On the Nature of Aliens; Inspired by Clyde Lewis’s “Rocket

Once again I’m caught up in tonight’s Clyde Lewis’ Ground Zero show.  Here’s a transcript:

http://www.groundzeromedia.org/rocket-bye-baby/

I had a dream once that Jesus was an alien.  I’ll never forget it because it came to me when I was 18 and I’d taken a class in college called “The Millennium” and it was all about millennial cults (Ironically, this was in 1998 and it was offered at a Catholic university).  At any rate, I had a dream that Jesus returned, only no one realized that he was an alien.  If you stop and think about it, aliens who wish to take over the planet would be smart to come to Earth as religious figures.  People tend to not question these things.

At any rate, tonight’s radio show made me think about the Twilight Zone episode called “To Serve Man.”  Rod Serling was ahead of his time.  This episode revolved around aliens, the Kanamits (I have a Kanamit doll that I bought at Comic Con) who come to earth under the guide of sharing their wisdom with the people of earth.  (Spoiler alert!!)  Their real intention, however, is to take humans to their planet as the main ingredient in their recipes…get it–To serve man….  What calls my attention to this episode is that the Kanamits land and go to the United Nations.  There is no panic, but there’s a media firestorm and a whirlwind of politicians trying to figure out how to use the Kanamits to their advantage. It’s remarkable how calmly the people of Earth are during this first contact experience. 

When the aliens arrive in Independence Day, things are not as calm.  People panic.  Will Smith’s neighbors in Los Angeles do not waste time getting the heck out of town.  When the aliens attack, the panic level increases.

I would love to see what people today would do if a UFO showed up in the sky for all to see.  I’d love to hear the military spin jockeys stammering that they were not caught off guard and the political slant on the massive event.  Social media would be aflutter, of course, and the media would be frothing to get an exclusive interview with anyone who knew what was going on.  Can you imagine it? 

What I’d Really Like to See from TV and Movies

I like action movies.  I like Sci-Fi movies, too.  I saw Independence Day when it first came out, and then I saw it again.  The thing that always gets me is that I want to see what happens next.  Aliens invade Earth, and Earth wins.  What next?  What did civilization do to recover?

In War of the Worlds, much of the world was destroyed by the aliens that had been dormant under the Earth’s surface.  Germs take them out.  But what happens after that?  What does humanity learn?

The Walking Dead gives us snippets of what led to the zombie apocalypse.  Personally, I’d like to see more of what happened before Rick woke up in the hospital, but I like that we’re seeing the aftermath.  I’m fervently hoping that the spinoff gives up even more insight into what is going on around the world.

Deep Impact came the closest to satisfying my need to see what comes next.  The asteroid hits the planet and a giant tidal wave takes out the Eastern Seaboard, but later on we see the crews rebuilding the White House.  It’s uplifting.

I feel the same about reality TV shows.  Have you watched ABC’s The Bachelor or The Bachelorette?  Here’s what I’d like to see…and then I’d actually watch it.  They film the men and women vying for the Bachelor/Bachelorette’s affections, and when crazy stuff happens behind the scenes the Bachelorette/Bachelor is completely unaware.  It makes for good dramatic fodder for the audience.  But what if the producers allowed the stars to secretly watch tape at the end of the day so that he/she can see what’s really going on in the house…. Can you imagine that drama??  All of a sudden those lies and cover ups are out in the open.  There can be no denying it.  He he/she said it, then there is no arguing…it’s all on tape.

I think TV and movies should switch it up a bit.  Show us the stuff we haven’t seen before.  All of a sudden, a sequel to War of the Worlds will look like a modern take on The Patriot, only we’re fighting aliens and not Red Coats.

Maybe it’s the history major in me, or maybe I’m just bored with more of the same.  I just think a little change here and there would be nice…