Here is part three of my four-part review on BBC America’s “The Real History of Science Fiction”. The subject is “Alien Invasion”.
Stories about alien invasion date back to even before H.G. Wells’s landmark novel The War of the Worlds (1898) and the theme has been expanded upon in over 200 films and television shows (Independence Day, Doctor Who). From invasion by outside human forces (i.e.: Imperial Britain, Nazis, Soviets, etc.) to beings from beyond our planet, even our galaxy, coming to Earth with the sole purpose of destroying, colonizing, and/or enslaving humanity and destroying or altering our planet, “alien” invasion taps into our fears of losing what makes us human, autonomy, intelligence, control over ourselves and our world, life itself as we know it.
The episode goes further by exploring the ramifications of our own scientific advances in nuclear weapons and genetic engineering (Godzilla, Jurassic Park) as well as what would happen if the aliens weren’t out to destroy us but rather to teach us and learn from us instead, or if they were just trying to get home, or even trying to live in peace among us (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Men In Black).
Alien invasion is perhaps the one aspect of science fiction that most frightens us, the largest unknown we could ever face as we look deeper and deeper into space. It is also one of the most exiting “what ifs” we could possibly encounter, or have encounter us.
Next up…Time Travel…
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