Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Breaking the Rules
In It Came From Outer Space (1953), a young man sees a space ship, complete with alien beings. When he tells authorities, they don’t believe him. One person even describes him as, "An intense young man . . . odd. Individual and lonely. A man who thinks for himself." Boy, that’s quite a description. All he wanted was to report a space ship sighting, to do his civic duty as it were. It almost sounds like they’re profiling John Wilkes Booth. In any event, the young man is clearly outside the establishment, and an unconventional thinker. The scientists and law enforcement officials continue to deny there is a problem. Sound familiar? It’s funny how often the authorities think they know more than the public; and it’s funny how often they are wrong.
Eventually everyone must face the fact that they’re dealing with aliens. The sheriff’s solution is to round up a posse, to go out and try to kill them, even though no one has been hurt. Boy, the authorities just don’t get it, do they? You don’t kill emissaries from other planets without some provocation. You do kill monsters, preferably before they escape and go rampaging through the countryside. Somebody ought to write a rule book for dealing with monsters.
July 2001
Eventually everyone must face the fact that they’re dealing with aliens. The sheriff’s solution is to round up a posse, to go out and try to kill them, even though no one has been hurt. Boy, the authorities just don’t get it, do they? You don’t kill emissaries from other planets without some provocation. You do kill monsters, preferably before they escape and go rampaging through the countryside. Somebody ought to write a rule book for dealing with monsters.
July 2001
