Aliens - Purpose

ALIENS is a Five Act story. The inciting incident is the climax of the first Act, when Ripley accepts the offer (The Call to Adventure) to go back to LV-426. Her desire is to REBUILD HER LIFE, with antagonism coming from the aliens without, within society the doubts of marines to her usefulness and the resistance of newt to trusting another, and her fear of the aliens within.

What Ripley NEEDS is a others to achieve for – she finds it in Newt (she lost this with her daughter at the beginning of the film) and the marines. Newt, in particular, solidifies her resolve and strength through a parent-child relationship.

The Controlling Idea is something like, “When we find love and respect with others, we have the strength to overcome tragedy, fight evil, and rebuild our lives.”

Who hasn’t been hurt? Ripley is in a highly empathetic scenario in the beginning, and her struggle to become leader, which she doesn’t seek, makes her rise to leadership empathetic too. Who doesn’t have a leader within them, when everyone around them is failing and desperate, all but calling for a champion?

Until the sequence climax when the marines are first defeated, curiosity plays a big role in the slow-paced, building narrative structure. But after this, Empathy and curiosity shift not to “what’s going on?” but to “how will Ripley get out of this?” Come crisis, when she empathetically decides to risk herself for a loved one, our curiosity turns to “Can she save Newt and make it out alive?”  

The answers turns out to be yes, but then when the queen returns, we have to know- “Can Ripley earn the peace she and Newt deserve?”

The film does an excellent job keeping interest throughout. Though it may fail in the profundity of its controlling message, at its core being about good guys winning and wishes being fulfilled, Fuck if this movie doesn’t keep the audience in rapt attention and suspense, ending with a very satisfying ending.

-D. Elliot Lamb