As a fanboy, including the Third Doctor's time stuck on Earth is totally unfair. Earth was a prison; is it any surprise that he got institutionalized?
But on topic. The core point, I think, is the touchstone for a lot of SF out there: our culture is superior. The point is that aliens may be superior in every way, but the ins and outs of our daily life will blow them out of the water. And if they actually get a taste, they won't be able to stop.
Coincidentally, I know a lot of people who think this about terrorists....
Here's a plot idea for any budding science-fiction writers out there.
"My name is 57@~#~@``-> The Peripatetic One. I who wandered the stars for millennia, only finding true peace and friendship amongst my friends the Cherokee, on the planet I once called 'Lonely Star 3'.
Now I return, making pilgrimage to praise the momories of those warriors and their women who -
I too get fed up with the suppuriotiy complex sci-fi always chucks at us.
Aliens always end up "seeing how great it is being human" and the Doctor spends half the time ranting about how fantastic we all are.
Dont get me wrong, I like positive scifi.
But to me positive is showing us a way forward, not patting our backs and pretending everythings wonderfull about us.
Its note even just about society, its physicaly and emotionally too.
We are constantly showed how great it is being mortal....how many storys are there about immortals who hate it and "really want to be human" etc etc.
We are told live is meaningless unless we die. (Bull's to that, I'm with Riker on this one; I plan to live forever.)
Even rationality and logic is argued against often. We are always shown cold, logical soceitys of aliens....implying that we need irrationality else we become robots. (a rather universal assumption that annoys me). We never see both happy and logical do we?
Oh, and we are always told to trust our instincts, that faith is good etc etc.
Don't forget Killface from Frisky Dingo! He loves fast food, the pop song Cat Party (and 5 months later Dog Party), runs for President of America, reads the Bible, and has a crush on TV reporter Grace Ryan.
rule #6 (the killjoy rule): fictional aliens as described by human authors are always stand-ins for completely human tropes and are, by extension, not alien at all no matter how much the author trys to sell them as such.
@tetracycloide: And yet, who is more alien to us than our fellow humans? Can we ever truly understand another person? Are not those to whom we feel closest, at times, the most difficult to know? Can we even know ourselves? And—hey, this bottle of Captain Morgan's was full less than an hour ago, I'm sure of it.
@Moff: the bottle of captain morgan's appears empty because you are in a vicinity adjacent to a place. that's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the twilight zone.
@Mount_Prion: OH yeah, Mork... He's not really here secretly, is he? I guess I was thinking of aliens who live among us secretly. I guess there are a few people who don't know Mork is an alien.
So, you want an alien who comes to earth and doesn't assimilate, well you are in for a treat. Here's a short list.
Predator, Body Snatchers, Independence Day, Alien Nation, StarMan, ET, The Blob, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds, Critters, Killer Klowns From Outter Space, Strange Invaders, Invaders from Mars...
That should get you through the holidays until we can find some more.
@Grrsn Dn: Also, I think there's a difference between "living among us" and just showing up to attack us or hiding in our remote locations, which rules out some of those.
@ExtensionOfBob: Well thtas kind of my point. See below. But if an alien is to live among us, they have to assimilate. It's like a russian spy living in america in the 80's wouldn't run around sounding like Yakov Smirnov.
Yeah, definitely one of the most refreshing aspects of Robert Sawyer's Calculating God is that the alien (and later aliens) just comes to Earth and says, "Hey, I'm an alien, and here's how this is going to work." The transparency leaves a lot more room for maneuvering, too—no "the government is after us" bullshit. (Because honestly, how disappointing is it when beings smart enough to invent interstellar travel don't foresee the totally obvious fact that Malevolent Forces will want to take their power for self-serving ends?)
@Hamslicer: I thought the funniest line was when Dick put on some weight and Harry is struggling mightily to get him into a corset. Sally walks in and gives them a weird look, and Dick, referring to the corset, says, "It's called 'The Shatner.'"
I think this was the season before Shatner joined the cast.
12/23/08
But on topic. The core point, I think, is the touchstone for a lot of SF out there: our culture is superior. The point is that aliens may be superior in every way, but the ins and outs of our daily life will blow them out of the water. And if they actually get a taste, they won't be able to stop.
Coincidentally, I know a lot of people who think this about terrorists....
12/23/08
12/23/08
12/22/08
"My name is 57@~#~@``-> The Peripatetic One. I who wandered the stars for millennia, only finding true peace and friendship amongst my friends the Cherokee, on the planet I once called 'Lonely Star 3'.
Now I return, making pilgrimage to praise the momories of those warriors and their women who -
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE????????"
(Please don't show this to Michael Bay.)
12/23/08
12/22/08
Aliens always end up "seeing how great it is being human" and the Doctor spends half the time ranting about how fantastic we all are.
Dont get me wrong, I like positive scifi.
But to me positive is showing us a way forward, not patting our backs and pretending everythings wonderfull about us.
Its note even just about society, its physicaly and emotionally too.
We are constantly showed how great it is being mortal....how many storys are there about immortals who hate it and "really want to be human" etc etc.
We are told live is meaningless unless we die. (Bull's to that, I'm with Riker on this one; I plan to live forever.)
Even rationality and logic is argued against often. We are always shown cold, logical soceitys of aliens....implying that we need irrationality else we become robots. (a rather universal assumption that annoys me). We never see both happy and logical do we?
Oh, and we are always told to trust our instincts, that faith is good etc etc.
I want Aliens to stop patting us on the back.
12/22/08
They're just tenderizing us.
12/22/08
12/22/08
Who DOESN'T have a crush on Grace Ryan?!
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
Predator, Body Snatchers, Independence Day, Alien Nation, StarMan, ET, The Blob, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds, Critters, Killer Klowns From Outter Space, Strange Invaders, Invaders from Mars...
That should get you through the holidays until we can find some more.
12/22/08
Starman falls prey to Rule #6.
12/22/08
@Grrsn Dn: Also, I think there's a difference between "living among us" and just showing up to attack us or hiding in our remote locations, which rules out some of those.
12/22/08
12/22/08
12/22/08
I dub this Rule #6 (or, Rule Sex, the Species Rule)
12/22/08
12/22/08
Tom, Dick & Harry & Sally...
12/22/08
12/22/08
How was your flight?
It was awful! I beam into the plane and the first thing I notice is that there's... something... on the... wing!
The same thing happened to me, too!
//Best 3rd Rock moment.
12/22/08
12/23/08
"Well I was driving, and there was a bag in the road, and I swerved because I thought it could be full of bunnies"
or something to that effect. I can't find that clip online.
12/23/08
I think this was the season before Shatner joined the cast.