Alien 3: Ripley as a Christ Figure?

Okay, I know. It sounds strange that the premier article on Encounters would be a monster movie. Just for the record, I detest horror, while my boyfriend absolutely loves this stuff, which should hopefully explain this article and possibly some to come in the future--it's my attempt to come up with some sort of a purpose for the agonizing hours I now devote to a genre that basically scares me spitless. Yet, even in a movie that I can hardly stand to watch, I see God at work in the margins.

It was just the final scene that caught my attention. Ripley, in her final act of self-sacrifice, throws herself into a flaming pit of molten metal, ridding the world of the aliens forever (she thinks). Have you ever noticed her position as she falls? Her legs are together, and her arms outstretched to either side. Looks a lot like she is on a cross, doesn't it? It's not uncommon for filmmakers to visually establish a character as a Christ archetype through this kind of positioning. (Matrix: Revolutions comes to mind.) At first, I thought the association was ridiculous; in what possible way could Ripley be anything like Christ? Of course, that sort of a question always gets me thinking.

As soon as I thought about it, it was obvious why the filmmakers wanted me (the viewer/audience member) to think of Ripley as a Christ figure. She is sacrificing herself for the good of all mankind. Her death ensures (or so we all thought until Alien: Resurrection was released) the extinction of a race of aliens bent on complete human annihilation. She knows that if she lives, the alien race will be perpetuated and will completely wipe out the human race since, after all, the prison facility she ended up on is conveniently heading straight for earth. Like Christ, she is faced with the choice to spare herself or save humanity. Like Christ, she is tempted to save herself, tempted to accept another way out; but that way out is insufficient, will fail to accomplish the complete goal.

The analogy, however, begins to break down when we look a little deeper. Ripley dies because the evil is inside of her. She has been infected, and now carries within her the queen--the root of all evil. Christ died because he knew no sin, yet became sin for our sake. There was no evil in him. If we attempt to perfect the Ripley/Christ analogy, we would have to conclude that within Christ was some secret sin, fomenting underneath his piety and brought to the surface only in his death. Modern retellings of Jesus's life also try to suggest this, hinting at secret relationships, or at least secret lusts, that he managed to keep hidden. But 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that "For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." The only reason why Christ's sacrifice was sufficient to save mankind was because he was completely blameless.

Granted, I don't think the filmmakers were trying to go that deep. They simply want our subconscious minds to register the association between her crucifix position and her self-sacrifice. She conquers the demons and the pharisees (the government officials who think they are immune to evil) not through more violence, which there has already been plenty of, but through a completely selfless act.