Space Travel In Ridley Scott's 1979 Film Alien

Ridley Scott’s 1979 film “Alien”, beyond being a horrific masterpiece of space travel and the dangers that could be harbored there, also brings to light the unusual case of what it actually means to be a subject, recognized as such by other subjects. The two distinguished AIs in the film, Ash and Mother, are continuously either having their subjectivities encouraged or denied throughout the entirety of the film.

Mother, the AI responsible for the waking of the Nostromo crew which sets the film plot into motion, can only interact through text and spoken messages and is considered to be the communication device between the crew and their contractors back home. The human crew members regard Mother in varying lights, Captain Dallas granting Mother

It is difficult to say if Ash is simply acting as a mouthpiece for Mother, and in turn a mouthpiece for the scientists back on Earth whom send their orders up through Mother, or if Ash is actually speaking to and about Mother as another subject. As the crew examines the wreckage that sent out the possible distress signal Ash declares that “Mother says the sun’s coming up,” and that “neither has Mother” seen anything like the damaged ship. This including language Ash uses to tie Mother and him together could act as a verbal cue to the rest of the crew that Mother should be recognized as a subject similar to Ash, as Ash’s subjectivity is never questioned throughout the film. It could be that as an AI Ash harbors a small bond of similarity with Mother, another AI in a ship filled with humans. Bonds like that, where very small, basic similarities are the basis, are never very strong however which would explain why Ash does not show any amount of forethought to maybe using Mother to further his goals to get the alien back to Earth alive. Even to Ash, Mother was just a voice of knowledge and basic commands from the humans back on Earth, not able to really assist in any recognizable way. Perhaps, then, Ash’s attitude concerning Mother’s subjectivity was one not quite as deep as it appeared. It is obvious that Ripley does not view Mother as a complete subject if one at all, as all of her interactions with Mother were ones of human and programmed machine, not between two subjects. Towards the very end of the film, when it seems Ripley has found a way to destroy the alien through setting up the self-destruct of the ship and then at the last moment changes her mind, and yet it has already progressed too far and Mother cannot reverse the destruction, Ripley