Buffy and the Scoobies have started tracking down the new Slayers and have organized them into battle squads. Two of the new Slayers are impersonating Buffy, one in partying in Italy and the other "deep underground". Some say for security reasons, but really because Giles and Andrew think it's funny to mess with Angel and Spike (see Angel season 5 episode "The Girl In Question" to make sense of that remark).

Presumably, Buffy and the survivors of the destruction of the Sunnydale Hellmouth are the new battle squad leaders. Somehow, somewhere the gang have acquired some new technology, weaponry and hardware, and now fight demons on a global scale. Tactically, this makes sense, but unfortunately, the new Slayer organization looks like a collection of terrorist cells, especially to the US military. (I'm also not sure how they can now afford resources such as battle helicopters and body armor).

We gradually get updated on the activities some of the rest of the Scooby Gang. After taking a brief sabbatical to Africa to hunt down the history of the First Slayer, Xander now is Buffy's acting Watcher. He monitors the worldwide Slayer activities from a castle stronghold in Scotland, outfitted with the best technological and magical monitoring systems available. As busy as he is, he still has time to flirt with Renee, a new Slayer and analyst in the Scotland Ops Center.

The opening battle scene indicates that Buffy's squad of Slayers (Leah, Satsu and an un-named Slavic speaking girl I'll call "Greta") are generally effective, but are mostly inexperienced, as Buffy spends as much time worrying about their reactions to demons and dead bodies as she does fighting. One benefit to the comics medium is that the fight scenes can easily offer a more dynamic aspect as compared to the TV show, and the demons can be drawn larger and scarier (there's only so many times you can do "man-in-a-suit" demons).


Also, the comic is a bit more gorier than the TV show. Buffy's team defeats the demons, but human bodies are found on the scene, already dead and scarred with a strange star and rising sun symbol on their chests. As Buffy discusses this mystery with her team, she does not see the un-identified, booted person floating in the air, serenely keeping watch.

Cut to the former Sunnydale:

It seems that the US Military is investigating the remains of Buffy's home town. In a scene reminiscent of the movie Alien, the military team discovers something really gruesome living underground in the center of the Sunnydale/Hellmouth crater.

Cut back to Scotland:

After a post-battle briefing with Xander, Buffy checks in on Dawn. We notice that the relationship between Dawn and Buffy is terribly strained, a consequence that has been developing since the Sunnydale days. They hardly can speak to each other without drawing verbal barbs. Also complicating matters: Dawn in a giant, an affliction that is suggested to be a result of her "dating" a "thricewise" (which according to Whendoesque.com, refers to a giant of Norse mythology), in lieu of studying at Berkely. Dawn refuses to divulge to Buffy the events leading to her current state, preferring instead to speak with Willow (whereabouts currently unknown). The conversation between Dawn and Buffy is equal parts funny and sad.


Oh yeah, Buffy misses her mom, her friends, churros and sex.

Cut to a military complex where General Voll, the leader of the Sunnydale crater investigation team, is reacting with horror to something in a holding cell. Something unseen by the reader.

The General is briefed that two subjects were found in the crater ruins, and that Subject 1 was keeping Subject 2 (the unseen horror) alive after the Hellmouth went kaput. The military analysts think that Subjects 1 and 2 were fed on other Sunnydale survivors. General Voll is grossed out even further when it is revealed that Subject 2 is Subject 1's "boyfriend". He asks the analyst if the Subjects had the decency to go insane. No such luck. He answers, "Unstable, but surprisingly coherent."

As they make their way to another holding cell, the General is informed that Subject 1's first words to the investigation team were: "I'm gonna help you kill her." Presumably a reference to Buffy. Turn the page for the first big reveal of the series. Subject 1 is Amy Madison.

Here endeth the issue...

I for one was pleased to see Amy the Witch again, since I've always had a soft spot for that character for no other reason than I always thought the actress who portrayed her had a hot bod. Also Amy's been around since Buffy Season 1, Episode 2, so she's got history. The character of Subject 2 remains a mystery though. Could it be an old Big Bad?

So far, I'm impressed by the series artwork. Penciller Georges Jeanty has captured the key distinguishing characteristics of the main characters, but is not slavishly reproducing the expressions of the actors. Rather he's hitting the right tone of familiarity and embellishment. Story-wise, the first issue is promising. I've seen better comics scripting from Joss Whedon from his Astonishing X-Men series, but since this is the first issue of a lenghty overall arc, I am just plain happy he's writing Buffy again. Can't wait to see the fates of the other Scoobies.

Blogcast Contest
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! As the name of this 'blog will attest, I have trouble with titles. Therefore I'm holding a contest for a name for my regular 'blog on the Buffy Season 8 comics. Please send in suggestions to my email address "alikufogo at yahoo dot com". Submissions are due by Thursday, January 31, 2008. The winning entry will receive a free bagged and boarded copy of Astonishing X-Men Issue No. 23, penned by Joss Whedon and artwork by John Cassaday, so remember to include your mailing address in the entry.

Christmas Gift Wrap-Up - 2007

As per Jenni's request, I will do a brief Christmas Gift Wrap-Up. I was happy to receive a great haul this year, starting with:

Games:

Jenni and Eric hooked us up with Puerto Rico, a really cool empire building game from Rio Grande Games. I've been playing with family and friends over the holidays and am really enjoying this game.





Books





Teresa surprised me with a copy of Miss Lou's Anancy book, which, upon receipt, I read aloud for about an hour straight. Gillian gave me Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Connie and Geoff also sent me a copy of Neverwhere, but they included a gift receipt, which I used (along with a Chapter's gift card) to get Steve Martin's autobiography, Born Standing Up.



Connie and Geoff rounded out the gift giving with a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys (British Edition, yay!) and Cook's Illustrated's Grilling and Barbecue cookbook. Armed with more gift cards, I purchased myself a copy of Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do. I'm looking forward to some heavy reading this year!

Movies



My brother, Ngai, hooked me up with a copy of Superbad and Michel Gondry's first collection of music videos. Again, armed with gift cards, I treated myself to a few special picks including White Stripes's Under Blackpool Lights, Titanic (which Jenni has not viewed due to her irrational dislike of Leo Dicaprio from his Growing Pains days, tsk, tsk... silly Jenni...), Godfather II (a replacement of a previously lost copy) and Notting Hill (the only Hugh Grant rom-com I like enough to watch more than once).



The Special Gifts

Like I said, I got a nice haul this Christmas, but I received two truly special gifts. The first one is art from Ngai for my future "movie room". Ngai is the family artist and he made this piece for me, a collage of cool movie posters and variant one-sheets.



And Teresa got me a... sword!!! Yay!



A genuine katana! Plus, Paul showed us this cool colour isolating feature on our digicam, so my gifts look even cooler!