Xenomorphs and Xenophobia

Ever since a group of European immigrants decided to form the United States of America, a distinction has been drawn between the American citizen and the outsider, with the outsider portrayed as the enemy. As a way to fuel xenophobia and pass anti-immigration measures, Americans have historically and continually portrayed immigrants as violent criminals, traffickers, and rapists bent on destroying the country and hurting American citizens. Ridley Scott’s Alien is a portrayal of Americans’ fear of immigrants and immigrant invasion and a statement about our assumptions of foreigners.

The alien race of xenomorphs are mindlessly violent beasts, forcibly impregnate a crew member, and act both literally and metaphorically as a parasite, destroying the ship and the crew from the inside out. The film uses the xenomorph race to parallel an immigrant invasion and gives the message that immigration has inherent dangers and that the only way to ensure safety is to focus on security and restrict immigration.

Throughout American history, many groups have been singled out as potential ‘threats’ to the country, and the rhetoric used to justify this exclusion follows a similar pattern.

In 1882, the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, suspending immigration from China to the US for ten years. The reasons were largely based on stereotypes about Chinese workers being “degraded, exotic, dangerous” (Wu). Around that same period, Irish immigrants faced much of the same prejudice and were portrayed in a degrading fashion. An 1882 political cartoon portrays “the most recently discovered wild beast”, a ghastly-looking creature with hooves and a tail, being held in a cage labeled “Irish-American dynamite skunk” (Picturing History).

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By dehumanizing certain nationalities and racial groups, American propaganda has been able to portray the immigrant as an inhuman creature who knows only violence. The xenomorph race in Alien is mindlessly violent. In the film, Ash says about the species, “Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility… I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality(Scott).” Ash is remarking upon how the species seems to have no moral compass or greater purpose than to kill. As a robot, he admires the species because they are similar to him – not guided by conscience or emotion. The cold and calculated violence and destruction of the aliens parallel our worst fears of immigrant invasion. By fearing and assuming the worst about outsiders, as Ripley did about the aliens, we can keep ourselves safe from a potential invasion. By showing the potential consequences of outsiders, the movie pushes this agenda of anti-immigration and pro-isolationism sentiment

Americans fear not only violence but superior strength and skill that could dominate US citizens. Sen. Miller, a proponent of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, said that Chinese workers were, “machine-like…of obtuse nerve, but little affected by heat or cold, wiry, sinewy, with muscles of iron” (Wu). Similarly, the xenomorphs are stronger than humans and have special abilities, like acidic blood, that humans do not possess. Both the fears of immigrant violence and immigrant overtaking by superiority rely on stripping humanity away from immigrants. From portraying them as outsiders with strange customs and ways of life to calling illegal immigrants ‘aliens’, much of the rhetoric around immigration focuses on removing humanity from certain national or ethnic groups. In Alien, the xenomorphs are given very little screen time in comparison to the humans, even though they are the movie’s main antagonist. This choice emphasizes the fear of the aliens as well as the fear of the unknown and the fear of the other. The aliens are also very one-dimensional, in contrast to the crewmembers, who all are multifaceted and complex. Similarly, large racial and ethnic groups were ascribed to one-dimensional stereotypes to portray them as a threat and take away the individuals’ humanity.

In addition to violence, another attribute ascribed to immigrant populations has been rape and sexual violence. In 2015, while on the campaign trail, President Trump said about Mexican immigration to the US, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists” (Lee). In Alien, the facehugger parallels a sexual predator by forcing itself into Kane through an oral rape and forcibly impregnating him. In addition, the alien is always referred to as a male, even though it doesn’t show any of the human characteristics of sexual dimorphism. However, the alien displays many of the negative characteristics that we ascribe to masculinity: aggression, violence, and lack of emotions. Its head shape is also quite phallic in shape, as it is long and cylindrical. The aliens, in essence, represent a fear of violent male immigrants that has been used as a propaganda tool throughout much of American history.

The final aspect of anti-immigration sentiment shown in Alien is the fear of infiltration and stolen resources. For as long as the United States has been an established country, citizens have worried that an increase in immigration will mean fewer jobs and social programs for American citizens. In 1800, founding father John Adams wrote on the subject of employing public officials, “Among the number of applications…, cannot we find an American capable and worthy of the trust? …Why should we take the bread out of the mouths of our children and give it to strangers?” (FAIRUS) This idea that American exceptionalism is threatened by a hostile invasion is paralleled in Alien, where most of the crew is killed by a single xenomorph, showing that they are much stronger than the humans. Another common fear about immigrants is that they will steal resources, such as welfare and other social programs, from American citizens. In Alien, the xenomorph both literally and metaphorically acts as a parasite, destroying the crew and its members from the inside out. The most literal example of this is with the facehugger, who attaches itself to Kane and uses his body as a host. In a broad sense, the xenomorph destroys almost everything in the ship, from most of the crew to all of the supplies and resources aboard the main ship. The alien also has an economic impact on the crew and the company. Although it is not clear what cargo the crew is bringing back to Earth, it has a lot of value, as the crewmembers argue about how the profit will be divided. Fear of economic loss has always been a primary reason for restricting immigration, as Americans worry about losing their jobs or about the impact of immigrants on social programs. The alien drains the ship of its crew, its resources, and its value, which parallels a fear of immigrant invasion hurting the US economy and people.

On the surface level, Alien is a fun and fast-paced action and adventure movie. However, at a deeper level, the movie portrays many of our deepest fears about the other. This is part of why the movie remains a classic decades later. Historically and in the present day, Americans have used this fear to justify xenophobia. We have created an idea of the evil immigrant: a violent, aggressive sexual predator that will steal our country’s resources and destroy the economy. Whether intentional or not, Alien portrays this caricature of the xenomorph race. The movie in many ways confirms our worst fears about immigrants. It shows us all the potential consequences of open borders, such as violence, rape, and economic loss. The movie’s message is that isolationism is the only way to ensure security – that we must fear the worst from outsiders to ensure domestic security.

Sources

1. Lee, Michelle Ye Hee. “Donald Trump’s False Comments Connecting Mexican Immigrants and Crime.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 July 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-Mexica-immigrants-and-crime/?utm_term=.380d51e20c69.
2. “Quotes from Historical Figures.” Federation for American Immigration Reform, www.fairus.org/issue/legal-immigration/quotes-historical-figures.
3. “The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast.” Picturing History, 3 Aug. 2016, picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WildBeast-hires.png.
4. Wu, Yuning. “Chinese Exclusion Act.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 May 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-Exclusion-Act.