Ripley's Depiction Of 'Final Girls In Alien'

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Women are believed to be weak beings, but when the unknown occurs, they come out and dominate. The females that survive the outrage or extreme killing of a monstrous creature are known as “final girls”. There are various types of these final girls depending on the time periods in which they originate from. The final girls from the 1970s era can be seen as being saved by chance and also their ability to run and scream when being faced by the monster. From the 1980s, the final girls are strong, have the characteristics of men, and take the leading role in their hands. In the movie Alien, which was made in 1979, the final girl, Ripley, can be recognized to come from the 1970s and 80s era’s, however, we can view her as both types of final girls.…show more content…
When Captain Dallas dies, Ripley takes over. She ends up surviving by setting the ship on self destruct and defeating the alien while returning to earth on a shuttle. We can see final girls, such as Ripley, are strong beings, emotionally and physically, and can handle tough situations smoothly when they get put into them. The way she deals with the whole situation can be perceived as a 1970s or a 1980s final girl. First of all, in the “Final Girls and Terrible Youth” essay, Trencansky describes the 1970s final girls as women who run away, scream and hide when they come face to face with the monster (64). As Trencansky says it, they “usually survived seemingly at random, based on their ability to scream, run, and avoid the pursuing monster”(64). This quote is true to a certain extent, to that Ripley does run and scream quite often when the alien approaches. At one point in the movie near the end when there was no survivors left besides Ripley, she encounters the monster first…show more content…
This is almost exactly how Ripley handles her situation that she is put into. When she finally leaves the main ship as the last survivor, the alien has already escaped on shuttle before her. She quickly takes notice and puts on a spacesuit in precaution only if she did end up having to depart from the shuttle into space away from the alien, all the while she quickly formulates a plan. She eventually sends the alien off into space, killing it immediately. This shows her great ability to think instantaneously in the moment, to find a working solution to get rid of the monster and come out alive. These types of girls are also a “new generation of final girls [that is] notable for its unflinching determination and strength”(Trencansky 64). With this in mind that Ripley finally defeated the monster, it has showed us how she has this immeasurable strength and determination to dominate. These characteristics that are presented in Ripley are all described as how a final girl from the 1980s
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