Celeste (My Stepmother is an Alien)

Celeste is a female extraterrestrial who appears in the 1988 movie My Stepmother is an Alien. She is sent to Earth after an apparent 'attack' on their home world to try and find out what happened and if what was done can be reversed before her world is destroyed. She is portrayed by Kim Basinger.

Information
Steven - a human scientist - is working on ways to send radio signals much further out into space than before, despite the warnings of his superiors. One night during a thunderstorm, the radio dish is struck by lightning and a short circuit in the klystron causes the dish's power to increase dramatically. This shoots a more powerful signal further than Steven's initial target - but he is fired from his job due to the signal causing damage inside the facility and shorting out all the electrical tools and systems, wiping all proof that he accomplished the feat. Unbeknown to him, it also begins to cause a massive problem on another world (Cosine N to the 8th) as the planet's gravity begins to increase - threatening all life on the planet.

Realizing the signal came from Earth and seeing it as an act of aggression, the planet's council send out a female agent called Celeste (along with her commander - an alien creature known as 'Bag' who hides in a designer purse Celeste carries) to find out what happened and if the transmission could be reversed before their home-world is destroyed. Unbeknown to Celeste, however, Bag has been given secret orders by the council to destroy Earth after they reverse the signal - if they are successful. After landing on Earth, Celeste's spaceship is sent behind the moon to avoid detection while Celeste crashes a party held by Steven's brother Ron. Nearly giving herself away immediately due to the information her superiors collected been very out of date, she nonetheless gets Steven's attention. Claiming to be from the Netherlands, she manages to get Steven to talk about what he did at the lab and also manages to get inside to look around. Unable to find how he was able to create the signal as humanity's science has not yet reached such a level, Bag states that he must be lying and that he's hiding something.

Invited back to his house, Celeste later has sex with Steven but shows difficulty with simple tasks the next day, like trying to cook. Meeting with a holographic image of the council in an empty baseball field after Steven unexpectedly proposes to her, they explain to her what marriage is - to which Celeste agrees she will go through with it to help carry on her mission (as well as the council stating that they will provide the lightning necessary to try and replicate the process). Steven's 13 year old daughter Jessie shows suspicions about Celeste after seeing her drinking the acid out of batteries, but can't convince him due to him been smitten. Steven's brother Ron also shows his doubts, but later reveals that he is jealous that Steven has found his 'dream woman' while Ron's ideal woman would be Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

Bag later uses her abilities to get Steven his job back, so he can continue work on finding out what happened on the night the signal was sent - although Celeste's constant difficulties in adapting to life on Earth keep Jessie's attention. Eventually realizing that her stepmother is an alien, Jessie is confronted by Celeste and Bag - with Celeste explaining about what happened on her planet and why she is on Earth, although she is thrown into turmoil as she realizes that she has developed feelings for both Steven and Jessie. After saving Jessie from been hit by a car, Steven (who is present) realizes she is an alien. Confronting her later, Celeste tells Steven about her race and her mission on Earth, with Steven admitting he still loves her but doesn't know how to replicate the signal that may save her world. As they share a tender moment (with Steven commenting on 'been married to his work' after spending his whole life trying to prove there is life on other worlds and then indeed marrying an alien), he realizes what caused the power surge after Celeste gets a static shock from the metal snaps on his shirt. When she tells this to Bag, she learns to her horror about the council's secret instructions for Bag to destroy Earth - 8 minutes after the signal is repeated. Leaving bag at home to try and avoid this, Celeste goes with Steve and Jessie to the facility. However, Bag rings Ron - pretending to be Celeste by mimicking her voice - and tells him to meet her at the facility after collecting her purse.

Arriving at the facility, Celeste, Steve and Jessie - along with Steven's boss and colleague - are able to replicate the signal, saving Celeste's home-world. When Ron arrives with Bag, Steven manages to throw the purse into the Klystron - killing Bag and saving Earth from been destroyed. When the council re-emerge in the sky, they question Celeste on why Earth hasn't been destroyed. Together, Steven and Celeste manage to convince the council to spare Earth, with the knowledge that what happened was accidental and due to their planet's gravity reverting back to normal. When the council instruct Celeste to come home and explain what she has learned about Earth customs, Celeste states she is staying on Earth with Steven and Jessie - although Steven's brother Ron agrees to go as an ambassador (especially after seeing that the 'flight attendants' on Celeste's ship all look like Princess Stéphanie). Stating they will keep in touch, the council bid Celeste farewell. Now accepting herself as human, Celeste is seen having fun with Jessie and Steven while Ron travels to her home-world - serenading the attendants by playing a song on the piano.

Additional Information
Celeste is stated to be 1296 years old, with her species been 'where humanity will be in 55 centuries, if [humanity] makes it that far'. Her species reproduces by synthesis in a petri dish due to sex having been 'inefficient and messy' - although after her experience from having sex with Steven, Celeste admits she felt her species' decision to simply abandon sex was a little hasty.



Her species also uses 104% of their brain's capacity, as opposed to humanity using 36%, while their lives are spent in perfect harmony - improving their civilization with none of the erratic highs and lows that occur with humans - although Steven compares this to living in Switzerland. A negative side of Celeste's species is that they don't feel emotion, which puts Celeste into turmoil when she begins to feel love and other feelings for Steven and Jessie - most notably on whether she should stay with them or return home.

Celeste is more resilient to heat, as shown by the fact she could grab hard boiled eggs out of boiling hot water with her bare hands without been burnt. Furthermore, she is shown eating cigarettes and drinking battery acid. Other new experiences for Celeste include sneezing (which one of the council members later does) and sexual intercourse - which she initially sees as having been disgusting and weird when learning about it, but enjoys it when she does it with Steven.



To help her with her mission on Earth, Celeste is aided by her commander - a one-eyed female alien creature known as 'Bag' - who hides in a designer purse which Celeste carries around with her. Bag's main abilities include been able to create any object almost instantly - such as designer dresses, ID cards, diamonds, etc. as well as providing information on different concepts, such as kissing. The purse also acts as an amplifier for Celeste's abilities, such as when she uses it to save Jessie from been hit by a car by changing her body's density - causing Jessie to just 'pass through' the vehicle without harm. In a negative attribute, Bag is capable of destroying an entire planet and tries to do this to Earth after a way is found to save Celeste's home-world, but is killed before she can complete this task. Without Bag, however, Celeste still has powers of her own - such as Telekinesis, been able to move at incredible speed and being able to learn what a book is about by opening it and putting her wrist in it to gather information.

Appearances
My Stepmother is an Alien (1988 film)