'Alien' is a science fiction horror and action media franchise, and in its original series, the films centered on warrant officer Ellen Ripley, who battles extraterrestrial lifeform, referred to as the Alien, or the "Xenomorph."
Known for its intense horror and science fiction elements, the series are also famous for their graphic and often disturbing gore scenes.
But what's unknown to most people is that, the films depict a hidden theme, which make the alien's presence even more disturbing.
And that theme is sexual.
While never front-and-center, this particular theme exists throughout the films. Its purpose is not for pleasure, in a way that all films that included it want. Instead, in the Alien franchise, the sexual theme is present only for creating discomfort.
Directed by Ridley Scott, and through the hands of Swiss painter and sculptor H. R. Giger, the alien Xenomorph in the first Alien film in 1979 film is illustrated as a creature that is "very phallic in nature," which can be seen through its exoskeleton that have appendages like penises.
Then, the Facehuggers, which are younger Xenomorphs that just hatched from their leathery eggs, have a mouth that looks like a female genitalia.
And not to mention how these creatures implant Chestbursters within a living host creature via an appendage that protrude from their vagina-like mouth, in a oral-rape manner.
Not to mention, there is a scene where the crew of the starfreighter USCSS Nostromo were supposed to be naked, and that there was originally a plan where sex scenes between crewmates happen.
In a 2003 DVD special edition commentary, it's said that a "quasi-sex scene" between Ripley and the alien should also exist.
In other words, the original draft of Alien is full of sex, but in a way to complement the horror of the film.
But if there is at least one thing that wasn't acceptable, is the depiction of female pubic hair.
This should happen near the ending of the original Alien film, where Ellen Ripley's character, portrayed by 30-year-old Sigourney Weaver, is seen wearing only a see-through tank top which shows her nipples, and panties that she wears too low.
In the famous strip scene that takes place aboard the escape shuttle Narcissus, Weaver's public hair is supposed to be seen.
At first, the studio gave Weaver a pair of "sexy for the camera" bikini briefs, and expected her to wax or at least shave.
But Weaver's choice was being herself and the character, and refused removing her pubic hair.
As a matter of fact, Weaver was so into the theme that allegedly, she didn't even bother to pull her white underwear a bit up.
Weaver even dared using a loose underwear in the said scene, which left little to the imagination.
According to a 1981 interview with the actress, Weaver was keen on the idea of her character being naked because it "would have been a nice contrast" to the alien story unfolding before her character.
"You see the alien’s in its birthday suit the entire film, so I thought it was a cop out having me wear the underwear, and not stripping entirely," Weaver said.
While the outfit underscores her vulnerability and heightens the tension, and to mark the final confrontation between Ripley and the Xenomorph, her pubic hair is not expected to be there, at least what the public expected from a horror film.
This is why Weaver's pubic hair was airbrused off, and never made it in the original film.
"Times were different then," stated director Ridley Scott, who had decided to remove Weaver’s pubic hair for the original release.
"Audiences weren’t ready for a bush like that. It would paralyze them, put them in a coma… Plus I didn’t want folks walking out of the film thinking about pussy. I clearly wanted them thinking about dick."
But this time, a studio went a bit too far with releasing a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the 1979’s Alien during its 40th Anniversary Edition in 2019.
Not only it improves the quality of the film, but also brings back the fur of Sigourney Weaver's hairy beaver.
In the upscaled version of the film Alien, the quality is significantly improved using AI.
"AI has been used all over this restoration," posted one Redditor. "The film grain has been smoothed over and outlines are artificially sharpened."
As for Weaver's pubic hair, it's totally fake.
" [...] Sigourney’s bush is totally fake. It’s off-center, hairs split and come back together, and the color is dark brown when it should be more of an auburn."
This edit makes the edited Alien kind of alienating for hardcore fans of the franchise, and not to mention, displeased the original artist rumored to have been paid upwards of $20,000 to remove Weaver's pubic hair.
"I airbrushed those pesky hairs out of there over 40 years ago and now all my hard work is going down the drain," said the anonymous visual effects artist. "It’s a travesty. It’s my celluloid of a woman’s body and it should be my choice what to do with it."
It's said that the process of removing Weaver's pubic hair from the original take took him about a week.
James Cameron, the director who took over the helm of the second film in the series, Aliens, said that the scene simply crossed the line.
"For me that stepped over the line, [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," he said.
"I’ve never really operated under studio pressure, I’m sure a lot of filmmakers do [feel pressure to sexualize characters], but I was able to be successful enough, early enough, that they kind of left me alone aesthetically. I follow my own muse for what I think is right. 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."