By Louis Fair
Dehumanisation of Weyland-Yutani Employees
The Corbelan Crew are subject to organisational dehumanisation at the hands of The Company. It is this treatment and possibility of death through employment in dangerous positions which acts as the impetus for the Corbelan Crew to leave Jackson. This manifests in three ways:
Employment in degrading positions
Use of unfair employment conditions - Forced Labour vs Slavery
Use of a barrier to obscure or detach
This section will define the meaning of organisational dehumanisation and how it relates to the above.
Definition of organisational dehumanisation
Organisation dehumanisation is the process of an organisation treating employees like machines rather than humans, having less concern for their respects, and handling them as a means to achieve organizational objectives with less capacity for willingness and sentiments.
Application of organisational dehumanisation
The employment clerk represents the organisational dehumanisation by The Company. She uses Rain to achieve organisational objectives by reassigning her to the mines despite Rain meeting her contracted hours and without her consent, “Due to a shortage of workers”, which is where Rain’s parents died. She operates with less capacity for willingness and sentiments, displaying no empathy when Rain discloses that her parents had died recently and as a result of working in the mines, and is derisive of Rains plan to leave Jackson. After her forced reassignment, she offers an insincere platitude devoid of feeling, “Thank you, and remember the company is really grateful for your ongoing service.” This behaviour highlights that she does not display elements of UH or NH; her position may suggest that she is subject to the same oppression as she is administering, may be synthetic and may have consigned others to their death in the mines previously. It is worth noting that where Weyland-Yutani is typically represented by men in positions of power (Ash, Carter Burke, Michael Bishop Weyland and in Romulus, Rook), Romulus uses a female employment clerk, a lowly administrative position.
Organisational dehumanisation is displayed via the use of primitive working practices; a worker is shown carrying a canary to a mine, which reflects cost cutting measures used by The Company and little they value the lives of their workers. It underlines that humans are seen as disposable and replaceable. In contrast, synthetics occupy positions of power, with one sacrificing miners lives to save many. Synthetics are superior to humans as they act as agents of the Company, having being programmed with company goals and objectives, as well as being granted access to company systems.
1. Employment in degrading positions
The Corbelan Crew seek to escape the organisational dehumanisation they experience as miners which resulted in the deaths of their parents. Rain, Tyler, Andy, and Kay are employed as miners, with Navarro employed as a pilot, and are subject to the stigma of working in a dirty and dangerous profession, as their parents were. Mining is a dangerous occupation which can cause long term health issues and death. Occupations which are dirty or dangerous may have a negative stigma attached to them, and are known as “dirty work”. This is work which has either a physical, social or moral taint attached. These are defined as:
Physical taint - when an occupation is thought to be performed under particularly dangerous conditions or is directly associated with dirt, garbage, and effluent.
Social taint - a worker occupies low-status and low-power positions and has a subordinate relationship with others (e.g., butlers or waiters).
Moral taint - a worker employs methods that are deceptive or immoral.
Mining is a physically tainted profession as miners are visibly dirty, and it is a dangerous profession; Rain states her parents died from lung disease as a result of employment in the mines. Rain was employed as a farmer, although the type of farming is not stated. Raising livestock would involve feeding and cleaning up after animals; killing livestock would involve processing carcasses. If farming vegetables, this would likely take place in greenhouses and with unnatural light as there is no sunlight on Jackson. This may also be considered dirty work as Farmers work with soil. Given the small size of the colony it is likely that Rain would have been responsible for livestock and vegetables. Andy is also physically tainted as he was originally a mining synthetic, which could damage him (and may be the reason why he was discarded).
As a mining synthetic, Andy is socially tainted. Employed as a mining synthetic, he is slave labour, occupying the lowest status and power positions in the corporate employment structure. As Rook states, “Your model was once the backbone of our colonisation efforts”. As a synthetic he requires no salary or allowance to live on and was considered expendable by the company. He becomes subordinate to Rook upon being upgraded, “What’s required of me…Sir?”, having been summoned by Rook.
While not dehumanised through treatment, Rooks research into the Prometheus pathogen is morally tainted as it is intended to be used on the Jackson miners, presumably against their will, which will mutate its host, with the aim of exploiting them both after death and before death (as a pre-emptive measure). This is unethical behaviour. Andy is also morally tainted after receiving the upgrade as he is facilitating the transport of pathogen to Jackson to enable it to be administered to the miners.
The humans are physically tainted because they are forced to; Andy is socially tainted as he is designed to; and Rook (and Andy) are morally tainted in complying with creating and facilitating the Z-01 pathogen which will harm its intended hosts - humans.
2. Use of unfair employment conditions - Forced Labour vs Slavery
Jackson’s Star is dirty, oppressive and dangerous and that while we do not know the background to how the characters got there, it is suggested that the employment arrangement is tantamount to either forced labour or slavery.
Forced Labour
Forced labour is defined as, “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily." It is considered a form of modern slavery and occurs in manual industries. In the modern day, forced labour is statutorily prohibited. Forced labour consists of three elements.
Work or service, which refers to all types of work occurring in any activity, industry or sector including in the informal economy.
Menace of a penalty, which are used to compel someone to work.
Involuntariness, the terms “offered voluntarily” refer to the free and informed consent of a worker to take a job and his or her freedom to leave at any time.
The Corbelan Crew may be subject of a forced labour arrangement. The work/service aspect is met as Rain is employed for the Company in the farming division, and later reassigned to the mining division. The menace of penalty is implied by Tyler stating, “...this company, they’re not gonna give us anything”, which suggests The involuntariness element is met as Rain does not consent to the increase in her quota or her work location, which appears to be non-negotiable, “Unfortunately, quotas have been raised to 24,000 hours, so you’ll be released from contract in another five to six years.” This is reinforced by the Jackson revolutionary stating, “We’re all the company slaves.”
Slavery
Slavery is defined by the UK’s Modern Slavery Act [2015] as being circumstances whereby;
the person holds another person in slavery or servitude and the circumstances are such that the person knows or ought to know that the other person is held in slavery or servitude, or
the person requires another person to perform forced or compulsory labour and the circumstances are such that the person knows or ought to know that the other person is being required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Additional considerations are given to the circumstances of the individual relating to such as the person being a child, the person's family relationships, and any mental or physical illness which may make the person more vulnerable than other persons;
Forced labour is an element of slavery, and the conditions of this are met. This means that the terms, rights and negotiation power is weighted in favour of The Company. The revolutionary conforms they are slaves; stating, “They sell us hope to keep us slaves.” Furthermore, the employment clerk is made aware that as a result of her parents dieing that Rain is vulnerable, but increases her quota regardless.
While it could be suggested that The Company may increase the quota as a result of a contractual clause, “you’re not eligible for contract release yet” legislation prohibiting slavery or forced labour would override any clauses within the employment contract which are tantamount to slavery, as is the case with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
In contrast synthetics are shown in positions of power. Rook is employed as a senior scientist to extract and refine the pathogen from the black goo, for its intended use on humans. Synthetics are responsible for mining operations which may involve making difficult decisions, such as sacrificing some to save others. “so a synthetic made the call to seal them, with Bjorn’s mom still trapped inside.” Despite being a mining synthetic, Andy is in a position of power through his ability to access company systems, something the human are unable to do, “He speaks Mother. He can access a terminal on the ship.” After the update Andy becomes responsible for completing Rook’s mission and essentially represents the company. Synthetics are superior to humans as they act as agents of the company, programmed with company goals and granted access to company systems. They come with higher manufacturing costs; whereas humans are cheap, replaceable and disposable.
The dehumanisation of synthetics depends on their position; where Bjorn dehumanises Andy (a reclaimed mining synthetic), he does not dehumanise Rook (a Weyland-Yutani scientist). He attributes Rook a gender, “So what the fuck is he sayin’?”, in contrast to Andy where despite using male pronouns, states, “It’s just Wey-Yu damaged goods.” The interaction between Bjorn and Rook took place after Navarro had been subdued by the facehugger; he may not have attempted to dehumanise Rook as Rook demonstrated knowledge of the facehuggers capabilities and the implication of the attack on her. Another reason may be that the synthetic who killed Bjorns mother and Andy may have been of the same model or class of mining synthetic whereas Rook was a science synthetic who appeared and acted differently. Rook and Andy possess different dispositions; Andy is “child-like” whereas Rook is assertive, authoritative and knowledgable of the research undertaken on the station. Given that their employment on Jackson is akin to forced labour, Bjorn may have perceived Rook as an authority figure and learned that challenging authority was futile.
3. Use of a barrier to obscure or detach
Company employees are dehumanised by the use of a screen to obscure or to act as a barrier to create detachment or distance. The use of screens appears consensual. The use of the barriers and screens creates distance and detachment which enables organisational detachment to take place. The first example of this is the suits used by the Renaissance scientists. They strip them of their identity by preventing us from seeing their faces and have no name tag on them. This preventing us from determining their name, gender, or status as a human or synthetic. The scientists we meet later on have been mutilated; Rook is missing the lower half of his body and the only human scientist we meet is found hanging dead, missing his brain and the back of his skull.
The employment clerk sits behind a clear barrier. This has an effect of creating a distance and detachment from Rain. Rook similarly appears later on monitors which creates distance. This creates a distance between then and audience, enabling the employment clerk and Rook to consign Rain to death while delivering detached and insincere platitudes.
Summary
The Corbelan Crew are subject to organisational dehumanisation, via their employment in dirty and degrading positions, in an employment arrangement akin to forced labour or slavery, while the Company uses barriers and screens to create a sense of detachment in administrative staff, which enable organisational dehumanisation to take place.
Dehumanisation through Violence
Dehumanisation can manifest physically through acts of violence. The aggressor sees the victim as not possessing the same characteristics that they possess, perceiving them as “less” and “not human”. As such it makes it easier to inflict violence on them. The film (and one of the research modules) is named after Romulus, from the myth of Romulus and Remus. This myth is inherently violent and contains elements of dehumanisation via rape and murder, and reflects the research taking place on the Renaissance. While dehumanisation takes place through internal and external acts of violence, the contexts and methods of internal violence are expanded.
Inherent Violence
The Roman myth of Romulus and Remus involves violence, rape, and dehumanisation of children. According to the myth, Romulus and Remus were conceived by the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia, who was forcibly impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of War. Her uncle Amulius then ordered a servant to kill the children, but this servant showed mercy and let them drift down the river where a wolf tended to them. Rhea herself was later spared death. Later on, Romulus killed his brother which lead to the founding of Rome. This myth highlights the internal violence of rape and external violence of murder, which occur in the film.
Given the criticisms of the characters for looking like “children” this is perhaps fitting, as it alludes to the abuse of children who been abandoned by their parents (as they have died). Similarly, they were conceived and born into violent times, and have been dehumanised by people more powerful than them. This myth alludes to the nature of the research onboard the Renaissance, which is aimed at developing methods of removing the autonomy of the individual, most notably the Z-01 pathogen but also the facehuggers which the Plagiarus Praepotens was extracted to create the pathogen.
1. Internal violence
Internal violence may be defined against the autonomy of the individual. This takes three notable forms; the upgrade which forcibly overwrites Andy’s personality, Kay using the Z-01 on her foetus and Navarro’s death after being attacked by a facehugger. Notably, through Bjorn attacking the Xenomorph while it is gestating may be the first example where a human has engaged in a rape-like act on a xenomorph.
1a) Andy and the module upgrade
Regarding Andy, the WY module forcibly reprograms Andy, overwriting his personality, autonomy and self identity. Afterwards, he identifies not as “Andy” but as a model; one of many, “...an ND-255 Weyland-Yutani synthetic, originally built for mining and safety tasks.” Rook also identifies him using his model number. While the Andy name is an acronym of his model designation, the name makes him feel “human”, gives him personality and distinguishes him from other synthetics. Referring to him by his model number strips of his human attributes and reduces his purpose; having been programmed by Rains father with a personality and the goal of doing, “...whats best for Rain”, and recognised as a family member, he is a tool, and one of many of the same type. The module has its benefits; as Andy states, “It substantially updated my AI, and it’s mending my motor systems as we speak.” This update arguably benefits Rain and Tyler too; he is able to stop a lift descending one handed and judge closing doors to a more accurate degree. It does not update his knowledge base, ensuring he is subservient and unable to assist Navarro or provide insight into the research on Renaissance.
1b) Kay’s foetus
Kay injects herself with the unstable Z-01 mutagen, in order to heal from her injuries. Kay did not intend to hurt herself or her unborn child. Rook states its effects, “Its symbiotic capableness easily rewrites the host’s DNA through its blood.”, and Kay is not made aware of its effects on test subjects. Rooks comments are correct; Kay’s foetus is born unnaturally in an acidic cocoon, where its features and characteristics resemble those of the engineers or a xenomorph. It develops incredibly fast without taking on any biomass, and is violent and aggressive. Rook’s work was to overwrite the autonomy of the individual at a cellular level.
1c) Attack on Navarro’s
Male rape is a central theme to the Alien saga, Navarro’s attack by a facehugger is consistent with that. While the victim is typically a human male (Kane is Alien, Russ Jorden in Aliens and Oram in Alien Covenant, as well as Milburn being attacked by a Hammerpede), Navarro is female, but displays an androgynous appearance by being shaven headed. In contrast, the face huggers are unable to successfully subdue Bjorn or Tyler and Andy is not considered a host. The facehugger attacks Navarro, violating her autonomy and is reduced to being a host, dieing upon the birth of the chestburster.
2. Bjorn and the Cocoon
While internal violence is carried out against members of the Corbelan Crew, Bjorn inverts this by attacking the xenomorph with a cattle prod whilst it is gestating. The depiction of this stage of xenomorph development is unprecedented, and this type of attack has not been seen previously. This scene may be construed as a rape scene, as the prod is phallus shaped and the cocoon resembles a vagina. In this case, the prod is melted by the acid produced by the cocoon which nullifies the attack, followed by Bjorn being struck by a tail – another phallic object. Bjorn’s fingers (also phallic shaped and which may be used in sexual acts), have been burned to the bone by the acid produced. It is worth noting that both Rain and Tyler describe Bjorn as a “dick” at other points in the film. We find out that Kay was impregnated by someone unknown, which may allude to “immaculate conception” of Romulus and Remus. We later find out that Bjorn is the father, who displays aggressive tendencies (towards Andy), perhaps akin to Mars, the Roman god of war.
External violence
External violence is defined as violence against the person. Andy is the victim of physical threats and acts of violence from different characters. The first instance of violence against Andy is the attack by a group of children outside the employment office. The prelude to this attack one of the children pointing a weapon at him, which he did not perceive as a threat. The reason for the attack is not given, (suggested reasoning might be that he was attacked because he is synthetic, Company property or displayed characteristics which showed he was “different”) although it is suggested he did not fight back, or was overwhelmed. It is likely that he was attacked as he was company property, given that synthetics operate in a position of authority and that he was a recognised mining synthetic.
The second instance is the threats and acts of violence from Bjorn towards Andy. Andy is stigmatised by Bjorn for the actions of another mining synthetic, who sacrificed Bjorn’s mother to save a number of other miners. Bjorn never identifies Andy’s model as the synthetic which authorised this course of action; it is unlikely he is targeting Andy directly. Regardless he repeatedly threatens Andy, “I could probably fry a synthetic with one of these…” This is attributed as aggressive banter, however when Andy prevents Bjorn from falling down a hole, he perceives this as retaliation; and attempts to pass them off as a joke. He later attacks an updated Andy with a cattle prod when he states what Navarro’s chances of survival after being attacked by a facehugger, calling him a “bitch”.
The third and final instance is by the Offspring, which upon maturing and finding Andy standing in front of Kay, slashes him across the neck, causing him to bleed and struggle to function.
Summary
In summary, the Romulus myth contains acts of violence of dehumanisation, which alludes to the nature of the Renaissance’s research and the scope of internal acts of dehumanisation are expanded beyond male rape.
Dehumanisation and technology
Dehumanisation and technology interact in two ways; dehumanisation of technology (Andy as a synthetic) and dehumanisation via technology (Z-01 research, facehuggers and module upgrade).
1. Dehumanisation of Andy (as a synthetic)
Romulus considers whether a synthetic (Andy) can feel pain and emotion and if so, whether he can be attributed moral status. Andy is dehumanised because the human characters believe that he is unable to experience or demonstrate emotion and pain. This belief influences his treatment by different characters.
Andy is subjected to mechanistic dehumanisation, which is where an in-group is characterised as having NH qualities fundamental to being and the out-group is characterised as being mechanistic and unable to experience emotions or suffer pain, which precludes them from being attributed moral status. It is closely tied to emotions; mechanistic dehumanisation involves seeing others as inert, cold, passive, rigid, superficial, or as a collection of parts. Mechanistic dehumanisation is more likely to occur in interpersonal interactions and organizational settings, which is demonstrated by Bjorn’s interactions with Andy. Research has found that a robot must be humanised in order to dehumanise it. Bjorn attributes Andy a gender, before dehumanising him. “He’s not your brother. It’s just Wey-Yu damaged goods.”
It is suggested that the experience of pain implies sentience and consciousness, which involves body and mind, and a central nervous system which receives and transmits pain signals. As such robots or synthetics do not feel pain like humans do, however this does not stop Rain from believing that he can feel pain.
Research has shown that people are more likely to attribute moral status to a robot when they believe it is capable of experiencing emotions. Andy demonstrates that he is capable of displaying emotion; when Rain asks how he could leave Kay to be taken by the xenomorph, he responds by asking, “What? Leave someone behind?” This implies Andy felt rejection as a result of Rains decision to go to Yvaga without him. Bjorn’s threats and aggressive behaviour is based on the idea that Andy feels fear, which is supported by Andy’s submissive behaviour when Bjorn is confrontational. After threatening Andy with a cattle prod and justifying it on the basis of, “Just in case you have any fucking funny ideas”, Andy grabs Bjorn to prevent him falling down a hole, which he perceives as aggression stating, “It’s a joke. I was joking.” Andy also displays selflessness and appears to stifle an external display of disappointment stating, “If it’s what’s best for Rain, it’s what’s best for me.” Despite Andy demonstrating emotion he is not attributed moral status by the Corbelan Crew, and while Rain feels guilty she did not alter her plans to take Andy with her.
Where research participants have been confronted with the victimisation of a robot, participants might find themselves conflicted between an automatic visceral reaction (the harm-made mind effect) and a post-hoc rationalization process (the justification of harm via dehumanisation). Rain displays the former; she instinctively protects Andy or goes to Andy’ aid. This is exemplified when she stops the children attacking him outside the employment office. Navarro perhaps embodied the latter; she unsuccessfully tries to ease Rain’s guilt by stating that “He’s not…you know, real”. The reason for this reaction is that Rain sees Andy as family and as her only family remaining she has a duty to protect him as he does to protect her. As such, whether he actually feels pain or not is irrelevant, since she perceives that he can. We sympathise with Andy despite him being an “artificial person.”
In contrast, research has found that the willingness of individuals to violate moral principles during human-robot interaction is grounded in the belief that robots cannot suffer. Before the upgrade, Andy is treated as lacking UH characteristics and as such is child-like and vulnerable. Bjorn’s treatment of Andy is predicated on the idea that he can feel pain, while seeing him as an object. Bjorn considers Andy an object, “It’s just Wey-Yu damaged goods that your dad found in the trash” and a “fake person”, while stating “You fuckin’ bitch!” when Andy advises that Navarro is a danger to the crew. This highlights that dehumanise a robot or synthetic it must be humanised first, as well as Bjorns inconsistent view on synthetics. The inability to feel pain is often used as an argument why robots are unworthy of moral consideration; Navarro believes he cannot suffer stating, “He doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter to him. Okay? He’s not…you know, real.” However it is shown that whether he can feel pain or not is irrelevant since it is the perception of the individual and their willingness to extend human concepts onto a synthetic. It is this which enables Rain and Andy to survive.
The upgrade removes Andy’s HN traits and he becomes literally machine-like, embodying the mechanised dehumanisation that he has been subject to. The removal of HN traits enables him to make difficult choices and think tactically and unclouded by emotion; he does not save Kay from the xenomorph when he recognised that it was using her as bait, and armed Tyler and Rain with pulse rifles to use a distraction. He is detached; when Rain exclaims that Andy nearly closed the doors on Tyler he states, “Yes, but I didn’t. I calculated the timing perfectly with more success than last time. Won’t you agree?” This ability to assess the situation and surrounding contributes towards Rain and Andy’s survival, as well as enabling Kay to make it back to the Corbelan.
Whether Andy feels pain is down to whether the characters consider him able to feel pain regardless of how that happens; Rain comes to realise that he does and is somebody worth protecting, whereas Bjorn sees Andy an object, and Tyler, Kay and Navarro see him as a means to an end.
2. Dehumanisation via technology
Dehumanisation takes place through the Z-01 pathogen, facehuggers and the module, with pathogen and module referred to by Rook as an “upgrade”.
2a) Z-01 research
Dehumanisation via technology takes place via the use of the Z-01 pathogen developed by Rook. Much like the module for Andy, the Z-01 pathogen is aimed to improve humanity as Rook states, ““This is a much needed and well overdue upgrade for humanity.” The Z-01 pathogen was developed by Rook, who believed that humanity is unsuited for space colonisation, “Mankind was never truly suited for space colonization…. too fragile... too weak.” Rook states how the pathogen dehumanises its host; “Its symbiotic capableness easily rewrites the host’s DNA through its blood”. The crushed rat which had the pathogen applied came back to life but was horribly deformed. Kay applies the pathogen to herself which results in a mutated foetus born inside a cocoon, with engineer and xenomorph like features, and making it hostile and violent. The pathogen was intended be taken back to Jackson, presumably to be applied to the miners for the purpose of further exploiting them after death. What Rook shares with David is the perception of humanity as weak; where David sought to destroy humanity, Rook sought to improve humanity through a flawed and ultimately destructive means. Rook, like David, is impotent; he can only create something that is not derived from him and mutate what exists, he cannot procreate. The pathogen is the closest thing to breeding as he would get and is why it is means everything to him.
2b) Facehuggers
Rook uses the available technology to create a vast number of facehuggers from which to extract the Plagiarus Praepotens, and it is a facehugger which attacks the crew and subdues Navarro. As facehuggers are typically contained within ovomorphs, they have been developed unnaturally outside of their typical developmental cycle, this makes them different and they exhibit different qualities to typical facehuggers. Given the number of xenomorphs on the station, it appears that the Renaissance research staff have been subjected to attacks.
2c) The module
As stated, the module overwrites Andy’s personality, autonomy and self identity. It strips UH or NH characteristics that he possess and reduces him to being a slave to The Company. Rook can communicate internally with Andy and dictate what his objectives are “I heard your voice in my head. Calling.” This may place Rook as an inverted form of Rains father. Where he programmed Andy to have Rains best interests at heart and was human who has died, Rook is a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who has is alive and forces Andy to place The Company’s objectives first. Andy’s autonomy has been removed and is a subordinate of Rook, which returns him to his original programming as slave labour and is subjected to organisational dehumanisation. The module updates and repairs Andy’s physical capabilities, perhaps similarly to how the pathogen aimed to upgrade humanity, although these have been updated to enable him transport the pathogen off of the Renaissance. It also provides him with access clearance but does not provide him with information on the research, which keeps him subordinate to Rook. Rain sacrifices this “better” form of Andy for his original programming after she has seen what it has done to him, although without the upgrade it is unlikely she would have survived.
Summary
In summary, the technology developed and utilised on the Renaissance ultimately aimed to dehumanise its host by removing the hosts human qualities or taking away their autonomy.