Sigourney Weaver Tears Up Over Kamala Harris's Connection To Ellen Ripley

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | August 28, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | August 28, 2024 |

You can’t be what you can’t see. It’s that simple. That’s part of why representation in film and television is so important. People’s views on society, including their role in it can, be shaped by the shows and movies they watch. If certain groups of people only see themselves represented as caregivers, they might assume that’s all they can do. Instead, if those same people see someone from their ilk battling a giant, wet, gross alien to protect their friends, they may receive different inspiration.

Kamala Harris is currently facing such a challenge. When Joe Biden dropped out of the race 11 years ago (not sure about that timeline, but it feels right), he endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to run for President. Support for Harris on the Democratic side swelled quickly. She is seen as a symbol of hope and joy. Plenty of people are hoping that she will battle back the disgusting monster that’s trying to hurt this country. Sigourney Weaver is one of those people.

Weaver is no stranger to battling monsters, either. Famously, the actor has starred as Ellen Ripley in four Alien films. Her character battles monstrous aliens, managing to defeat them against all odds. She is strong, tough, and resourceful. Ripley has become a kind of benchmark for female, cinematic badasses. In a recent junket for the Venice Film Festival, a reporter connected Kamala Harris’s career to that of Ripley, implying that Ripley could have inspired the (hopefully) soon-to-be President. The idea got Weaver emotional.

The Avatar actor responded to the idea with tears in her eyes. “We’re all so excited about Kamala and to think for one moment that my work would have anything to do with her rise makes me very happy, actually, because it’s true. I have so many women who come and thank me.” Weaver then joked, “Sorry, I need my vodka,” to lighten the mood in the room. Still, it was apparent that the idea was not lost on her.

Alien portrayed Ripley in a way women weren’t seen on screen (and often still aren’t). “My character was a person, not a woman,” she explained. “They are two of the very few writers who can write a script as just a person. You don’t see her having to be girly or womanly or any of these other ideas, which are all great but women can be everything. I got to play what I realize now was an every-person part. She is all of us. She is what you become when you have to find the ingenuity and don’t even have the time to be brave. Women all over the world are at the frontline.”

She is not done in Hollywood either. Not by a long shot. She would later point out that a time in Hollywood came where “suddenly they decided that older women could actually play interesting characters.” While not a universal truth, there has certainly been a shift in Hollywood. “We stopped being a joke and the mother-in-law, and began becoming real people,” Weaver told the reporters. She can continue to inspire. But she can also play somebody vulnerable. She can play someone timid or tepid. Sigourney Weaver can do it all because women can do it all.