I just got back from seeing the director’s cut of Alien. I was only six when it was originally released in the theaters, so I never got to see properly it until now. It still ranks as one of the grungiest science fiction films ever made, with Blade Runner a close second. And I think it’s one of the first movies to establish that women can play strong, kick-ass protagonists without losing their essential femininity. Sigourney Weaver’s character set the stage for Buffy and Alias and Lara Croft, among countless others.
I was on my way to a meeting at a federal building in St. Paul the other day when something odd happened. We had to go through a security checkpoint and the guard instructed my nurse to bring “her over here.” Her being me. He referred to me as “her” a couple more times before we were through and I didn’t bother correcting him, figuring it wasn’t worth my time. But this has happened to me a few times and I’m not sure why. I don’t know if it’s my small size or my hair or if people just don’t look. One of my other nurses told me I don’t make an attractive woman. Not that I make an attractive man either, but that’s just my opinion.
