Misunderstood Monsters: In Space, No One Can Hear the Scream for Acceptance from ALIEN RESURRECTION’s Newborn
By Matt Konopka
Welcome fellow monster kids to Misunderstood Monsters. This is where I, Matt Konopka, sink my fangs into all sorts of beasts, ghouls, and creatures from above while I search for the humanity behind their frightening exteriors. From monster favorites such as The Wolf Man to obscure monsters like the whistling Shadmock, there is more to these fiends than bad hair days and gooey tentacles. Within them all is a piece of ourselves.
Everyone’s chest is bursting for Alien again. The latest sequel/prequel, Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, has infected the public with xenomorph fever once more, encouraging us all to marathon the franchise that taught audiences in space, no one can hear you scream. Spawned over forty years ago from the mind of creature designer H.R. Giger, the alien remains one of horror’s most vicious creations. A humanoid parasite representing our worst fears regarding reproductivity, it hasn’t exactly enjoyed a similar empathy towards the genre’s more tragic monsters such as Frankenstein’s Monster or The Wolf Man. No, over four-plus decades and nine films (if you include the AVPs), it would be fair to say viewers have sighed in relief or even cheered at every demise met by the insectile spawn. Well, almost. In all that time and through all those films, there has been one single instance where you could argue an alien has earned our hearts, if only for the briefest of moments. I’m talking about The Newborn from 1997’s Alien: Resurrection.
Looking to, erm…resurrect…the franchise and convincing series star Sigourney Weaver to reprise her role as Ripley by driving a “dump truck full of money” to her house, as she described it, Twentieth Century Fox brought on director Jean-Pierre Jeunet to helm Alien: Resurrection. In it, Ripley is cloned on a military ship by using cells recovered from Fiorina 161, where she met a tragic fate in Alien³ (1992). When aliens birthed from the Queen Alien and ripped out of Ripley 8 (as she’s dubbed) escape, she teams with a crew of space pirates to stop the vessel from reaching Earth.
Known as “the weird one,” perhaps the weirdest moment in Alien: Resurrection arrives in the introduction of The Newborn, a half-alien, half-human hybrid birthed from the Queen Alien as a “gift” for Ripley (like I said, this is the weird one). Designed by Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated (ADI), the towering creature appears like a bone-yellow, skeletal version of its brethren with one key difference: it has a face. Eyes. Nose. A more human mouth. It can express anger. Joy. Sadness. It is, on one hand, a fearsome abomination, and on the other, a strangely sympathetic creature that we can’t help but feel a little sorry for. Not just because of the brutal fate it meets — more on that in a moment — but because of what it is.
Alien: Resurrection’s Newborn is an outsider yearning for the love of family.
Though scientist Gediman (Brad Dourif) may refer to The Newborn as a “beautiful butterfly,” his opinion stands alone amongst a cast of characters who would sooner burn the thing with fire than bear looking at it for another second. It is too human for the xenomorphs, tearing the face off the Queen. And it is too alien for the humans, all of whom see it as only a monster. Not that we can blame them. The Newborn kills quite a few people during its short screen-time — including its only admirer in Gediman — and it has a mean streak to match Call’s (Winona Ryder), invading the gunshot wound in her body with its bony fingers. But the thing that we and the others may forget in the presence of such a monster is that The Newborn is exactly that. It is baby.
When we’re first born, it is only natural that we desire the love and attention of our parents. My own parents have one too many embarrassing videos of myself as a baby screaming and crying every time my mother left my sight. I didn’t earn the title of Momma’s Boy for nothing. The Newborn is no different. It sees Ripley 8 as its mother, because she is the only one like it, a hybrid herself. With her, it believes it has found a family. It would do anything for Ripley 8. Still seeing the world through infant eyes, it has no concept of right or wrong but wants only to please her. After all, it leaves Call alone the moment Ripley 8 reprimands it. It purrs with her embrace. Unlike the rest of the alien species, The Newborn carries a bit of humanity in its genes. And at its core is the most human of needs. A parent. A family. Acceptance.
The world is cruel and humans fear what they don’t understand, thus The Newborn never had a chance. By appearance alone, it is deemed a monster. Cast out from the judgmental circle of humanity and thrown into the darkness of existence, alone. A creature with a face that not even its adopted mother loves. How tragic. How unfair. We cannot ignore the irony that Ripley 8 is also a genetic aberration, with acid for blood, superior strength and a frightening predatory instinct. Yet she receives the acceptance that The Newborn yearns for. No one runs from her. Or screams. Hell, Johner (Ron Perlman) even wants to screw her. Ripley 8’s human appearance allows her to fit in, whereas The Newborn’s humanity separates it from both aliens and humans. An outcast in every way.
So, what happens to this tortured soul? Only the most agonizing death in the entire franchise! Embraced by Ripley 8 to distract it, The Newborn doesn’t see her whip her acid blood onto a tiny cockpit window. But as a hole forms in the glass and the eternal mouth of space opens wide, The Newborn’s face turns from love to fear, and my gut sinks with it. I think of all those children abandoned because they are different. The ones who swing on a swing set by themselves because other kids don’t accept them. I hear the garbled and all too human “oh, no” that The Newborn seems to scream as it is sucked up against the window. I witness the look of terrified betrayal in its all-too human eyes, and I weep for this thing that never had the privilege of experiencing a love every infant deserves. Watching The Newborn get sucked into space one small piece at a time…it’s like seeing the lifetime of pain it had ahead of itself experienced all at once (you did not have to go that hard, Jeunet).
The Alien franchise has always involved themes of found families, whether it be the crew of the Nostromo, the marines, the prisoners of Fiorina 161, and yes, the space pirates of Alien: Resurrection. People brought together by circumstance and bonded through kinship. To be denied that sense of belonging, well, that’s a whole other horror unto itself.
All The Newborn wanted was a loving face hug. 🩸
About
Matt is a writer and wannabe werewolf who began his love of horror at the ripe old age of 3 with John Carpenter’s Christine. He has previously been published on Dread Central, Certified Forgotten, Daily Grindhouse and others. He has also contributed essays for releases from labels such as Arrow Video. He lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wonderful wife and their fur baby, Storm.
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