Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley [Paperback]

Alien Woman examines the construction of sex and gender in the four science-fiction films comprising the Alien saga (starring Sigourney Weaver). The Alien saga stands alone in presenting an enduring, self-reliant female protagonist, Ripley, who in the first film ends up as the sole survivor of the beleaguered starship Nostromo. Subsequent writers and directors in the 1980s and 1990s, left to grapple with this strong female protagonist, reenvision Ripley for different social, political, and cultural imperatives for women. Alien Woman focuses on how these writers and directors have re-written Ripley and how each revision informs our understanding of women in science fiction. And by examining the films' creation and commodification of the female hero, the books illustrates how changing attitudes toward women and the female body help us understand broader societal beliefs and relationships, and provides a useful lens with which to understand woman's place in the late 20th century and early 21st century.

 Alien Woman is a truly fascinating analysis of the relationship/ conflict between the female protagonist Lt. Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, and the monstrous feminine Alien throughout the Alien saga...Insightful scene-by-scene analysis reveals race, gender, and class distinctions operating in each of the four Alien films....Alien Woman is a celebration of the new found light in discussion of gender, sex, and the female body in science fiction film studies. The authors display a vast awareness of the science fiction film genre and present the material in digetible chunks....the notes and bibliography provide more than ample theoretical reference for further study. --Stella Williams, Reconstruction Stella Willaims,Blurb from reviewer

 By examining the films' crlc