Lieutenant Gorman's most memorable scene in 1986's Aliens is his indecision during the ambush in the Automorphic Processer, freezing up as his platoon is torn to pieces by shadows come to life from the darkness. All he can do in response to a chaotic picture of two of the Universe's most lethal combatants locked in a melee is meekly parroting tactics verbatim from his training as his Marines fall like grains of sand in an hourglass.
It cements the picture the audience has of him as a soft, REMF completely out of his element, and highlights Ripley as the most capable (alongside Cpl. Hicks) person to take charge against the Xenomorphs. Even the Lieutenant himself cedes command to her in the aftermath.
Yet something I've always mussed over is Gorman's history. The Colonial Marines are the United America's "Force in Readiness", fined to a sharp edge for conventional combat operations in any environment, "Bug Hunts" against extraterrestrial flora and fauna and operations more morally grey then technically black. Such a force would be well vetted. A chicken shit officer would not last long.
Yet Gorman has seen action before:
Ripley : How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?
Lieutenant Gorman : Thirty eight... simulated.
Private Vasquez : How many combat drops?
Lieutenant Gorman : Uh, two. Including this one.
I have come to think that on that first Combat Drop, 2nd Lieutenant William Gorman had his baptism by fire, landing in a hot LZ during some planetary police action like those described in the Colonial Marines RPG Sourcebook or Tech Manual. His first command (He's so new to the Marines aboard the Sulaco he has yet to learn their names) took a serious beating, bunker busting, clearing a minefield, holding a key position from enemy counterattack or infiltrators. He saw a lot of good Marines killed that day.
So when the Xenomorphs come out of the goddamned walls and the new platoon he barely knows starts filling the APC's tactical operations station with screams and curses and the drilling of Smart Guns. He's suddenly brought back to that moment on the battlefield, as his troops are likewise butchered, and in that awful haze he hesitates as we see, forcing Ripley to take over.
The fact he's chosen for this mission could be seen as the Corps trying to get "damaged goods" out of the way, sent off on some simple assignment even he can't screw up* or the Company choosing an officer with a reputation as a Jonah to lead what it hopes will be a one way mission for the Marines, and a test of the Xeno's capabilities.
*This attitude is especially cold, but we see something similar in Dark horse's Zula Hendricks, a wounded Marine told her injuries wasted the USCMC investment in her.
It's his subsequent actions afterwards that brought about this hypothesis, when push comes to shove, Gorman is willing to give up his position to someone more experienced, pitches in on setting up the defenses when it becomes clear they'll be in it for the long haul, and stands by the ethos of the Corps even at the cost of his own life, Never Leave a Man Behind.
It's a different way to view William Hope's portal, that's for sure.
Fonte:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comme...petent_he_was/
Originariamente Scritto da Lolliker
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