Aliens
Aliens have a funny sentiment to most and are often shown as grotesque monsters, cartoons, of whimsical creatures. They like any other animal can capture the imagination and express fears in a more palatable way. In some ways, aliens can help capture society’s reflection in a new package. Ghosts can shed light onto the past, but aliens can make us look at ourselves. Gregory Benford explains that aliens can reflect ourselves in an anthropomorphic manner (Malmgren). The film Annihilation is an excellent example of human fears coming to life and antagonizing the characters.
When the Main character Lena suddenly can reconnect with her husband who has been missing things go terribly wrong. Her husband, Kane, begins to show almost immediate signs that something is not right and is taken by the government. At this point, Lena is interrogated by the government and taken to the environmental disaster zone where Kane disappeared. It is here that she joins a team of four other women to enter the disaster zone.
Each of The women carry with this their own issues that must be confronted. Lena is guilty of being unfaithful while her husband was away, Dr. Ventress is terminally ill and guilty of sending countless men to die in the disaster zone, Anya Thorensen has substance abuse issues, Cass Sheppard is grieving the loss of a child, and Josie Radek harms herself. Each of these women is struggling internally with something that they prefer to keep to hidden. When the ether the disaster zone all sense of time and reality seems to disappear, and the alien that is invading the planet is nowhere to be seen. The characters are caught in a bubble that has yet to explode. Instead, it is slowly changing its increment.
The disaster Zone is a whole new world recreating life and assimilating everything within itself. The characters are also slowly becoming apart of the region, taking on characteristics of their soundings one by one. Lena and the other find a camera with a recording of her husband and other soldiers cutting open the stomach of their fellow explorer, each looking crazed. This is just the start of the film progressing more realistically.
Each of The women are forced to face whatever issues that they had. Each problem is common in society. Malmgren writes that “the anthropocentric alien may be more or less than human, but it is human nonetheless, and its humanity reflects back upon our own.” The alien that the audience is being confronted with are issues that can be related to. They are issues that can slowly eat away and cause slow insanity to take hold.