Now that I've given you some background on certain aspects of Alias, I will show you how those aspects are maintained or changed through the different mediums Alias incorporates.
The Prequel Novels: These novels for young adults focus heavily on the complexity of relationships in Sydney's life. The second novel, A Secret Life, deals with Sydney's first mission and the budding romance between Sydney and Noah Hicks, a character who appears in the television show for only two episodes. The development of this relationship, however, shows Sydney to be weak, unsure, and vlunerable, as opposed to the strong and powerful woman seen in the show:
"What is it?" He voice came out a whisper. The way he was looking at her... And then, just as she'd known he would, Noah reached out and took her into his arms. She stiffened as he pulled her tight to his body, but the way his lips brushed against her ear did strange things to her pulse. "Can you hear me?" he breathed, so low it was almost like hearing his thoughts. His breath was warm against her neck. His mouth nuzzled her ear. Her heart pounded out of control as his hand ran up into her auburn wig. "Yes," she forced out somehow. He pulled her even closer. "Our room's bugged. Somebody's made us."
In this excerpt, one can clearly see how weak Sydney is in comparison to Noah. Her judgement was impared because she let her emotional side get the better of her; Noah was always cool, doing what needed to be done to protect them against the bug. When Noah appears in the TV show, it is Sydney, not Noah, who is superior. When he asks her to run away with him, it is Sydney who thinks rationally and turns down his offer. Although the aim of these novels is to fill in the unknown elements of Sydney's past, based on this excerpt, their canonical value should be questioned.
Although, like the television show, the missions in the prequel novels intertwine Sydney's public life with her private life, the missions in A Secret Life do so only to get Noah and Sydney closer. The mission itself means nothing in the larger scheme of things except as a catalyst for Sydney and Noah's relationship.
Because each novel addresses a different element of Sydney's past, the serial aspect of the show is maintained. However, the format of the novels is very linear, not once utilizing the flashback/flashforward technique so prevalent in the TV show.
Fan-Fiction: Unlike the prequel novels, a main theme of Alias fan-fiction is the strength and power of women. The second article I had the class read explained thatthe majority of fan-fiction is "slash," or focused on Male/Male relationships because "writing about two men avoids the built in inequality of the romance formula, in which dominance and submission are invaiably the respective roles of men and women" (qtd. in Somogyi 399). What I found interesting about Alias fan-fic is that the majority of the relationships are heterosexual, and the most popular slash fic is between Sydney and Lauren (see "strong women" Alias Presentation Part 1). I likened this to the Janeway/Chakotay fan-fic that Somogyi discusses because, like Janeway, Sydney is an extremely strong female character. In addition to romantic relationships, Alias fan-fiction deals heavily with familial relationships as well as adversarial relationships. This is due to the importance the show places on these relationships in Sydney's life. Alias fan-fics also deal heavily with "the unknown" elements of the Alias world, most notably the Rambaldi mystery and the mystery surrounding Irina's (Sydney's mother) life and motives.
Both the fan-fiction and prequel novels attempt to fill in the unknown/mysterious elements of the show while exploring relationships that the show didn't have time for or didn't want to explore. Each are examples of serial storytelling, although the fan-fiction is more so because single chapters of a story are released alone. What the fan-fiction does that the novels don't do, however, is maintain the non-linear storytelling aspect of the show. Many of the fan-fics try and emulate this structure of the television show by starting their stories with a mission near the end of their story. Although this is successful, the nature of fiction leaves the action sequences in both the fan-fics and the novels something to be desired.
Alais: The Game for PS2 and XBox: The structure of the game is very similar to the television show. It opens with Sydney getting captured at a mission, then flashes back 72 hours to the beginning of the story and game. The "woman warrior" aspect of the show is also maintained, as the men are secondary to both Sydney and her adversary Anna. In the television show, the development of the other characters is important - they frequently get their own stories, conflicts, and missions. In the game, not only is Sydney's character the only important one, but she is visually the only well-made character. The other characters only interact with Sydney in relation to her mission, and besides her mission there is nothing else. The action sequences are a means to an end and don't affect her private life in any way. A review of the game on PC Gameworld unintentionally addresses this: "Alias embodies everything that the TV series is: Action, stealth, tension, gadgets, costumes, secret missions." In the show, however, the missions and costumes are only secondary to the more complex themes of family, trust, and discovering the truth. These themes are ignored in the game.
Alias Underground for PC and Mac: While the computer game is very similar to the video game, there are some key differences. It doesn't have the complexity of a non-linear story, but the format does seek to emulate the serial aspect of the show. Each mission is released separately, and they follow specific missions seen in the show. Like the game, Sydney is the main character, but there is a Vaughn character that appears in certain missions to work with Sydney. Aside from this, no external relationships are touched on, and certainly none of the tension exists. The "Raid on SD-6" mission is based directly off of "The Box" episodes - the format and tension of the action sequences translates well, but none of the father/daughter tension that is important to the episode is even addressed.
Action Figures: So far there are two series of action figures made for Alias. Both sets have two Sydney figures - one in a powerful and tough outfit such as a business suit or spywear, the other in a sexy yet tough alias. These two figures show the two sides of Sydney's life, keeping each equally important. In each series, the Sydney figures are paired with two men - one good and one bad. The tough Sydney figure is made to look just as powerful as both of these men, if not more so.
I hope this presentation helps gives some needed background into the television show Alias and the different mediums it has accessed to tell its story. Now for the paper...
Posted by JohannaDreyfuss at May 3, 2005 02:39 PM | TrackBack