# "Alien" nitpick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336 "2010-07-11T22:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/1 "2010-07-11T22:36:10Z")
In [_Alien,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28film%29) we see a larval Alien about the size of a cat burst out of Kane’s chest, and then the next time we see it, it masses at least 400 pounds. How did it gain all that mass, in a matter of hours, without, apparently eating anything? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/2 "2010-07-11T22:53:19Z")
IMDB gives this: > [@IMDB](#): > > How can the Alien grow so quickly in such little time? > EditHistoryDelete > > Although such a rate of growth is quite unheard of in Earth’s fauna, we should bear in mind that this particular life-form is extra-terrestrial, and therefore not necessarily subject to conventional wisdom about growth and development. Perhaps the Alien is a physiologically simple creature with all body structures present when it bursts out of its host, and all that is needed is that its cells quickly replicate and grow in size. The latter might be realized by drinking water and eating enormous amounts of nutrients for both energy and building blocks. Such rapid cell division would nevertheless require lots of energy, and this may account for its very short lifespan (the creators of Alien intended the creature to be aging very rapidly throughout the movie, becoming darker and finally dying at the end); the creature’s body quickly invests all its energy into becoming functional, rather than into longevity, much like a butterfly. I prefer to chalk it up to the “a wizard did it” trope. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/3 "2010-07-11T23:01:20Z")
It got down in the bottom of the hold and ate all the garbage. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/4 "2010-07-11T23:07:31Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > It got down in the bottom of the hold and ate all the garbage. Or Bert Gummer’s giant hidden stash of MREs. Beefcake! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/5 "2010-07-11T23:45:59Z")
It did eat a fair chunk of John Hurt’s innards. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/6 "2010-07-11T23:51:11Z")
All the other flaws in that half-assed screenplay and that’s the one you notice? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/7 "2010-07-12T00:12:53Z")
Zero Point Energy. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/8 "2010-07-12T00:14:08Z")
In Alan Dean Foster’s tie-in novel, the alien breaks into a food storage locker and consumes a big chunk of the crew’s food supplies. Then, when it gets large enough, it eschews spam, and starts hunting fresh meat. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/9 "2010-07-12T00:31:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > All the other flaws in that half-assed screenplay and that’s the one you notice? :rolleyes: Critics liked it, as did a very large chunk of the viewing public. RT gives it 97% from the critics, 90% from the RT community. It consitently scores in the top 100-or so movies of all time. So maybe, **Chuck** , just _maybe_, it’s not about _Alien_, but about _you_, and your particular brand of thread-shitting narcissistic behavior you bring to every thread you participate in, every posted reply you submit, having to do with this movie. That’s right, **Chuck** , everyone _else_ is wrong, and only _you_ are right. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/10 "2010-07-12T01:08:33Z")
They pull the same stunt with just about any other dangerous creature in the movies. I forget the name of the movie and I don’t give enough of a shit to look it up, but the one with the bug girl this spring that grew unusually fast is the one I’m thinking of. How the fuck would they be so shocked that it grew so fast when by the laws of physics, they would have to be feeding it enough to allow it to gain that mass? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/11 "2010-07-12T01:44:52Z")
See, I noticed the same thing in Alien 3 - thing bursts out of a dog, then seconds later the alien is 3X the size of the dog from which it came. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/12 "2010-07-12T01:52:47Z")
Maybe they have kelp DNA. _Macrocystis pyrifera_ can grow 500 cm per day. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/13 "2010-07-12T02:00:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > See, I noticed the same thing in Alien 3 - thing bursts out of a dog, then seconds later the alien is 3X the size of the dog from which it came. It’s inflatable? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/14 "2010-07-12T02:33:50Z")
nevermind ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/15 "2010-07-12T03:09:25Z")
It’s just a storytelling shortcut, they do the same thing in **Starman** , I was thinking ‘that’s a lot of calcium out of thin air.’ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/16 "2010-07-12T03:29:08Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > So maybe, **Chuck** , just _maybe_, it’s not about _Alien_, but about _you_, and your particular brand of thread-shitting narcissistic behavior you bring to every thread you participate in, every posted reply you submit, having to do with this movie. > > That’s right, **Chuck** , everyone _else_ is wrong, and only _you_ are right. Come on, **ExTank**. You know the rules here: personal insults aren’t allowed in this forum. This is a formal warning. Don’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/17 "2010-07-12T12:03:28Z")
I gotta admit, Marley, ExTank is correct, here. In every thread which mentions the movie Chuck does this. He’s got a hard on for it (and I’ve read his piece about it) and he’s more than assertive about it. Maybe he just needs some new material or something. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/18 "2010-07-12T12:05:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Come on, **ExTank**. You know the rules here: personal insults aren’t allowed in this forum. This is a formal warning. Don’t do this again. Where’s the personal insult in my reply to **'Chuck?** ---
**Author:** ![Baboonanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Baboonanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baboonanza)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/19 "2010-07-12T12:12:37Z")
Perhaps it starts out extremely dense and as it expands becomes increasingly hollow, space that is latter filled up when it eats. Far fetched I know 🙂 Eating something that just isn’t mentioned in the film is the best explanation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336/20 "2010-07-12T12:24:58Z")
> [@](#): > > So maybe, Chuck, just maybe, it’s not about Alien, but about you, and your particular brand of thread-shitting narcissistic behavior you bring to every thread you participate in, every posted reply you submit, having to do with this movie. > > That’s right, Chuck, everyone else is wrong, and only you are right. Naah – I’m wrong, too. I’ve hated the film since it came out, for many of the same reasons Chuck gives, and much prefer the original film that **Alien** ripped off, Jerome Bixby’s **It! The Terror from Beyond Space**. And the sudden weight gain of Alien is only one of the things that annoys me about that flick, although it’s high on the list. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-nitpick/546336.md?page=2)