Introduction:
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| Alice Movie Poster |
Resident Evil (2002) is a film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, following
the main character Alice as she navigates the terrifying reality she has now
been thrown into. Alice is a part of something called the Umbrella
Corporation.” Which manufactures all sorts of things, like technology, medical
products, and healthcare.” The company she is involved in, however, is not
innocent, creating things like viral weaponry and conducting genetic testing
underground. Even some of the employees are unaware of what Umbrella Corp. is
doing, but this does not include Alice. When viewers first meet her, Alice has
no idea who she is, but throughout the film, she has flashbacks of planning to
expose Umbrella Corp. for their despicable creations. Unfortunately, she does
not get to follow through with her plans before a viral weapon called “T-virus”
is leaked into the research facility “Hive,” owned and operated underground by
Umbrella Corp. The character of Alice is an interesting one because she crosses
the fine line between a powerful female hero and a traditionally objectified
and or helpless woman. This sentiment rings true not just for Alice but for
other women in film as well; however, what exactly makes Alice different from a
typically objectified woman in an action film?
The Character of Alice as A Female
Hero:
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| Alice Fighting Zombie Dog |
Alice,
the protagonist of the film, has many qualities that make her female hero
material. For starters, she is an amazing fighter, as she thinks fast and is
effective in taking out her opponents. Most of her opponents throughout the
film, if not all, are the infected people who work for Umbrella Corp. However,
the first thing viewers see in her fight is not a person. As Alice explores the
hive, some on her own, she enters a room where dogs were previously inside
cages. Now the cages lie empty and busted through as infected dogs try to
attack. Alice manages to take out the dogs and an infected person all on her
own, with impressive combat, and she also steals a gun from the zombified guard
to aid her attack. This scene is the first introduction for viewers to see what
Alice is fully capable of, and it now puts her in a valuable position to help
the other characters escape. Usually, in most films, it would not be a female
in this position; however, Alice is strong and can hold her own when in peril.
Directly after her first fight scene, we see her rescue a man from danger. One
of the men, Matt Addison, was looking through some documents when suddenly his
now zombified sister appeared in front of him. The zombies feed on flesh and
have no memories, so she begins to attack her brother. Alice approaches the
scene, killing the zombie and saving Matt from getting eaten or infected. This
is a clear example of Alice being heroic because she saved a man from death.
which is usually the other way around, where the man would be saving the woman
from danger, but in this case, Alice is the one who does the rescuing.
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| Matt getting attacked by Zombie |
Alice,
as viewers can see, is not a female character who stands around waiting for
someone to help her in scary positions. She is also an intelligent and
empathetic person who takes care of the other characters and helps navigate the
obstacles thrown at them by the antagonist, Red Queen. Initially, the surviving
group disables the Red Queen, who has control over the entire building;
however, they are surrounded by zombies and are running out of options on how
to escape from the Hive. Alice thinks quickly and decides to reactivate the
Queen because she will know a way out of the building. The rest of the
surviving party doubts her actions, but Alice has a plan; even if the Queen
does not comply, they can fry her circuits, turning her off for good. Alice going
against the team is brave and a fitting example of what a hero would do, facing
danger head-on, while also having a backup plan. However, despite Alice having
redeemable final girl qualities, she is not a perfect example of female
empowerment for reasons ranging from how her fighting is filmed to some of her
outfits throughout the film.
Alice Being Objectified:
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| Alice in her red dress |
Even
with all the heroic and powerful traits Alice has, she unfortunately does not
escape being objectified in this early 2000s film. To begin with, Alice’s
outfit throughout the film was an interesting choice for someone constantly
engaging in heavy movement combat. Alice wears a tight red dress that is short
and quite revealing, which leads to some compromising shots. The dress is a
symbol of sexualization because it is tight, short, low-cut, and red, all
things tailored to the male gaze. A prime example of this is the scene where
she fights against the zombified dogs.
Towards
the end of the fight, she kicks one of the dogs down, but the camera films
directly up her dress. Luckily, she is wearing shorts underneath, but the scene
certainly could have been shot differently, or she could have been wearing
something more suitable. Additionally, in her first scene in the film, she is
in the shower, passed out, naturally not wearing anything, only a shower
curtain covering her body. Her being naked in the opening scene shows her in a
vulnerable state, which, now, she is, because she has no idea who she even is
due to her memory being wiped. Additionally, in the final scene, she is not
wearing much at all, either, only a white sheet covering her, which leans a bit
towards unnecessary, as she could have worn a hospital gown opposed to small
white sheets hardly covering her body. Alice is objectified visually in many of
the film's scenes, to appeal to the male gaze, but she also has many
characteristics that present her as a powerful female hero, making her walk a
fine line between both titles.
Conclusion:
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| Alice towards end of film |
The
character of Alice throughout the film demonstrates the potential of being an
admirable female hero. Alice is strong, intelligent, skilled, and thinks well
in a crisis, making her an ideal person to have in a situation like the
surviving characters are in. However, the way her character is dressed and
filmed in some scenes suggests she is merely an object to be admired. Most
female characters in a Horror Action Film from the early 2000s are merely there
to look pretty, but Alice does so much more than that. Regardless of her
usefulness, she certainly was not shot; like a male in her position, there were
compromising angles, with little to no clothing at some points for her
character. Her character falls somewhere between these two titles due to the
evidence in the film, which makes her complex.
Works Cited:
Anderson, Paul, Resident
Evil. Screen Gems, Columbia TriStar Home Video, 2002.
