Hi all,
I'm discussing the first Resident Evil film in my dissertation and any answers you have to my questions would be helpful, thank you!
Do you think the character Alice was created just to appeal to the male audience and possible gay female audience?
Do you think you would still be a fan of the film if Alice was not in it?
What makes Alice appealing to you?
What attributes do you think she has that makes her stand out from the other female characters?
1) Not really sure why one would come to this conclusion. Other movies based on survival horror have women dressing the same (ie knee high boots and dresses, Silent Hill for example), and in the games there was generally at least one strong female protagonist (Jill, Claire, Ada, Rebecca, etc) who were badasses either with guns, close quarter combat or both. I remember hearing Paul talk about how he made Alice and Rain the main characters because he wanted to emphasize a strong female lead because it isn't generally seen in horror movies (or movies in general), and the fact that they fight (whether with guns or without) shouldn't imply that they are only there to look hot or attract a certain audience. And when it really comes down to it, the politics behind most zombie movie plots go much deeper than that.
2) I would definitely still be a fan if Alice was not in the movies. I've been playing the games since they came out and have been a fan of the movies since they began making them as well. Alice was not my favorite character in the first movie; my favorite character was Rain (as you can probably tell). My second favorite was probably Kaplan and he wasn't even a main character. In the second film I liked the sniper and Nicolai (ironically more side characters). In the third I wasn't too crazy about any one character, but the movie could have gone without Alice. The forth brought in Albert Wesker as a force to be reckoned and I loved it. Once again, Alice really had nothing to do with why I liked the movie. And with the most recent release, I was really kind of frustrated with her character. In that last fight scene she should have died for many reasons but since she's Alice, of course she didn't die. But oh well, I didn't write the film so I suppose I can't complain
too much.
3) Nothing. Alice is a pretty generic heroine if you ask me. She was extremely overpowered later in the genre, making it pretty impossible to sympathize with her, which is the single most important mission a character has in a story. She's not flawed enough.
4) Well that's just the thing isn't it? She doesn't stand out from other female characters. She is a flat character in general that could easily be replaced in any of the movies, I would argue. She doesn't have a remarkable backstory that we've seen yet, she doesn't have any major flaws, she doesn't have a quirky or interesting personality and she's completely unrealistic because, and this is ignoring all the mind powers and invincibility stuff, but no woman could do all that running and fighting in general whilst wearing heels.
