Why Did They Cut This Scene From “Aliens”?

The scene underscores why Ripley’s relationship with Newt is so impactful psychologically and emotionally. So, why did they cut it from the movie?

This popped up on my social media feed:

I’d never watched the scene before. Check it out.

Here is the scene in the script:

One of the brilliant ideas writer-director James Cameron had in conceiving his take on this sequel to Alien was to use motherhood as a central theme:

• Ripley as someone who has lost out on the opportunity to be a mother to her then eleven year-old daughter.
• Ripley having the chance to act as a surrogate mother to Newt.

• Then there is the Nemesis: the Alien Queen (Mother) who seeks revenge when Ripley fries dozens of alien eggs.

The maternal dynamic plays throughout the entire movie as a key them which raises the question …

WHY CUT THE SCENE WHICH DIRECTLY SPEAKS TO RIPLEY’S GUILT?

Aliens is at its psychological core a Redemption story: By protecting and saving Newt’s life, Ripley “redeems” herself for being absent for her daughter’s life … and specifically breaking the promise she made to return for her daughter’s birthday.

Becoming a “mother” to Newt and saving the girl’s life absolves Ripley of the culpability she has in not being a “mother” to her own daughter.

Without the deleted scene, the only reference to the situation with her daughter is this reference in the script upon learning that she has been in a state of hypersleep for fifty-seven years:

And that is only an oblique reference to her daughter (“Family”). Perhaps there’s another reference in the movie. If so, help me out because I don’t recall anything. Newt takes to calling Ripley “Mommy” and there’s this in one draft of the script when Ripley has her final confrontation with the Alien Queen:

But in what I believe is the production draft, the action is described this way:

Again … why cut the scene which directly emphasizes the motherhood storyline?

The original tweet (@HorrorMuseum) suggested that “Fox insisted” the scene be cut. Putting on my studio executive hat, the only rationale I can see for that is (1) the run-time for the movie is 2:17, so they were trying to delete what they considered a “non-essential scene” to cut the length of the film and/or (2) they wanted to get into the alien action sooner.

Two problems with that: First, the scene is only 1 minute 54 seconds long. Would a movie run-time of 2:19, instead of 2:17 really make that much of a difference (e.g., allow for one more screening per day … I doubt it)?

Second, James Cameron is notorious for fighting to protect his creative vision as he apparently did in this incident related to Avatar.

If the studio wasn’t responsible for the editorial choice, I simply can’t imagine why Cameron would delete that scene.

Consider this quote from Billy Wilder:

Make it clear to them, but don’t spell it out like the audience are just a bunch of idiots. Just aim it slightly above their station and they’re going to get it. This is what I learned from Ernst Lubitsch. He had a real touch, a gift of involving the audience into writing the script with him as it was unfolding on the screen.

In other words, he was not the kind of a director who kind of hammered it down and said, “Now listen to me, you idiots. There now, put down the popcorn bag, I’m going to tell you something. Two and two is four.” He said, “No, just give them two and two and let them add it up. They’re going to do it for you. And they’re going to have fun with it. They’re going to play the game with you.”

Wonderful advice. However, in order for that to work, you have to give the audience Two plus Two. By deleting the above noted scene, the movie version of Aliens provides the audience with Two: Ripley feels bad she has lost 57 years of her life. That’s it. There’s no indication of what specifically she may have lost. The loss is five decades plus of generic years. Without the reference to her daughter’s death, there’s no 2 + 2. Only 2.

I haven’t seen the movie in years. I did a quick search of the script for the words “mother” and “daughter,” and discovered no reference to Ripley revealing that she had lost her child. Maybe it’s in the movie at some point. If so, let me know. Beyond that …

Anybody know the story behind why the scene in question was deleted?

The movie Gravity also deals with a Protagonist grieving the death of her daughter. You may read my detailed analysis of that movie here. Similar dynamic: Ripley feels guilty she missed her daughter’s 11th birthday. Stone feels guilty she couldn’t find her daughter’s favorite red shoe. Both deal with the grief of a mother losing a child.