Aliens in the Media

A funny thing about humans of Earth is their concept of what intelligent life is like outside of this planet. Humans are vastly unaware of the fact that there are countless galactic travelers such as myself roaming Earth just looking for a work or a good vacation spot away from the troubles of our own home worlds.

Interestingly enough, many humans believe that life beyond this planet consists of beings with big bald heads and dark, glassy eyes. I find this a little offensive. You see, a few of the guys of the Blorf Nebula got a little to tipsy one evening and crash landed in the desert and were discovered by the government.

Image from: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Copyright by Universal Studios.

This prompted great fascination with beings from someplace other than Earth and spawned many false impressions in the mass media of what “aliens” are really like. The media’s representation led many to believe that every E.T. looked like… well, E.T.

 

This brings me to today’s post about the world of mass media and how it discriminates and marginalizes cosmic immigrants. If the people of Earth only knew how hard it is to even get here, no one would imagine that we are here to destroy it. We’ve come to understand that the human race is very territorial, and if anyone is going to destroy the planet it’s going to be them.

Contrary to popular thought, most species of beings that inhabit the cosmos are not as advanced as the human race might imagine. Similar to the small percentage of people here on earth who go one to accomplish wondrous things, only a small amount of “aliens” are really worth mentioning.

Original Artwork by Pablo Ortega. Portrait of characters from the film “Return of the Jedi” show how humans perceive other beings from other parts of space.

More importantly, they usually look like everyone else on Earth. Since these beings only stand out by being strange or eccentric they usually go unnoticed by humans. In fact, many end up finding work as musicians, athletes, artists, and philosophers as these are some of the things non-humans excel at over humans.

 

An open mind will begin to answer the age old question of whether Earthlings are alone in the universe. Additionally, open minds will find that humans’ perception of life outside of Earth is misconstrued. Not only are we not alone, but we are all here together. So, whenever you meet a strange person, don’t alienate them. Take a chance to get to know them because you may be interacting with life from another planet.