Lena in “Annihilation” is a masculinely characterized female character according to the Bem Sex Role Inventory. She served in the military for seven years, which is the basis of her athleticism and marksmanship used throughout the film. Lena embarks on a physically and mentally demanding mission when she enters “the shimmer” – a region labeled as “Area-X” which is under cosmic manipulation from a meteor impact. She enlists herself among a group of four other female scientists after her husband Kane returns from Area-X with multiple failing organs and no evidence as to what happened to him while within the shimmer.
The extraterrestrial meteorite that struck Area-X acts as a prism of everything within the shimmer’s reach, refracting the cells of anyone who enters and causing mutations. Lena first encounters this mutation with flowers of different species which seem to grow together as one, an alligator mutated with extra rows of teeth, and a bear-like creature which kills Sheppard – a member of their group. After Sheppard’s death, Lena deceives her crew and convinces them to continue towards the meteor impact site by quickly concocting a lie about which route is safest.
Lena’s mission is fueled by a need to make things right with her husband. The compassion Lena feels for Sheppard before her death and Lena’s loyalty to Kane are her only feminine traits according to the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Even so, this “loyalty” is questionable. Lena insists she owes it to Kane to finish the mission, as it was an affair between herself and a coworker that drove him into the shimmer to begin with. Though Lena was not faithful to him in their marriage, she remains loyal to the mission and ultimately destroys the alien imposter before it can reach it’s apparent goal of total annihilation.
Shared by: Riley Schwahn
Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk