In the basics of Freudian theory we have the id, ego and super ego. In the film Alien the 3 basics are the crew, the company and the aliens. We can relate each one of these to a different state of mind. .
The id, who's only objective is to gain pleasure could be compared to the alien species. The id is very instinctive, and knows no good, no evil and has no sense of morality. The crew see them as only having one goal, to wipe out humanity. However in my opinion it was humans who went to them not the other way round. The aliens are only trying to protect their children. In this sense I feel that they are more humane than the company who have no emotion towards the aliens or the crew. The company's only interest is money, which in today's society equals pleasure. Therefore the company must be id also. This doesn't sit well though. With the crew being the ego, torn between the id and super ego, we need an extreme right and an extreme wrong. The fact that the aliens are hideous creatures means that they are automatically typecast as the baddies (id) and the company, who has all of this obvious technology, is seen as the super ego. With in the super ego there are 2 aspects, the conscience and the ego ideal. In this case the companies ego ideal is to capture the alien and have it brought back to them alive. This conflict between the ego and super ego is seen as moral anxiety. The crews (ego) reaction to this is at first denial and then progresses to a process called reaction formation. "Reaction formation is the development of a new point of view concerning an old desire which could not be fulfilled". The crew may have longed to find other life forms and bring them back to earth for many years. However after their ordeal their opinion has changed.
Freud's theories also extend to help us understand the personalities of some of the crew. Ripley being the main area of conversation due to her very strong domineering character, and the fact that she is the hero of the film is the best one to study.
