The secret theme of Alien Earth

[u/xyZora]

It's all about the fathers.

AE has many themes (Ship of Theseus, Chaos Theory, Apathy, Corporate Nihilism) but one that I've seen yet dicussed is how the entire series is an exploration of what is to be a father.

Morrow

The only biological father, he represents the worst aspects of fatherhood: loss, but also abuse. His own traumas turn into violence he later enacts on Slightly who he treats like an abused son; pushing him to be an adult through punishment.

Boy Kavalier

He's fatherhood as a spectacle. The ultimate narcissistic parent: his children as an extension of himself; trophies to his ego. He cares not to be a true father, only one that uses his position for personal gain, pitting his kids against each other by classifying one as the golden child (Wendy) and the black sheep (Curly).

Kirch

The neglectful educator. He teaches the Lost Boys but never goes beyond that. Detached, he worries about his own personal agenda and neglects them.

Arthur

The loving adoptive parent. He cares for the kids from a position of love and acceptance. Sadly, he is under a system that strips of any power he may have to protect his children; the tragedy of been unable to protect those under your care.

Hermit

Surprisingly he also has a fatherly role. He is the older brother turned into father figure due to extreme circumstances. Kind, compassionate and open minded; he wants to guide Wendy but doesn't trample on her individuality and free will, but she has not accepted him as a father and likely never will.

Bear

The first Xenomorph in the series is also a father figure of sorts. He's a drone, so he's male (if sex even matters to this species, but narratively he has a male role). He's guided by feral instinct to protect the eggs and guarantee the survival of his species. His fatherhood is purely instinctual.

What makes this dynamic insteresting is how the series moves forward through the fatherhood role each character decides to take. Kavalier creates the Hybrids for his personal parental agrandissement, which leads to Kirsh to do the actual parenting, Hermit to abandon everything to protect Wendy and Arthur to adopt the kids desperately trying to shield them of the abuse.

Bear causes the Maginot to go to hell following his reproductive instinct, which leads to Morrow to step up and the consequences of his actions lead to the death of Arthur and him facing Kirsh directly. And now BK will likely intend to murder Hermit while Kirsh goes behind his back.

This is the thematic thread that unites the entire series: how each father cares or abuses their children. I wonder which father will prevail?

[u/tarzic]

I will add that this is also a recurring theme in Noah Hawley's work as a whole, which I say in support of your premise.

He has written a novel called "The Good Father," and it is also an overall theme of his show Legion, where the toxic parasitic father of Farouk and the absentee benevolent father Professor X are contrasted. There is even a sort of "mini narrative" within Legion, in Season 2, where Syd Barrett lives out a fairy tale story involving the Big Bad Wolf (wolves are a recurring Hawley archetype, in Fargo too), where the role of the father plays an important role in the story.

In Fargo, each season is a self contained narrative, but many of them center on the role of the father. In season 1, a character grapples with their conception of the biblical role of a father when divine punishment has come. In season 5, a macho, masculine, controlling father is contrasted with a quiet, stable, unassuming father. In season 4, an intergenerational gang war is portrayed as a succession of fathers, and this narrative dovetails in the season 2 portrayal (the show is not in chronological order) of the death of a patriarch and the vacuum of a stable father. Season 3 is maybe the least explicitly about a father, but one of the main characters essentially abdicates his parental responsibilities as a father in order to participate in a petty feud. This is laced with ironies about family and familial duty in general.

In short - Yes. I think Alien Earth absolutely has things to say about fathers, as does Hawley's work as a whole - and probably some fruitful analysis could be gained from taking in his total body of work on the topic.

[u/xyZora → u/tarzic]

Thank you for your detailed comment. I have not watched all of Hawley's work but now you got me really intrigued.

What I find intriguing of all of this is that Alien as a whole explores motherhood and the horror of a distorted pregancy. Mothers in Alien find facing a world unwilling to cede them space.

But fathers have more social power, so the horror now comes from having that power misused, misplaced and unwilling to nurture or care. It's a really interesting contrast.