An Alien View. . .
Welcome again gentle Readers. . . (plural, that’s exciting)
As mentioned in earlier blogs, I’m in the middle of writing a series of near-Earth, dystopian sci-fi novels, and as it happens, there are aliens in the mix. . .
I’m in my 40’s, and my book collection is old. I like the classics of sci-fi and fantasy, but I’m constantly on the lookout for a good read, and author to discover, and will take recommendations when offered. With that said, most of the books I’ve read and movies I’ve seen focused on how Alien the ‘others’ are; they were often written or depicted as terrifying, feral and predatory, designed to ignite the primal fear of the dark that exists in all of us former cave dwellers. Another common motif is to assign them of one the seven deadly sins as a personality. Gods, Angels, Devils, Aliens all get to be caricatures using this style. Fortunately, popular culture has given the Alien a friendlier, more ‘human’ face (sorry Spock, thanks Paul), and we’re slowly being brought around to accept the potential that we are not alone, and the ‘others’ might actually be friendly, or perhaps not as far removed from ourselves as we think. . . I’m waiting for the press release out of Area 51; I don’t think it will be long now.
But I digress. Have you noticed that in most cases, we get to judge them, but their commentary on us is often constrained to a couple of one-liners near the end of the show? I decided the topic today would be ‘Aliens’, and how they might view us. . .
Note: You should know that as I typed that last line, several of my alien characters cat-called me from the back of my mind with comments like “Using stealth technology”, “While you’re heavily sedated”, “. . .From a galaxy far, far away”. . . and one pointed theatrically at the tin-foil hat that he wants to wear in the next scene he has with a non-Alien character. Personally I don’t blame him. . . Dealing with most of my characters will drive you crazy.
. . That reminds me, I’m out of tin-foil. . .
Back to the topic . . . Allow me to set the stage and engineer an ‘Alien’ experience: first, imagine you are part of a collective consciousness.You are ‘all one’, your experiences are instantly shared, and you are aware of everything you connect to. . . there is no separation in or by personal identity, and there is the continuous comfort of the commonality that is shared. There is peace, understanding; conflict does not arise as all sides are seen, given consideration and communal accord is reached. One mind with many voices, raised in harmony. . .
Now imagine that you are separated from that; ripped from your environment, and forced to experience what it is to be alone. There is no connection to the others around you. There is no common point of reference, no shared understanding. You are an individual in a strange world where communication is broken, painful and laced with potential threat. There is no accord, and the form that you are bound to often has it’s own agenda. Physical needs, electrical impulses and chemically driven responses motivate involuntary actions, and you are adrift in these new sensations and emotions.You are lost in the wilderness of your own perceptions.
As an ‘Alien’, would you go mad or would you adapt? Would you seek to correct the problems you saw around you, or would you suggest the fleet in orbit begin the Terra-forming protocols the moment you left the planet?
“. . .Nuke-em from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure. . .”
Best quote from my Alien peanut gallery yet!
I have more faith in us than that! I’m curious to hear what anyone has to say.
Cheers,
Jenn
Mythspinner Studios 
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