Resident Evil (2002) and the Patriarchal Power Structure of the Umbrella Corporation

Official poster featuring both female leads, Alice and Rain

Introduction

Resident Evil is a 2002 action-horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Based on the 1996 video game of the same name, the film stars Milla Jovovich as Alice and Michelle Rodriguez as Rain, two heroines attempting to contain a zombie outbreak in a secret underground laboratory owned by the Umbrella Corporation. Though featuring two female protagonists, Alice and Rain are up against a system of power that oppresses and exploits them. In her essay “Too Soon for Post Feminism: The Ongoing Life of Patriarchy in Neoliberal America,” Ortner remarks that in a patriarchal power structure men have “relationships and non-relationships with women who are either excluded from the group, or included on the condition of being subordinated and controlled” (535). Alice and Rain, while technically included in the system because they are employees of Umbrella, are forced to operate under oppressive and exploitative conditions, which they try to combat but ultimately fail to overcome. Through its male-coded environment, exploitation of female staff, and control of Alice’s bodily autonomy, the Umbrella Corporation operates as a patriarchal power structure where women are exploited for the company’s gain.

The Umbrella Corporation, the Hive, and Phallic Symbols 

Rain in the phallic Labyrinth

The Umbrella Corporation is a pharmaceutical conglomerate that operates genetics research under Raccoon City in a secret base called the Hive. In the narrative, the Hive is depicted as male-led, and while underground spaces often are associated with yonic imagery, the Hive holds many phallic symbols that code Umbrella’s headquarters as a male space. Abigail Rine defines the phallic symbol and phallocentrism as “the supreme symbol of masculine power, and, concurrently, of feminine lack” (2). In a large warehouse where the zombies are first prominently featured, there are rows of miscellaneous machinery, large and imposing over our female protagonists Rain and Alice. These phallic structures are the backdrop for much of the action, where Rain and Alice are groped at by predominantly male zombies.

The Licker enemy

This zombie containment breach releases our next phallic symbol, the Licker, an entity that stalks Alice and Rain and has an elongated, penetrating tongue. The Licker is a grotesque mutation of a masculine figure, and in a scene during the movie’s climax the Licker wraps a tongue around Alice’s leg and pulls her toward it. These phallic symbols in the environment and enemies code the space as a sexually aggressive labyrinth where women are particularly unsafe and vulnerable to the Umbrella Corporation’s flawed system. 

Exploitation of Female Staff 

Female scientist being viewed through a security camera

The Umbrella Corporation frequently exploits and abuses the women they employ, sending them head first into dangerous situations with no regard for their safety or preservation. Though it is shown in the opening scene that Umbrella does employ female scientists wearing appropriate gear (no high heels in the lab), these employees are treated like disposable worker bees (which works with the “Hive” allegory). Umbrella values scientific advancement and upholding the corrupt system they’ve created, willing to kill their own employees (a large majority of them women) to protect themselves. In one graphic scene, as the facility shuts down due to the T-Virus outbreak, a woman is brutally decapitated as she tries to escape a broken elevator. This is cut in between shots of female staff members yelling at the security cameras for help or being gassed by toxic fumes as they slam their hands against a sliding glass door. At the end of the movie, the only surviving Umbrella members are male scientists, who kidnap Alice.

Control of Alice’s Bodily Autonomy 

Alice being manhandled by a male Umbrella operative 

All of the characters in Resident Evil are employed by Umbrella to either protect or infiltrate the aforementioned Hive, with Alice and her partner Spence protecting the secret entrance to the Hive. Alice serves as a double agent, showing a desire to take down the power structure she is trapped in, recognizing Umbrella’s corruption. As Umbrella enacts their plan, Alice and Spence protect the mansion under the facade of being married, a heteronormative role being thrust upon them by the Umbrella Corporation (Alice’s wedding ring is even branded with the Umbrella logo). This marriage plot is unbeknownst to Alice as she awakens naked with amnesia at the beginning of the film after being gassed by Umbrella in the shower. Though the gas is not lethal in this instance, amnesia is a side effect of the gas. This becomes the first of many examples where Umbrella influences or has control over Alice’s body, spying on her in the shower and having the ability to release gas when she is vulnerable. Later in this opening, Alice sees a red, asymmetrical slip dress splayed on the bed, and we soon cut to a shot of her wearing the dress through the eyes of a security camera. This choice is striking for its gender implications, as well as the voyeuristic nature of the security camera. There are many shots in the movie in which women are viewed through security cameras, and wearing this red slip dress further insinuates that Umbrella is always watching and controlling Alice, what she does, where she goes, and what she wears. After reinforcements arrive, there is a moment where a male Umbrella operative in tactical gear and a gas mask approaches Alice, throwing her against the wall and manhandling her as she fiddles with the strap of her dress. Umbrella has trained its commandos to use whatever force necessary to gather information, even if it means that force is used against a defenseless woman with amnesia. 

Alice in a revealing hospital gown

Finally, as the movie wraps itself up, Alice escapes the Hive but is then thwarted by a group of male Umbrella scientists, who seize her. She awakens, much like the opening, partially naked in a revealing hospital gown with medical devices and wires connected to her, insinuating she was forcibly undressed and placed here against her will. As she escapes the facility, it’s revealed this location is an Umbrella-run hospital, and Alice appears to be the only survivor of the outbreak. Umbrella has been pulling the strings this whole time, and their control and influence mirrors a patriarchal hive mind. 

Final Thoughts

All of Alice’s turmoil in Resident Evil (2002) relates back to a male-centered corporation in power who caused the zombie outbreak to occur through their asinine research. After killing much of their female staff in gruesome ways, they exploit Alice and Rain by having them trapped in their facility, and like this facility Alice and Rain are trapped in a metaphorical system of oppression in which they cannot escape from. Alice attempted to sink Umbrella as a double agent, but was unsuccessful and is kept oppressed in the system, wandering off partially naked with a gun at the end of the movie.When all is said and done Alice has to fend for herself, and Rain succumbs to her injuries and dies, all because they were employed to protect the facility and Umbrella’s ever growing list of mistakes. Though the ending of Resident Evil (2002) is dismal, Alice doesn’t give up, a small glimmer of hope for a woman trapped in a patriarchal system that pushes down on her.

Works Cited

Ortner, Sherry B. “Too Soon for Post-Feminism: The Ongoing Life of Patriarchy in Neoliberal America.” History & Anthropology, vol. 25, no. 4, Aug. 2014, pp. 530–49. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2014.930458.

Rine, Abigail. “Phallus/Phallocentrism.” George Fox University, 2010,  pp. 2. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.\gi?article=1075&context=eng_fac

Resident Evil. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, Capcom, 2002.