Movies

James Cameron Hated One Thing in Original Alien, Removed It in Sequels

James Cameron Hated One Thing in Original Alien, Removed It in Sequels
Image credit: Legion-Media, 20th Century Studios

The iconic director hated one of Ridley Scott’s decisions in the original movie and made a point of completely avoiding it in the sequels — and still succeeding.

Summary:

  • Ridley Scott ’s Alien became an instant cult classic, but it had a big problem.
  • James Cameron, among others, was vocal about the over-sexualization of female characters in Alien.
  • Cameron’s sequel became even more popular than the original without objectifying women.

James Cameron is one of the greatest movie directors of all time, and his track record is stellar. While most people remember him for the Avatar movies and Titanic, Cameron also created the Alien sequel, continuing Ridley Scott’s work — and his version is largely considered better, especially by modern audiences.

What was Cameron’s secret recipe for making an already popular movie even better? Well, he removed the one thing he absolutely despised in the original Alien film and made a point of it, and it turned out that he was right. But what was it?

The One Thing Cameron Hated About Alien

James Cameron Hated One Thing in Original Alien, Removed It in Sequels - image 1

Alien is largely considered one of the greatest sci-fi horror franchises of all time and for good reasons. Still, James Cameron has always hated one decision by his colleague Ridley Scott, and he was always vocal about it. In Scott’s movie, female characters were oversexualized, and Cameron was not on board with that.

“For me, that stepped over the line, [and when I took over] I said, ‘I think I can make a movie with a compelling female character who doesn’t have to do that,’ so that’s been my goal and my mission throughout…I follow my own muse for what I think is right,” the director explained to News AU.

Cameron turned out to be right: in the Alien sequel directed by him, the sexualization was no more, and the movie still proved to be popular with the audience. Many people even consider Cameron’s version better than the original, and that means something: Ridley Scott’s film was an instant cult classic.

“My films continue to be successful, and they continue to not objectify women, so I think that speaks for itself… I made it my goal to make women interesting without making them sex objects, and I think I was pretty successful at doing that,” Cameron added.

What can we say except that we completely support James Cameron? The director has always been vocal about the wrongs of objectifying female characters in cinema, and his entire career proves that it’s by no means a requirement for a successful movie. Bravo to Cameron for both making great films and standing for what’s right!

Source: News AU via Far Out