Sigourney Weaver On Why She Chose the Role of Ellen Ripley

Ellen Ripley: Have Horror/Sci-Fi Heroines Evolved Since the Release of Alien?

• Released in 1979, the first installment of the successful sci-fi/horror franchise was directed by a then  unknown Ridley Scott. The story begins with the crew of a commercial deep space mining ship heading back to planet Earth. The ship receives an S.O.S. from a nearby minor planet and they venture out to investigate. Along with her crew, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (played by newcomer Sigourney Weaver) discover the signal is coming from an abandoned alien spacecraft. While investigating the signal within the spacecraft, the crew discovers the signal was intended as a warning, and not an SOS. Soon after, the crew come across a room full of mysterious looking eggs. One of the eggs releases a creature that attaches itself to a crew member, an event that proves fatal. Eventually, it is brought to the crew's attention that an alien was forming inside the now deceased crew member. Now in danger far from their home base Earth they must figure out how to stay alive. One by one each member of the ship falls prey to the now full grown alien with the exception of Ellen Ripley who finds herself to be the "last man standing" as a result of her focus, self reliance and determination to survive and dominate the savage alien. 

Part I: The story and character of Ripley

• The character of Ellen Ripley became a breakthrough figure for women in horror and sci-fi films. Until 1979, women in horror and science fiction movies were depicted almost exclusively as bimbos, sex objects or hysterical prey.
  
  
  With the exception of John Carpenter's Halloween, which was released less than a year before Alien, women in horror and sci-fi movies rarely survived and if they did make it to the end, their dignity was compromised in one way or the other. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley was also the first female protagonist to lead a movie into a series of sequels. If not for her, we may not have female driven successions such as the Scream movies, the Resident Evils or the Underworld series.





Another reason why the character is almost peerless is that Ellen is not defined by her femininity, in fact her character was originally written for a male actor. When Weaver auditioned they decided to make Ripley a woman, but not change anything in the script far as gender was concerned. This progression of events helped create a female lead that was not motivated by female cliche. She didn't depend on a man for love or work, she was not defined by motherhood, she was not on a personal mission to impress a father figure; she was a woman doing her job and fighting to make it out alive. She also does not possess supernatural powers of any kind. Though she is in a interstellar setting, she is a flesh and blood human only working off of her mind and body to help her survive.
Ripley as a movie icon is often placed high on numerous lists for Best Character in Horror, Science Fiction or All-Time in general. 

Part II: Post-Ripley

  The female presence in movies in a post-Ripley world are better for her having existed, but have not quite attained the same intent and quality. RIpley has indeed raised the bar for women in not only the fantasy genres, but for all genres. She has changed the game for female characters, they no longer have to make their roles relatable by their sex, but as their role as the protagonist in their story. Still, with the progression in female roles there is still a place that feels the need to artlessly announce a female as a lead protagonist. She can be the commander of an army, but her bust line must compete with her ambition and skill set. She can easily slay vampire after vampire with only her stealthy mind to protect her, but once  she's done with that she's going to go cry herself to sleep about her boyfriend who won't return her phone calls. 

  In his weekly column, film critic Roger Ebert commented on the impact of Alien and it's lead character, "The 1979 Alien is a much more cerebral movie than its sequels and imitators, with the characters (and the audience) genuinely engaged in curiosity about this weirdest of lifeforms...Unfortunately, the films it influenced studied its thrills but not its thinking."