The spacecraft Nostromo and its crew are returning to Earth, when they respond to a distress signal with disastrous consequences. There are worthy feminist elements here, not least the rather phallic Alien ultimately being overpowered by a strong woman.

The Alien series which came out of the egg in 1979 lasts its long vitality for 40 years going through the ‘original tetralogy of Alien’ from 1979 to 1997, Prometheus rebooting the series in confidence in 2012, Alien: Covenant finally presenting the title of Alien in 2017 and up to the Alien: Awakening known as Alien: Covenant prequel waiting for release in 2019. Alien series was handed the baton of ‘Space age’ big-hit Hollywood movies which had started in 1970s. Its influence on SF movie history is beyond measure. In those lots of influence and legacies it left, the character ‘Ripley’ performed by Sigourney Weaver can be the one which is most peerless and fabulous as much as no-one could touch. Ripley is the strong feminist hero and eulogized as a role model of modern Amazon, on the other hand, it is also regarded Ripley as ‘A muscular mutant injecting testosterone into woman body’, not as a just ‘woman’. The setting in sequel emphasizing Ripley’s motherhood was the attempt of silencing these criticisms. However, Ripley in Alien by Ridley Scott is a leader who makes reasonable decision, rational scientist, outstanding survivor and a woman. This point is very important. A woman as a hero being free from the dichotomous idea about the stereotype of masculinity and femininity. Ripley born 40 years ago is close to ideal image that female characters in 2018 want to reach. This fact arouses strong desire toward the great female character. (PARK Hye-eun)