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.