Are Aliens the new Vampires?

Given all the craziness which swept the planet over 'Twilight' (and all the subsidiary rip offs featuring vampires) - I'm wondering if the latest thing is going to be 'alien love'? I find it interesting that Katy Perry's new single is about being in love with an alien - and this trailer below is for a new book where the heroine falls in love with an alien...

Coming hard on the heels of 'Starline' (which was awful) and the Battle of LA (Not that much better) maybe falling in love with them rather than beating them to death is the new vogue?

Anyway, Tracey Lee Campbell may have tapped into (or even started) the next fad - I can't think of any alien movies or even books where falling in love with an alien was more than just a subsidiary plot to the story (Except a really weird TV play called 'The Plant' which was awesome but is about a million years old now...]



Oz

reply to post by Ozscot


I wouldn't be surprised if aliens, vampires, demons, djinns, angels and some 'gods' were different names for the same entities.

As for the hybridization, aren't we already hybridized? There are many arguments supporting the theory that the human race is a genetic crossbreed of terrestrial and extraterrestial 'creatures'

reply to post by StripedBandit


I couldn't agree more - and in many ways I think logic will take people to that point of view if they just follow the thought trail. I don't tell many people in my own 'circle' that I hold beliefs like those you just described - but it may well turn out to be a 'fashionable' thing to do if songs and books like the above become 'mainstream'.

Oz

Even Whitley Streiber's new novel, "Hybrids", released last month, has humans trying to kill the aliens. From what I've read of it, it's another alien battle story.

Looks like Campbell has hold of a good idea! And a nice video too. I'd like to read it.

As for falling in love with aliens, the only one I can remember was the not-that-remarkable John Carpenter film from 1984, "Starman", with Jeff Bridges as the lost alien.

Hi Ancestor - I vaguely remember Starman, I'm gonna have to look it up to refresh my memory. I also remember David Bowie playing an alien in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' but although he lived here on Earth I don't recall him falling in love. Very few novels or movies have embraced aliens (literally) - like you mention in relation to Streibers new book, we see them as a threat normally and are ready to kick the crap out of them at the drop of hat.

In a wider sociological perspective I'm wondering if Campbell's book Starcrossed, as well as the very strange Katy Perry single represent a change in attitudes because more and more people at looking closely at the ET phenomena and realise it could be just as rewarding and revealing as it could be threatening?

Oz

Hi Ozscot and thank you for the reply. I will have to check up on Katy Perry, as that is new to me as well.

I remember a childrens' book from the mid 1960s, "The Forgotten Door", by Alexander Key. An alien boy fell to earth from his home planet through what they'd now call a portal. He was sheltered by a kind family who came to love him and then, protect him when the army villains came for him. I read somewhere that Key was inspired to write sci fi for children when he and a child in his family saw a UFO! I think he also wrote, "Escape to Witch Mountain".

As for aliens being the new feared, yet loved mythic characters, it makes sense. Campbell has got that right, I'd say! It has already been written as real life sci fi in so many abducton accounts, many of which, sadly, may be more real life that fiction. Names in research like David Jacobs and Streiber have been saying they are here and walking around, trying to bend in. Now with Campbell and Perry bringing this meme into fiction, will we see someone release a life account of a relationship with a hybrid?

Looking forward to reading Campbell and Perry.

I think if aliens are the 'new vampires' it would be a very good thing. If the amount of interest and passion that went into the vampire craze were applied to ufology, imagine the spotlight the topic of ufos would be in! There would be a lot more pressure on disclosure. I think encouraging this as the new fad is a positive step and I really hope it does take off.

reply to post by boxedin


Totally agree - that's why I applaud using 'aliens' in a positive role in fiction, if it lessens fear of the concept then it's a good thing. Where disclosure is concerned I really believe fear is a major factor in the deafening silence currently.

Oz

Like many popular genres, its all cyclical...

Sometimes it's zombies, then aliens, then vampires, etc.

Never really left really...if you look back, you'll see other big flaps of UFO movies, etc. Heck, the 80's were aliens crazy.....

reply to post by Ozscot


It just shows the lack of creative thinking in the media.

reply to post by Ozscot


Lol, these things swing, don't they?

Like when everyone got obsessed with Twilight, everyone wanted to watch or read vampire things (or actually be a vampire, which is a bit creepy but whatever floats their boat, y'know).

Aliens could be next, and then the elite (which of course we're all part of just by being on ATS) will be cast out (again) by not saying that aliens are stupid/don't exist, but instead 'I've always liked aliens I saw E.T.'. Then we'll say 'well name more than 3 films then!' and they won't be able to.

I dunno if you got it anywhere else, but in the UK there was a huge hype over Paul which led to the cinema ID'ing me (someone much older than 15, but with a brace) to get into the film. And I'm not sure why... For some reason aliens have become cool to kids. Aliens or Simon Pegg/Nick Frost. But I've always found them cool anyway...

I think it's just if 'popular' people make films or songs or whatever about something, then the sheep jump on the trailer that transports sheep and end up creating a hype before they get bored and move on to something else. It never lasts long, to be honest. Unless, like, there is more than one in the series... Like Twilight... So the hype returns when a new film comes out.

It's swings and roundabouts in pop-culture.

Never mind. We'll go back to being the nerds again soon, I'm sure.

Ayana I agree with just about everything you said in that post - incidentally I was one of those who eagerly awaited 'Paul' but I must admit I was disappointed.

For the sake of disclosure it really needs a new generation to embed alien culture/lore/evidence in mainstream media - and you know - slowly but surely I think it's happening.

Thing is though, vampires can be sexy... Aliens can too, I suppose (think Species, My Stepmother is an alien), but not to the point of getting that all important teen female demographic that truly creates a phenomenon like Twilight.

Aliens are not new vampires. They are parasitic aliens out there that suck your blood as food. Vampires remains the smart one and die by the stick. Unless the vampire bit and drank alien blood which the most likely would not happen.