In older movies, why are women always perceived as boring people with no personality who only clean the house and make food? In the movie The Thing From Another World, one of the female characters, Nikki Nicholson, was quite the opposite. The actress portraying her was named Margaret Sheridan. She was a supermodel, who nobody thought she could act. Margaret proved them all wrong by being one of the best characters in the movie. She even gave an amazing idea on how to kill The Thing. She helped shape the way of modern movies with strong, smart female leads. The Thing From Another World influenced modern pop culture because it was the first Sci-Fi movie that portrayed women as smart, strong individuals.
Natalie Portman, also known as Jane Foster from Thor, was heavily influenced by Nikki from The Thing From Another World. Although some may think that Jane was only in the movies as a love interest for Thor, many disagree. Alicen Ricard from WWest disagrees with my claim by saying, “Other than being a plot device, her other purpose in the first Thor movie is to be a love interest for Thor.” This statement is incorrect. Jane was a very intelligent woman. Not only was she an astrophysicist, but she also made a mathematical model to understand how Thor got to earth. Thor is from another world, so figuring that out takes a lot of intelligence. Women were mainly props or accessories in the fifties’ film industry. In The Thing From Another World, Nikki was more than just arm candy. She was a smart strong woman just like Jane Foster was. Although there was a love interest with both characters, they were portrayed as something besides that. They were portrayed as scientists who were very evolved.
Sticking with the theme of Marvel movies, Letita Wright, also known as Shuri from Black Panther, is another great example of a smart, powerful woman who was influenced by Nikki from The Thing From Another World. Rachel Thompson from Mashabl says “… a hip engineering mastermind who just so happens to be a princess of an indomitable kingdom.” Although the main science Shuri does is with Vibranium (a fake metal), she brings a large amount of knowledge from the STEM field into it. Shuri was only 18 years old when she developed a new technology for the country she lived in, including spaceships and super-strength shielding. Even though most of the things Shuri creates are fictional, she is still one of the brightest young women in movies. Shuri is also a medical engineer. This means that she creates medical devices for her country of Wakanda. Nikki from The Thing From Another World is an early version of Shuri. Film was not very inclusive of smart women in the fifties. As time went on women were more more represented as scientific, strong individuals in film. Shuri is a strong, scientific woman who is based off of Nikki Nicholson.
Lastly, Nikki Nichloson inspired Dr. Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park. Dr. Ellie Stattler was a paleobotanist. Alicen Ricard from WWest says “She’s a smart and passionate Paleobotanist, with killer survival skills.” She studied dinosaur bones and even helped discover them. She works alongside another paleobotanist, Alan Grant. She was very intelligent and passionate about the field of science she works in. She also has very good survival skills. Dr. Stattler does what is right and is not afraid to do it. She gets them out of many tough situations, like how Nikki gave advice on how to kill The Thing. For example, Dr. Sattler managed to turn the power back on when it was crucial. Although they were different types of scientists, they had a lot in common. Both characters also had love interests in the scientific field they worked in. Dr. Stratter had a relationship with Alan Grant. Nikki Nicholson had a relationship with Captain Patrick. Both played a significant role in the movie and were not just housewives. Jurassic Park came out in 1993, and even then female portrayals in movies were not the best. Jurassic Park was advanced for its time on women portrayal, and so was The Thing From Another World. Since the gap between movies was around 30 years, women’s rights had changed since then. Both movies had advanced representation of women for their time, especially female scientists. Both were also smart, strong, and intelligent women.
In conclusion, Nikki Nicholson from The Thing From Another World influenced modern pop culture because it was one of the first movies that portrayed females as strong and smart individuals. The Thing From Another World was made in the fifties and women’s representation in film was not the best. Nikki was one of two females in the movie. She was intelligent and strong. She was more than just arm candy and influenced many films later on that had female scientists in them. Nikki influenced the characters Jane Foster from Thor, Shuri from Black Panther, and Dr. Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park. These characters are all female scientists. They are strong, smart, and scientific women. The portrayal of women in films have come really far since the 50s, especially female scientists. Will the representation of women in films only grow, or will it stay the same?
