Update: due to unforeseen circumstances, the remaining eight entries missed the BHM deadline and will spill into the next day or two. Sorry for the inconvenience.
This February, Midnight Social Distortion will be celebrating Black History Month by honoring Black horror characters, in particular Black horror survivors, throughout the twenty-eight day period. Each day will feature one black male and one black female survivor in horror and sci-fi to bring light to the positive, albeit still problematic, black champions of representation in horror. Some disclaimers first: obvious spoilers ahead, and not all horror survivors will be featured this go round, but will appear in later posts down the line.
Dr. Alexa “Lex” Woods (Sanaa Lathan)
Character Arc:
Minding her own business, Alexa “Lex” Woods was recruited by that damn Weyland Corporation to guide them through the arctic to find an odd heat source in an area in Antarctica. She told them that she had three rules: no one goes anywhere alone, that they kept constant communication, and finally to not be a hero when things went south. Of course none of the crew followed those rules, which probably would’ve proved wise if they did since the expedition ended up being a clusterfuck once the Predators/Yautja showed up for their rite of passage hunt for Xenomorphs. After the last scientist/archaeologist was snatched by a Xenomorph, Alexa joined forces with the remaining Yautja named Scar and the two took out the aliens and the Alien Queen when they reached the surface. Before going into battle, Scar marked Alexa with the acidic blood of a Xenomorph, recognizing her warrior status. This move is recognized by the Yautja elders when they come to claim Scar’s body, and leave his staff with Alexa, sparing her life so she can return to kicking the elements’ ass, and being totally unbothered in the process. Get ’em, Alexa!!!!
Fun Trivia
Alexa is the sole black survivor of the Alien franchise, and joins Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover) as the second black person to survive a Predator film.
Final Thoughts
When this movie was released, I was ecstatic about the thought of Sanaa Lathan, battling both Xenomorph AND Yautja, in one movie. Then she joined forces with the Predator and it just got bad after that. However, most of the derision came from people who weren’t steep in the ancillary/tie-in material such as comics, books, and such where Predators did hunt or work alongside humans. But Alexa was the only salvageable component in the movie and it’s a shame we didn’t get more of her. She is a reigning queen in black representation in sci-fi, and should be treated as the kick ass goddess that she is. Alexa, girl, we salute you!