naut return to a planet where she knows hideous
monstrosities lurk? Cameron and his colleagues as-
tutely tied this tricky plot element to the delineation
of Ripley’s character inAlien. Ripley agrees to return
to the aliens’ world only after she learns that the
planet has been colonized by settlers who are in dan-
ger. Her decision to save them is wholly consistent
with the courage and sense of self-sacrifice Ripley
displayed in the original.
Impact Aliensillustrated two important cinematic
trends of the 1980’s. It demonstrated Hollywood’s
growing tendency to turn any successful picture into
a franchise, whereas sequels in the past were typically
associated primarily with inexpensive “B-movies.”
Also, it helped establish that the viewing public
would accept women as leads in action films by prov-
ing clearly that Sigourney Weaver’s success in the
original was no fluke.
Further Reading
Cameron, James.Aliens: Foreword and Screenplay. Lon-
don: Orion, 2001.
Clute, John, and Peter Nicholls.The Encyclopedia of
Science Fiction. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Hardy, Phil.The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Science Fic-
tion. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 1994.
Thomson, David.David Thomson on the “Alien” Quar-
tet. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
Thomas Du Bose
See also Action films; Feminism; Film in the
United States; Science-fiction films; Sequels; Special
effects;Terminator, The; Weaver, Sigourney.
Alternative medicine
Definition Holistic medical practices that address
mental, spiritual, and environmental factors, as
well as physical ones, to treat and prevent illness
A convergence of political, economic, social, and religious
movements caused an increasing interest and revival in al-
ternative medicine during the 1980’s, signaling a change
in health care practices. Alternative medicine represented
a reaction to the practices of mainstream medicine that
stressed the need to diagnose and treat disease rather than
its underlying causes.
More than 60 million Americans have relied on al-
ternative forms of medicine, such as folk healing,
unorthodox fitness and diet programs, acupunc-
ture, chiropractics, and self-help treatments. Public
interest first began turning to alternative medical
methodology in reaction to bleeding and purging,
common methods used by physicians in the eigh-
teenth century. Throughout the next century, a
grassroots movement arose that challenged tradi-
tional medical practices.
The American Medical Association (AMA) began
to respond to the practice of alternative medicine by
promoting licensure laws in each state by the end of
the nineteenth century. The AMA then commis-
sioned Abraham Flexner to conduct a study and is-
sue a report on medical institutions. The Flexner Re-
port (1910) criticized the lax educational standards
that prevailed in most of the medical schools and in-
stitutions that offered alternative methods of heal-
ing. The report recommended imposing rigorous
training and establishing uniform guidelines for all
schools that offered medical training. The result of
rising standards was a backlash against alternative
medicine in the United States, and by the end of
World War II, the medical profession perceived al-
ternative practices as quackery.The Rise of Alternative Medicine The acceptance of
alternative medicine began to increase again in the
1960’s alongside the countercultural search for inner
tranquillity and self-knowledge. As the countercul-
ture movement gained momentum, the public per-
ceived the medical profession as a bastion of the es-
tablishment, supporting economic inequality and the
greed of corporate America. The social unrest of the
time, characterized by the resentment of the military-
industrial complex, the Vietnam War, and the stratifi-
cation of society, coincided with the environmental
movement. Environmentalism’s concern over the im-
pact of pollution on the planet was transferred to the
human body as well, as physical disease came to be
linked to environmental hazards.
By the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, three forces
were at work that elevated the status of alternative
medicine in the United States. Pentecostalism, the
rise in consumerism, and holistic healing emerged
as powerful societal forces. Evangelists such as Oral
Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim
Bakker, and Kenneth Copeland professed divine
healing to devoted followers via television and radio.
Roberts established the City of Faith Hospital at his
university in 1980, a research hospital that empha-52 Alternative medicine The Eighties in America