The following is an interview with podcast co-hosts Jaime Prater and Patrick Greene as part of Fanbase Press’ #AlienDay 2024 coverage. In this interview, Fanbase Press President Bryant Dillon chats with Prater and Greene about their Alien-focused podcast known as Perfect Organism, the show’s plans for Alien Day 2024, their expectations for Alien: Romulus, and more!
Bryant Dillon, Fanbase Press President: What should readers know about the Perfect Organism Podcast, and why should they be listening?
Jaime Prater: I’d start with sharing that Perfect Organism Podcast is the biggest and the only solely Alien podcast in fandom. We’ve been releasing episodes regularly for over nine years and hopefully made fandom a better place.
Patrick Greene: It’s also a hub for fandom that extends in all sorts of directions. We have a Facebook discussion group (Building Better Worlds); a Patreon with loads of deep-dive Alien content (and some non-Alien stuff, too); an engaged social media presence, etc. But the biggest reason people should tune in to Perfect Organism is because we are by fans, for fans. Our mission has always been to cultivate and inspire the absolute best fandom experience for Alien fans all over the world. That’s why we chase exclusive interviews, why we’re so careful not to spoil anything, and why we’re always looking to feature voices from the global Alien community.
BD: Can you tell us about your personal fandom story when it comes to the Alien franchise? When were you first exposed to the Xenomorph and the stories surrounding it, and what effect did that have on you?
PG: My first exposure to Alien came on the playground when I was seven years old. My friend brought the Kenner Gorilla Alien to recess one day and I was just absolutely immediately smitten. I had never seen—hell, still have never seen—anything cooler than the Alien. I begged my mom to take me to Toys ‘R Us to get one for myself, and the rest is history. That original toy is actually sitting right next to me as I type this, as a reminder of where my Alien love story began.
After falling in love with the toys, I figured I needed to watch the movies that came from. So, I somehow convinced the local video store to let me rent Alien. (I rode my bike there and spent allowance money on it.)
The films became cornerstones of my lived experience. Especially Aliens, early on. Just obsessively watching and rewatching, convincing friends to do sleepover marathons, bringing them to Sunday dinner to watch with my cousins, etc. I realized they were about way more than just this awesome monster; they were about the human experience. And that’s why they’ve never grown old for me. They continue to inform my life, and to speak to me in different, reverberant ways as I’ve gotten older.
JP: When I was eleven or twelve, I remember seeing a trailer for the broadcast premiere of Aliens on TV while growing up in Chicago. My dad was next to me. I remember specifically seeing Ripley light up the hive on the small black-and-white television we had. My dad asked if I wanted to watch the film and I said, “Yes.” My mom then chimes in protesting that it’s not appropriate for me. I eventually did see the film with my dad. It was an amazing experience I will always cherish.
BD: What is Perfect Organism doing to celebrate Alien Day 2024? Share the highlights with us!
JP: This year we have quite the line up! Every year we tell each other that we’ll go light on releases, and we never do. Our big release this year is Alien Absolution, a short film written and directed by our full-time co-host Christian Matzke. Co-host Patrick Greene composed a gorgeous score for the film. We are excited. We’ll also be releasing discussions with Alien: No Man’s Land director Christian Kennedy, a riveting roundtable interview with Alien: Romulus concept designer Nick Stath, another interview with British actor Dan Dewhirst on his work on Prometheus that was cut from the film. They’ll also be a big surprise dropping sometime on Alien Day and more!
PG: This year we’ve lost our minds a little bit. Last year was a busy one, and we put out five features—this year we are releasing NINE! We’ve got a new short film, directed by Christian Matzke. It’s even more ambitious than last year’s, and it’s going to blow people away. (We’ve also got a roundtable behind-the-scenes episode on it.) We’ve got interviews with two people who worked on Alien: Romulus. We’ve got an interview with an actor who was filmed for Prometheus for a scene that didn’t make the final cut. We’ve interviewed the director of No Man’s Land, a fantastic fan film mashing up Aliens and World War I bunker warfare. We’ve got at least one (possibly two) roundtables, where we’re hoping to discuss a trailer for Alien: Romulus (fingers crossed this releases on Alien Day!). And we’ve got a kickass new t-shirt design that Jaime Prater has put together, featuring the skull on Hudson’s armor.
BD: What has been your favorite episode of the podcast so far and why?
PG: I wish I had an easy answer for this, but I honestly don’t. I’ve treasured so, so many late nights with friends talking about Alien. I don’t even know where to begin!
A couple that make my personal short list would be my first PO appearance (Episode 59), where I realized for the first time that I could actually contribute to this space (and where you can hear me and Jaime becoming lifelong friends in real time!).
I loved putting together Episode 69, the story of Vincent Ward’s script for Alien 3. That was a really labor-intensive deep-dive and I’m still pretty proud of it.
Episode 98 is another one I like to revisit—Jaime and I break down Cameron’s Queen as an idea and a plot device, and for whatever reason that episode ended up being absolutely hilarious. Like we could barely make it through, we were laughing so hard.
And a more recent installment I really enjoyed was Episode 231, where we imagined a world where Aliens never happened. This one has it all: The topic was suggested by a fan, all seven members of the team are on (including Christian, who joined as our third full host a couple years ago and has been unbelievable for the show in so many ways), and the conversation is surprising, deep, challenging, and hilarious. I think episodes like that really capture the essence of Perfect Organism.
One more to suggest: Jaime and I were able to interview Diane O’Bannon, Dan O’Bannon’s wife, back in 2019 (Episode 109). It was unforgettable. It felt like his spirit was in the room with us. Moments like that make me acutely aware of how lucky I am to do this.
JP: Oh I don’t think I can answer this question at all. We’ve recorded hundreds of hours of shows. Each one is special, each one great in its own way. The interviews with Alien 3 star Ralph Brown and Aliens star Jeanette Goldstein are definitely highlights for the show and a turning point. I’d definitely recommend readers find those.
BD: Has the Alien fandom changed over the years since you’ve begun the podcast and, if so, in what ways?
JP: Like so many fandoms, the Alien fan community has experienced its ups and downs. After the release of Covenant, the atmosphere became really toxic and divisive. It’s been a long time since the community has received a film that’s been universally loved. Covenant proved to divide people even more unfortunately. It took a few years for fandom to bounce back and be a place where all opinions are welcome, no matter what film you love.
With Alien: Romulus on the way in a few months, things could not seem brighter and more positive. It’s an amazing community that I’m so thrilled to be a part of.
PG: I joined during the absolute nadir. Post-Covenant, when fandom was absolutely ripped in half and you were either “for” or “against” the prequels, the Blomkamp situation, etc. I was (and still am) a fan of Alien: Covenant, and I endured so much weird hate for being open about that.
Fandom today is so much more accepting, open, curious, etc. It’s a place where different viewpoints are tolerated and encouraged. We’ve all got more of a sense of humor about things, too, I think.
It’s tough. The entire Alien Saga is so all-over-the-place. People like wildly different parts of it, and oftentimes things that are dissimilar fall into the “this doesn’t feel like Alien” bucket. But I think we’re all learning that Alien means different things to different people, and that’s actually kind of maybe the best part of all. And why we’re able to talk so much about these films without feeling like we’re running out of ideas.
And of course, the most significant change of all is that we are on the precipice of TONS of new Alien stories. With Alien: Romulus just a few months down the road and Hawley’s series in motion, there is such a pervasive sense of excitement. It’s really a great time to be a fan.
BD: Like many fandoms, it seems like there’s plenty of division between fans in the Alien fandom. What would be your advice (or hope) in regards to how fans might approach supporting one another while also feeling free to express their individual opinions about the films, characters, etc.?
JP: This is a great question. My first response is that all of our opinions are valid. There’s intensity and passion in this community because most of us feel an ownership to this IP. These aren’t just movies, they are films that have changed our lives in some ways. When we feel let down by a film or whatever, it’s easy to disparage it. I find that learning to let what doesn’t engage us go, as opposed to denigrating it, is the best option for engagement.
PG: I go back to my previous point: We are a stronger fandom because we’re a diverse fandom. These films are all so freakin’ different from one another. So, we’re never going to all agree on which one is the “best” one, just as we’ll never agree on which is the “worst” one. We all bring ourselves and our viewpoints and our nightmares to these films, and that means we have this wonderful opportunity to learn more about one another via the ways in which we uniquely engage these movies.
BD: Given the Xenomorph has been an established presence in pop culture since the first film released in 1979, why do you think this creature and these stories endure decades later? Why are audiences fascinated with this monster?
JP: The stories of Alien endure because of the human element. The characters in the original trilogy felt like and continue to feel like real living and breathing people. They stay with us. We carry them in our hearts. While the creatures and effects and world-building are second-to-none, the films are about what it means to be human in the face of abject terror.
Giger’s creature is endlessly fascinating. I’m afraid of spiders, and I can’t stop looking at them. I feel the same about the monster. Every time I see it, it’s almost too terrible to look away. There’s not been a creature as terrifying and original since. I love creature design, and I am always disappointed when I see creatures in films. They all look the same, as if designed by people who all went to the same art school. Giger’s beast feels like something from the deepest recesses of our nightmares. There’s nothing like it.
PG: Because it’s exactly as beautiful as it is terrifying. Which is to say, the most beautiful and the most terrifying of any monster dreamed up in cinema history. And because it represents those two things at once, we are absolutely unendingly fascinated by it. We’re terrified and enthralled. It is so damn cool.
It’s also an endless black void of mystery, like the best horror stories call for. We don’t know exactly why it does what it does. We don’t know how it eats, grows, breathes, etc. We don’t know how the accelerant fits in. We don’t know where the Queens come from. We don’t know if “egg morphing” is actually a thing. We have hints of answers to all these questions scattered in the Extended Universe, but the films (luckily) leave so much up to interpretation.
And of course, “interpretation” is just another way of saying “subjectivity.” And when horror asks us to look inwards, into the subjective, for answers, that’s where great art happens. We’re forced to wonder these things for ourselves. We’re forced to inject part of ourselves into the nightmare—and in so doing, we inject the nightmare into ourselves, as well.
BD: The latest entry of the Alien franchise, the feature film, Alien: Romulus, releases this August in theaters. Are you excited for Romulus, and what are you hoping for when it comes to the newest chapter in the Alien franchise?
PG: Hugely, hugely excited. We’ve got a little recitation going: IN FEDE WE TRUST. He’s a great director with enormous reverence for the material. I hope first and foremost to be scared out of my mind. That’s a major reason I love Covenant—for all of its many flaws, there are sequences in it that are absolutely terrifying, where my heart was absolutely pounding in the movie theater. I hope Romulus has a ton of that, and I think it will.
I also hope it accomplishes the admittedly difficult task of feeling at once familiar and surprising. We’ve seen this happen elsewhere recently (Prey being a great example), so I think it’s something that’s certainly doable.
And I hope it doesn’t feel slavishly tied to the other movies. The universe is vast, and many other stories are out there aside from Ripley’s. I want new characters with something urgent to say, and I don’t need them setting up canonical tie-ins with Alien and Aliens.
Lastly, I hope it has something valid to say about the moment we’re living in. Not to say I want it to be topical or on-the-nose; rather, I hope it speaks to some of the fear and uncertainty we feel today in a way that feels timeless but pertinent.
JP: I could not be more excited about Alien: Romulus. This new film, directed by the incredible Fede Alvarez, has the potential to unite fandom in a way we have not seen since 1986. My hopes for the film are that we are greeted by incredible new characters that we can root for, or against. If you ask me what’s been sorely missing from the prequels, I would say believable characters. If we can receive a film where characters (and dialogue) are king, that would just about be perfect.
BD: As always at Fanbase Press, when discussing stories, we always like to take time to address the company’s Stories Matter initiative. Stories Matter is Fanbase Press’ specific focus on how universal communication through stories allows us to examine the essentials of human existence, to understand ourselves better and to grow and/or heal, to pass on importance values, knowledge, and lessons to the next generation, and to connect with one another through empathy and compassion.
So, with that in mind, I pose to each of you, beyond the simple entertainment factor, what value or understanding does the Alien franchise offer in regards to our world or the human condition?
JP: I am someone that’s always looking for a deeper meaning. While I love creature design and sci-fi tech, what draws me to the Alien films is again, the human element. Who are we when faced with the possibility of imminent death? What do we do when we’re cornered both physically and psychologically? What does being a hero really mean? The Alien films, specifically the flawless original trilogy, speaks to all of those things. The character of Ellen Ripley has remained a guiding light for me since I was a young teenager. Her strength and determination to get through her circumstances literally saved me as a kid.
It’s also so, so important that the Alien films have historically featured a woman protagonist. I continue to smile knowing that this great big, amazing fandom, that’s largely male, circle around Ripley and Vasquez, without batting an eye about it. It’s less about their gender and more about writing good characters. That’s how it’s done. You get to know someone for who they are, and everything else falls away.
PG: That’s a big one! And an important one. I’ll try to come up with some pithy thoughts on this here, but I really urge people to listen to Perfect Organism if they aren’t already, as this is exactly the sort of bread-and-butter content that makes our show what it is.
Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 are all, in their own ways, stories of people coming together at the “ass end of space” to find meaning. In Alien, the crew of the Nostromo is a ragged bunch of everymen/women just trying to earn a living and getting (to varying degrees) tired of each other. In Aliens, the Colonial Marines are “bad hombres” who have never been in a fight they haven’t felt equipped for. In Alien 3, you have a bunch of prisoners trying to make sense of a senseless existence (stuck in a foundry on an inhospitable planet for the rest of their lives). And in each of these, the inescapable reality that they are in danger, that they could die, pushes them towards some existential truths about meaning and what meaning looks like.
In Alien, the crew comes together to get off the ship no matter what. And when the last survivor, Ripley, is desperately trying to get on the Narcissus, she goes back to rescue the only other non-Xenomorph onboard: Jones the cat. It’s a tiny act of heroism in an extreme situation, but it gives that situation so much meaning outside of “just” her own survival.
In Aliens, we see these marines sacrifice themselves over and over so others can make it out. The classic example being Gorman and Vasquez holding each other in their final moments, detonating a grenade in the ventilation duct. Finding meaning at the very end, in extremis.
And in Alien 3, the “lifers” are actually the most actively engaged of any characters in any of the Alien films in that search for “meaning” from the beginning. Their religion, born in the foundries of that dark prison, gives them light to hold onto. They are reverent about death in a way that honors Newt and Hicks. And as it becomes clear the only way anyone is getting out is if they come together to do whatever it takes, we see so many of these hardened prisoners—murders and rapists, no less—sacrifice themselves to do something good with their final moments. And of course Ripley, our heroine and the lifeblood of these films, gets to die in an apotheosis of meaning. In her death, she saves the world. In her death, she’s finally able to rest.
We frequently talk about xenomorph XX-121 as the embodiment of “oblivion.” This is a term I picked up from Sarah Welch-Larson, who’s been on the show a couple times and is wonderful. So, if you look at these films in that way, they are stories of humans coming to terms with oblivion. And deciding what to do with the time they have left.
And I kind of feel like that’s exactly what we’re all doing, right? We know we’ll die. We know everything we love is, ultimately, transient. But that doesn’t make this any less meaningful or important or sacred. It actually makes it more meaningful. And these films give us a chance to explore that inescapable truth about our own lives, which also scaring the shit out of us. It doesn’t get better than that.
BD: Finally, where can our readers find our more about you and the Perfect Organism Podcast online?
PG: Our website is perfectorganism.com, and we’re available on all podcast platforms! You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We’re still trying to figure out the best replacement for the Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, but in the meantime you can catch up with us on those others. And we love to get emails! You can send messages to perfectorganismpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks!
JP: Thank you so much for taking the time for these amazing and well-thought questions!
