1986: Jenette Goldstein in "Aliens"
Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 11:20PM Before each Smackdown, suggestions for alternates to Oscar's roster...
by Nick Taylor
My boyfriend had seen Aliens before we watched it together recently. Of course he had. Tommy loves science fiction and Aliens is one of the few perfect movies ever made in any genre, with so many elements that are not just immaculately assembled and realized in their own right but tremendously influential to how cinema subsequently related to sci-fi and war films. What’s undeniably stock about its characters and scenario is fresh and alive to behold, mixing an absolute lack of subtlety with nuance, modulation, and unimpeachable judgement.
This is certainly the case with Jenette Goldstein’s performance as Private Vasquez, a member of the military unit assigned to accompany Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her Weyland-Yutani Corporation handler Burke (Paul Reiser) to a terraformed colony on a planet that may or may not already be lost to an invasive species of perfectly-built killing machines...
Her arrival 28 minutes into the director’s cut instantly announces Vasquez as a new standard-bearer for the archetypical tough-as-nails, manlier-than-the-male-ensemble broad who fights her way through as much of the film as she can. Even before she picks up a gun, she cuts through the other Corporal Marine soldiers to the audience’s attention by doing pull-ups on a fixture of the ship minutes after stepping out of stasis and quipping at her fellow Marines. She’s a born badass, and it’s always a treat to watch her kick as much Xenomorph butt as she possibly can.
And then I asked Tommy, “You know she’s played by a white woman, right?”
And he immediately replied, “WHAT?!”
His response was basically the same one I had when I first learned that Jenette Goldstein was not, in fact, a Latina, but was actually a Caucasian Jew who grew up in LA. I would guess plenty of you had similar reactions when you learned it too. Maybe you're learning it right now! As this write-up comes so soon after the Smackdown toured through Flora Robson’s dubious, truly unforgettable transformation into a mulatto housemaid in Saratoga Trunk, it feels important to address Goldstein’s brownface from the outset. As the comments section of Cláudio’s piece on Linda Fiorentino shows in regards to Sigourney Weaver’s performance as a Chilean woman in Death and the Maiden, there’s multiple ways to portray Latin American identity on film, some of which provoke more strenuous debate than others. Still, for me to even think about throwing around words like “authentic” or “believable”, particularly in a stock role where believability is among the most necessary benchmarks for any actor, demands some very heavy caveats when it comes in contact with racist casting practices. Goldstein’s casting is absolutely worth debating, and the performance is worth picking apart in terms of what came from the makeup chair and what came from the actress.
Goldstein was required to sit for an hour each day and have her hair darkened, brown contacts put in her eyes, her skin covered in makeup to hide her freckles and have a teardrop tattoo drawn on, all to make her look more Latina. Her accent was extrapolated from gang leaders. Hudson’s joke that Vasquez heard about “aliens” and signed up for the job because she thought they said “illegal aliens” is how Goldstein originally heard about the film - she assumed it was an immigrant drama, and went to the audition dressed in a skirt, high heels, and a tank top. She only proceeded further with casting because of how muscular she was. Cameron was looking for a trained actress with the right physique, and Goldstein fit the bill.
It does not feel hard to imagine a viewer who takes Goldstein’s performance as stereotypical rather than archetypical, either because they’re put off by her casting, her performance, or how thinly virtually all of the non-Ripley characters are written. I won’t argue with the first two points exactly, even if the intention of this article is to (eventually) say how impressive I think her performance is. Certainly the first point is valid, and the second is as subjective as praising her.
As for the third point: Frankly, I don’t mind that there’s very little to distinguish Vasquez from the rest of the Colonial Marines. None of them are given much backstory in the film to stand apart from one another. Compare Aliens to something like Saving Private Ryan, which puts visible effort in differentiating its handful of soldier boys by writing and casting them as broad, instantly recognizable military types, and it’s amazing what a better job Cameron and his actors do to make the main Marines register as sharply-etched personalities, despite all of them having roughly the same “cocky meathead” energy. Cameron’s ability to shoot teamwork with such cinematic skill is a huge asset for the whole ensemble, giving us a clear portrait of the Marines’ individual temperaments, their social dynamics, and how all of these relationships translate on the field.
Even so, all of this requires a physically committed and smartly interpretive actress to make her character resonate. Vasquez benefits from being one of the only women of note besides Ripley and Newt (Carrie Henn), as well as one of the film’s scrappiest, fiercest survivors. Lasting longer than most of her castmates doesn’t automatically guarantee a better impression, but, as previously mentioned, Vasquez makes a huge impression as soon as she steps onscreen. Her bravado, self-assurance, and cocksure humor are boldly underlined and remain essential with every step she takes. Her boredom during Ripley’s description of her alien attack reveals itself as pure swagger when she says the only thing she needs to know about the xenomorphs is where they are. Vasquez’s badass attitude is distinct from Hudson’s wisecracking, Hicks’s intelligence, Drake’s chumminess, and Apone’s cigar-chewing authority, and mingles with each of them in unique ways. The camaraderie between Vasquez and Drake is the most noteworthy relationship between any two Marines for the first half of Aliens, and when she desperately tries to save him after he’s already gone, it matters enough that it somehow doesn't feel clichéd.
Yeah, this type of stock side player, an equal bag of war film and science fiction clichés, was never going to be recognized by the Academy as essential acting, even if they were smart enough to single out Sigourney Weaver’s tour-de-force in a field not quite stacked with Oscar-y choices. But Goldstein takes arguably the most minor role of Aliens’s final team and refuses to let a single moment go to waste. There’s so much of Vasquez’s character that emerges in small business, in how she handles her armaments or stays on alert in a shot focused on other characters. Goldstein wields her gigantic gun with muscle-popping machoness but also with the control and infallibility of someone who’s been expertly trained to handle the weapon in her hands and knows exactly how dangerous it is. When Vasquez says she only needs to know where the aliens are hiding, she isn’t displaying an eagerness for violence but flaunting a level of military expertise that Goldstein’s performance validates at every turn. She’s the best at killing bugs, and she won’t waste an opportunity to remind them of it.
Goldstein is also dynamite with her close-ups, which communicate Vasquez’s attentions so succinctly in brief insert shots built into larger movements of assault and information. Her professionalism, the awareness of her mission’s life and death stakes that defines her every movement, endows her expressions with the urgency and clarity demanded by her fight for survival. Vasquez’s silent, clenched glare at handing over her ammunition while looking for the missing colonists underneath a dangerously sensitive cooling system is just as memorable as the shift of realization (of fear?) in her eyes as Gorman activates his final defense against the Xenomorphs. It speaks well of Adrian Biddle’s cinematography and Ray Lovejoy’s editing that they hold on Vasquez so frequently, even in scenes where she isn’t doing more than listening to orders or checking equipment. Goldstein rewards their efforts by keeping a vigilant eye on her character, such that we understand the physical exertion and whirling thoughts Vasquez has been wrapped up in whenever she bobs back into the center of a scene.
Where Hudson gets the breakdown and Hicks the tentative romance, Vasquez is a fairly static presence over the course of Aliens. She starts off as a swaggering, hypercompetent soldier, and she dies that way. Goldstein takes this and makes Vasquez a portrait of exactly the fortitude needed to hold yourself together against an unseeable, seemingly unkillable evil for as long as humanly possible. She doesn’t try to “play” badass, she just is badass, every step of the way. What’s inherently problematic about her casting never dissipates, and I wouldn’t ask anyone to consider that separately from her performance. Goldstein creates one of the most indelible heroines of sci-fi cinema, and whether or not the foundations she’s committed to are sound, her performance is as muscular and reliable as her character. You'd remember Vasquez even if she didn’t survive her first encounter with the aliens, and it’s lucky for us that she does.
1986, Aliens, James Cameron, Jenette Goldstein
Reader Comments (31)
Great post hitting on every facet of this performance. Great job, Nick!
I loved that performance as I thought the character of Vasquez was a total badass. What happened to the character was awful but at least she took some aliens with her.
I often prefer Aliens than Alien largely because it did more with its ensemble and you actually cared about the people while hoping that slimy character that Paul Reiser got what was coming to him. It's a perfect blockbuster and honestly, I really think Sigourney Weaver should've won the Oscar for Best Actress for this film.
She’s serving such queer-butch-Gina Gershon in Bound-realness. We stan!!
Alien has characters, Aliens has caricatures.
Eyebrow raising discussion. Terrific post.
yeah, I think she should have been in the conversation for Supporting Actress, she stole every single scene she was in... even thought the character was just a gender swap stereotype... but the final shot of her, was perfect and unforgettable.
Tommy sounds hot lol.
This movie is so fascist.
This is excellent writing. You should be proud of this, Nick.
She holds her own definitely,I don't remember anyone being up in arms that she was Jewish and not Latin American at the time,people enjoyed films back then without looking for some political angle to bash them with.
She emboded the role so well and created one of the only roles of siginificance with Drake and for all we know it isn't romantic.
Awesome writing. One day perhaps it will go: K, E, A, Taylor. (Possibly K, E, Taylor if the A's ego and anger keeps taking over)
The imbecilicly censored highest of compliments to you.
"I don't remember anyone being up in arms that she was Jewish and not Latin American at the time,people enjoyed films back then without looking for some political angle to bash them with."
Considering there wasn't social media then, and that the media then was (by far) populated with white people, this isn't a surprise. When historically-oppressed minority actors aren't allowed to play their own characters, it becomes political. Perhaps it was more accepted back then (I am still one for watching films within the context of the time they were made), but this seems like a trivializing comment coming from a privileged person.
Anyways, nice piece! I wonder how close she even got in the conversation that year.
Yay! Love love love this performance and I’m so glad you ended up writing about it. Like you said, a performance like this can be tough to write about because she is so much a part of an ensemble and is almost never THE focus on any one moment. But it’s such a badass character and she just manages to both be totally distinct without standing in the way of her colleagues.
Aliens is one of my all time favorite movies, my favorite in the series hands down, and I think it boasts one of the best ensembles ever.
“It does not feel hard to imagine a viewer who takes Goldstein’s performance as stereotypical rather than archetypical, either because they’re put off by her casting, her performance, or how thinly virtually all of the non-Ripley characters are written.”
This. I’m not a hater (this is a great film) but I wouldn’t list her performance among the top 50% of elements I enjoy about Aliens. She’s a scowl and a haircut in this, one of several places Cameron goes broad where Scott had been more specific.
Hollywood is a patriarchal white society.
I found her casting bizarre at the time, and I still do. (I mean, Elizabeth Peña was right there. So were Roxann Dawson and Rae Dawn Chong.)
"Aliens", fascist? Wow. The overall antagonism becomes between mothers... the aliens are the natives of the planet, the settlers basically invaded their territory. The element of corporate greed vs. natives is inherent and the movie plays as an allegory on why the USA lost in 'Nam fighting an enemy in an alien territory, and they simply didn't understand. The aliens are shown to be a somewhat intelligent species and with a hierarchy. The only evil in the film, is the corporate greed, the rest are innocents killing each other
Working stiff: Superhero movie style muscling up routines weren't a common occurrence/expected request at that time...? Pena and Rae Dawn Chong would have needed at least a bit of that, and I don't think Cameron would have asked. As for Roxann Dawson? Though obscurity is not a factor (Aliens was Goldstein's debut), and I think she might have had the right definition, Cameron would have been looking around LA in 1985, and Roxann Dawson probably didn't even move back from New York until sometime in 1986, probably even late 86, as in September or October, after Aliens had released, for a role in Pat Morita's cop show. Unfortunate? YES. Twice over.
@Ben, James, and Lisa - Thank you!!
@thevoid99 and Ralph - Alien and Aliens are such differently gratifying examples of ensemble movies for me. I don’t know that anyone in Alien has more depth than the folks in Aliens, so much as they get a wider range of types and a slasher/chamber drama setting that gives the actors more room to conspicuously flesh out a role. But Aliens offers such a stronger vision of teamwork, from Vasquez and Drake’s camaraderie to all the soldiers realizing Ripley’s the real deal. Really makes the movie for me.
@Susanita - Now that’s some interesting fan fiction. Someone should get on that.
@Jesus Alonso - Her whole last sequence in the air ducts is just incredible. Everything from that final assault on the human’s safe-hold to the confrontation with the Queen is just canon.
@Chad - You know he is.
@Charo - Tell me more! Or, where should I go to read more on that argument? Haven’t heard it much, but I’m really intrigued.
@IfUKnow - I see what you’re doing there.
@markgordonuk and Arlo - Goldstein playing Latina was a pretty consistent talking point in all the 30-year anniversary interviews she did that I could find. Would highly recommend reading her own words on the casting process and how she feels about these questions. I don’t bring it up to bash her or her film, but it’s absolutely necessary to talk about it for a thorough discussion of her role.
@Peter - Thank you!
@JF - You’re not being a hater! It’s a fair reaction, even if I think Cameron’s broadness is as rewarding in its way as Scott’s attention.
@/3rtful - Sure is.
@Working Stiff and Volvagia - I didn’t even realize Peña and Dawson were around then. God, Dawson would’ve been a good choice. I get Cameron was just looking for muscles, but even if some established stars wouldn’t fit that bill, I don’t think finding a buff Latina with professional actress cred is the hardest casting call to fill.
@Jesus Alonso - The aliens aren’t even natives, they’re as much an invasive species as the colonial settlers. Still, if we’re running with Aliens as a Vietnam allegory, making the Vietcong into unstoppable monstrosities is not a great look.
@Nick Taylor
The Aliens are as native from the planet, as any human in any part of the world outside Africa. Native Americans, aren't native either, they actually migrated through Bering Strait from Eurasia. The parallel remains untouched, as the allegory.
We could discuss that other James Cameron screenplay, Rambo: First Blood, part II, is clearly fascist (dehumanized the "enemy" and never gives a real insight on one side of the conflict), and there is a long list of films that I would consider offensive, including Oscar candies as Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan, which feature dehumanization of one side, a clear sign of a fascist speech.
I have always seen Jenette Goldstein as a chameleon. Look at her performances as Vasquez in Aliens, Mrs. Voight in Terminator 2, and the Irish mother in Titanic. And they are three totally different people and performances that it is difficult to believe that she is the same actress.
Today from what I see here Vasquez is seen as a caricature but I see a strong woman.
Hehe. I like this one! Knows how to play well with others. More Nick Taylor pieces asap Nathaniel!!!
What a wonderfully written article. While I love that Oscar recognized Sigourney Weaver for this film, supporting performances in “genre” films (for lack of a better term) are also often overlooked. Thank you for this piece that is so deferential to sci-fi while also understanding it’s limitations. I almost feel brave enough to watch this movie again, even though the last
Time I did was when I was far too young at my friend Beth’s house in the middle of the afternoon (we were in elementary school, her parents had a fancy Laserdisc player), and we screamed our heads off at all the scary parts, sunlight in the background be damned.
Props to your great writing and even greater attitude an repore with the commenters. Keep it up! (Remember to check your ego and anger as your high quality of writing continues. It's tripped up many a writer in the past. Recent past even)
I'd suggest for "almost there" both Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown AND Volver) and Maribel Verdú (Y tu mamá también AND Pan's Labyrinth). Or just make a special with all these great foreign language female performances that were snubbed despite the films being Oscar players...Gong Li, another example that hurts so much....
they were not even 6th, Jesús
Jesus Alonso -- Maybe not those specific examples, but I will try to explore more non-English performances in the "Almost There" series before the year is over.
Vasquez and Gorman's collective death was heartbreaking yet somewhat gratifying in how death brought them together.
Have you done the brilliant Rita Moreno in The Ritz yet? Globe and Bafta nominated...
@Jesus
You lost me at criticizing Private Ryan for "dehumanizing" Nazis. Who cares?