The Ministry of Film

Alien (1979)


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Carolina and Robin celebrate ONE WHOLE YEAR of The Ministry of Film with Ridley Scott's 'oh-god-the-terror-of-childbirth' haunted-house Halloween special Alien (1979). 

Politics include: the insane gender dynamics of a film about motherhood, domestic violence and female revenge in the context of a monster flick in space; how this film is sort of about 16th-century colonial ships; and how the Weyland Yutani Corporation is the perfect allegory for rapacious capitalism and labour uprisings.

Plus a xenomorph with a penis head. 

You will want to read more because oh boy:

  • That 2h BTS documentary about the making of Alien: 'The Beast Within'
  • Eleanor Johnson's brilliant Substack essay about how we could interpret the film as being about the Alien, and humans as the deadly colonisers: 'Speaking the Monster'
  • Go deep into the theory of capitalism as an unstoppable, amoral beast in 'On the reproduction of capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses' by Louis Althusser

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The Ministry of FilmBy Carolina and Robin