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Aliens in science fiction.. Why don't we see much of their POV?

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    #1

    Aliens in science fiction.. Why don't we see much of their POV?

    Aliens the misunderstood things of SF.

    Why don't movies, or books for that matter show us life in the alien's world, or for that matter more of their story and why they do what they do?

    We see them painted clearly as "the bad guys" because that's what the story shows us, but we don't ever get much apart from a few throw away lines here and there as to why they are doing what they are doing?

    Pisses me off so many times in a ton of movies and books.......

    For instance I do not accept the piss weak explanation for the aliens in ID4..... I think there was a huge society of aliens there and it's just glossed over by saying "they swarm from planet to planet pillaging." but clearly they have ranks, levels and a social order. In the books they said they had scientists, workers, and such... They probably even had civilians....

    Anyway end of my rant....
    Go home aliens, go home!!!!
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    #2
    That's a good point. Unless they're the Borg, aliens shouldn't all think, behave and feel the same way.
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      #3
      I recommend you read Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster. It's a first contact story told from the alien's POV.
      sigpic
      "Dragons can't change who they are, but who would want them to? Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures."--Hiccup; Dragons: Riders of Berk

      My Books:
      Draconia: Forging Trust, Draconia: Fractured Dream, Draconia: Rehatching

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        #4
        Under The Skin by Michel Faber is told from an alien point of view.
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          #5
          The simple answer to your question coco is that simply having the aliens as these very black and white bad guys is that producers and publishers are trying to appeal to the general populace.
          In some ways it harks back to how we fought wars in the past. In some ways many aliens have many comparisons to The Nazis (Think Daleks) and that has been shown in sci-fi for decades ever since the 1940's. It just never really stopped. Of course it occurred before this. HG Wells of course wrote War of the Worlds but that was a story which simply sets out to put out societies potential limitations at a time when Western Civilisation considers itself at its very height with blind patriotism.
          Some comparisons could also be drawn to the soviets. That's certainly the kind of impression I get with the Klingons in the original series of Star Trek where starfleet and the Klingon Empire are constantly at a state of near open warfare while always maneuvering to get the upper hand on each other first. Later on in TNG when the Soviet Union was near the end of its life we had an alliance and understanding between the two sides which echoed the level of understanding at the time.
          The point is that art imitates life, and we humans in the past, when global communications were much less advanced, have had a tendency to label whole groups of people. And sometimes in so doing whole groups of people get labelled as "Enemy".
          These days of course we have a little more knowledge and understand a little more about the deep complexities of human nature. That is why such shows such as BSG start off with a very definite comparison between Cylons and modern day fears over terrorism, to slowly showing much more complex sides to the enemy.

          However... at the end of all this talk, there are always going to be stories where we just see us humans going up against the big bad aliens.
          Why?
          Because people still just love to see the good guys beating the bad guys and don't like to be made to think too heavily about it like they're so often asked to do in war films these days.
          Please do me a huge favour and help me be with the love of my life.

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            #6
            Movie wise. The old movie Enemy Mine does a decent job of showing some of the Aliens side of things.
            I like Sharky
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              #7
              Originally posted by Ukko View Post
              Under The Skin by Michel Faber is told from an alien point of view.

              It's a very weird movie too......
              Go home aliens, go home!!!!

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                #8
                Well you know, sometimes there are versions of a story from an alien perspective.
                "First Weir, then Samantha Carter, and now, you! It's a pity you humans die or get reassigned so easily, or I might have a sense of satisfaction now!"

                *You got the touch! You got the poweeeeer!*

                "Arise, Woolseyus Prime."

                "Elizabeth..."

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Coco Pops View Post

                  Why don't movies, or books for that matter show us life in the alien's world, or for that matter more of their story and why they do what they do?
                  because we're human and these are human movies made by humans



                  and if you don't like it then stop complaining & rent an alien movie :|

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by SoulReaver View Post
                    because we're human and these are human movies made by humans



                    and if you don't like it then stop complaining & rent an alien movie :|


                    OMG I did not expect that last line.......... Made my day
                    Go home aliens, go home!!!!

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