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In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and War of the Worlds.
A peculiarity of this usage is its anthropocentricity: when humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference.
In popular culture, such as in the movies, on TV, and in comics, "aliens" are often depicted as somewhat humanoid in their appearance (See Greys, Little green men). In fact it unlikely, if alien life exists at all, for a creature that evolved from otherworldly origins on a distant planet, to ressemble even vaguely the appearance of a human being, since most creatures on Earth today such as squid, palm trees or bacteria look very different than a human being does and yet came from the same earthly origins. That would mean aliens from distant worlds, if they exist(ed) at all, would look even less like us than anything we've ever seem. Of course in Hollywood, it is typical to depict aliens as humanoid, as it is easier for an alien in a movie scene to simply be a disguised human actor, say with dripping goo. Plus, Hollywood aliens, in order to catch our attention, must trigger instantaneous emotional reaction; this requires a design based on recognizable human facial features and expressions. It is easier to relate to an alien with features we recognize such as arms and legs, two eyes, a nose and a mouth, as well as behavior we recognize such as baring its teeth in anger or widening its eyes in shock or surprise.
See also
- Alien abduction
- Aliens in fiction
- Invader Zim
- Invader Zim characters
- Ancient astronaut theory
- Black triangles
- Conspiracy theory
- Crop circle
- Hollow earth
- List of magazines of anomalous phenomena
- Military flying saucers
- Roswell rods
- Starchild skull
- UFO conspiracy theory
- Ufology
- Ummo
- Unidentified flying object
External links
Further reading
- Sagan, Carl. 1996. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark: chapter 4: "Aliens"