"Battle: Los Angeles" is the latest movie that plays off of our paranoia about aliens. We know they must be out there. We know that they have superior technology. And we know that they really want to harm us.
To be sure, alien invasion movies combine many of the elements that make for successful blockbuster; special effects, lots of violence, horror movie style tension, and usually a satisfying ending when we show those pesky ETs what it costs to invade our planet. But the proliferation of such movies play off of our fear of the unknown "other" that likely has been around since Neolithic times.
Tens of thousands of years ago, when one group of hunter gatherers met another, hands likely tightened on flint tipped spears and things got a little tense. Hunting grounds were at a premium and one did not want some other group of people to take them. Thus the suspicion that all too often devolved into fighting.
As it was in the Stone Age, it is in the Space Age. ET may be friendly, but why take chances.
The list of alien invasion movies that follow the following formula: aliens invade, aliens wreck havoc, humans think all is lost, humans (or some other agency) figure out a way to stop the aliens and wipe them out, roll credits.
The formula was followed in "War of the Worlds," both George Pal and Steven Spielberg versions, "Independence Day," and hundreds of B grade movies from the 1950s. When they aliens are not coming in openly with star ships and fighting machines, they are trying to subvert us, as in "The X Files," "The Invaders" and the recent "The Event."
Movies about friendly ETs, such as the two Steven Spielberg offerings, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "ET" are few and far between. Friendly aliens are boring and, if the movies are any indication, unlikely.
"Battle: Los Angeles" is just the latest aliens as bad guys who come to kill us all genre movie. They seem to revel in inflicting death, destruction and terror. But that is alright, because we humans, who may be lacking in the technology department, are more than sufficient in the cunning department.
One wonders how all of this is going to affect things when humans really do meet ET. Will generations of alien invasion movies lead to a misunderstanding and then a tragedy? Or will cooler heads prevail?
No comments:
Post a Comment