In the first half of the film the audience is meant to think that Ripley is a heartless bitch, especially the airlock scene when she refuses to let the landing party return aboard. I've always thought that her saving the cat was a great narrative device to show us that she isn't this cold, heartless person. She was doing what was necessary to save as many members of the crew as possible.
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joined 1 year ago
100% agree! RotJ is where the cracks started to show. I think people forget this because all the nonsense that followed, starting with the Special Editions, makes RotJ seem restrained in comparison.