To counter my own bonkers work on film, it is good to see that mates in the pub can come up with equally out there theses. Last night in pub number two I was presented with the Alien / Pubic Hair debate. Said friend of mine had watched the Alien Quadrilogy (yes, yes we know its not a real word) and made the observeation that as the sequence proceeds Ripley has less and less pubic hair. Citing the infallible reference of a long nights drinking, she proceeded to suggest this potentially due to one of the following:
a) The development in Brazilian and other forms of hair removal from the late seventies to the mid nineties and changes in preferences for what is deemed sexy
b) A statement on the desexualization of Ripley as a character
I did not want to rain on her parade, but since Alien 3 she also has all her bonce hair shaved off it is unsurprising that she is shorn down below. In Alien: Resurection it is not really Ripley at all, who knows how much pubic hair half human half aliang clones have? Still, I dutifully followed the theory up by flicking through the David Thompson Alien book, which has an equally interesting theory regarding the films and politics. namely each film can be read as an image of the presidency in place when the film was made. Hence individualistic horror alien is the Carter years, militaristic Aliens is obviously a view of Reaganite worldpolitick. And Alien 3? With its police state prison setting it is a view of Bush Snr. Alien 3 is now also notable for its lack of – bush. It all made sense when I was drunk.