Yes, she did it on purpose, temporarily, and for a film role...
... but she also had to live the rest of her daily life for the duration of her Alien3 shoot, wonder about her husband's true feelings on his temporarily bald wife, explain to her little girl why Mama looks this way.
Of course, when you're Sigourney, you make it work to your advantage...
... but in so doing, she inspires to feeling beautiful the many women who look like this not because they're in a film or having fun, but because they must in order to get through the tough card life's handed them.
Precisely like each cinematic iteration of Ripley, Sigourney shocks, ignites, supports, nurtures, protects, defends and fights and flat out survives.
She would also be the first to assert that she is not even a mixed fraction the real fighting hero that is each of those real women who fight cancer every day and night, braving the disease and its effect on their bodies, minds, hearts, families.
But even the simple joy of admiring strength and the aesthetic of real beauty have great value. And more to the point, there's no denying that ever since Ripley began fighting her way across cinema screens, she has inspired millions of women of all races, ages and conditions to fight, to be strong and brave, to be the people they need to be.
Sure, she dies in Alien3, just as many of these fighting women will succumb to the disease conspiring to kill them.
But in choosing the time and manner of her death, and in stopping not only the alien plague that invaded her but the male-dominated corporate mindset that put her in that position, she accomplishes so much more than just living on. She frees herself and her memory continues to inspire the fight for others.
Not a bad thing to strive for, would you agree?
You're a continuous gift, Ripley.
-- SIGNING OFF --
