A pale android and a marine in armour study green screens in a starship's command deck.

Original artwork, not a still

Bishop

I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid.

— Aliens  ·  1986

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

After a film spent making Ripley and the Marines distrust him, Bishop answers with a joke about his own nerves: the android does not want to go either, and he does not pretend otherwise. It lands because it is a human sentiment from a machine, said by a character everyone assumed would be coldly obedient. Fans quote it whenever someone sensibly dislikes a dangerous job and does it anyway.

Context reviewed

In context

Spoilers for AliensShow the scene

In Aliens (1986), the Marines' dropship has been lost and the survivors on LV-426 are stranded. The second dropship is still aboard the Sulaco in orbit and can only be brought down by remote control from the colony. Hudson flatly refuses to go out and do it. Bishop volunteers quietly, then louder, pointing out that he is the only one qualified to remote-pilot the ship, and adds that he would rather not. Then he sets out for the job.

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