What we learn from movies like Independence Day and virtually every other Alien Invasion trope movie seems glaringly obvious: the conquerer’s fear is to be conquered themselves. But they also show us something else: ignorance and the refusal to heal.
The central theme to these movies always is: imagine if a powerful outsider force showed up in the airspace of the most powerful force on Earth (usually the USA) and started treating our modern society the way historic western societies treated native american populations. The conclusion is always: that would be very, very bad and we have to fight them and defend our species!
What is interesting is that these movies start with the assumption that naturally these aliens are going to shoot first, ask questions never. Having a science officer or astrobiologist on board that pleads with the captain not to shoot the natives seems to be something that only happens when humans are behind the space steering wheel (see: Star Trek).
This is made extra obvious in a reversal movie like District 9, where aliens show up with technology obviously vastly superior to that of Earth, but it’s soon clear that the aliens have crash-landed on Earth rather than invading it. They are in need of help. Do they get this? No, of course not. Earth’s leaders didn’t get where they are by being nice. Their skillset is ill-suited for cooperating with creatures that are down on their luck. Instead, they move them into shantytowns and get them addicted to cat food so they can legally “barter” advanced interstellar technology for cans of pseudo-fish.
Also interesting to see is what happens in the aftermath of the alien threat, as seen in Ender’s Game. The apparent motive of this film is: we were attacked, we barely surived, and now we have to strike back in order to ensure our survival. It’s us or them! But by the end of the film, we’ve learned that it was not, actually, us or them, and that there was an option to negotiate. The Earth leadership simply preferred to eradicate what they saw as a threat to their dominance, rather than spare a defeated species from extinction.
The White Man’s Fear
This issue — fear of being overthrown by and losing dominance to an “outside” force, and retaliating in order to avoid this perceived danger— is rather present in our societal discussions on racism and sexism. Specifically the BLM and #metoo movements are triggering this fear, and are subsequently its foremost targets when it lashes out.
We see it in statements like: “We aren’t allowed to say anything anymore!” and “I’m afraid to talk to women!” These might sound like serious issues, because in a free and liberal society we want people to be able to speak openly, and in a healthy society we want men and women to be able to have conversations. But these are not the actual issues at hand. People are allowed to say pretty much everything, and most men and women have conversations all the time without problems.
The underlying issue here is: “I’m used to being able to make racist jokes without losing my job” and “I’m used to being able to comment on a female co-workers breasts without losing my job”. These are issues of losing dominance, not of losing free speech.
So how does this translate to pop culture? There are some interesting psychological hints about these things in the movies we watch.
For instance, what does it say that in Independence Day the hero is a Black man? This could just be because Will Smith happened to be a rising star at that moment and the studio wanted him in the movie to appeal to a certain audience. I wouldn’t know. But there seems to be some underlying invitation, too: “If the new colonizers arrive, you’ll be one of us, right?” Suddenly, the human species is One Big Family rather than a myriad of tribes where the dominant ones have been royally screwing over the others for centuries. We all stand together in the face of the Outsider.
This is made even more painfully clear in District 9, which of all places is situated in the Rainbow Nation of South Africa. Now again, this could just be because that director likes to do films in South Africa (see: Chappie). But to me it appeared to be symbolism: that rainbow obviously doesn’t include any non-human colors. Black street gangs were pictured to be as eager to exploit the stranded aliens for their technology as the White evil corporation. Again, in the face of aliens, all humans are suddenly equal.
The History of Alien Invasions
Which is interesting, because historically speaking, people might actually prefer aliens over oppressive humans. Even if in the end, the aliens turn out to be as oppressive, or even more so, than the humans they knew.
When Julius Caesar marched his Roman legions into the Celtic heartland of Gaul, some native tribes kept helping him against their fellow Celts right up until it became painfully clear the man was set on totally annexing the Celtic lands and peoples, either making them into Romans or selling them off into slavery.
When the Spanish conquistadors fought against the Aztecs, they were aided by native tribes that had been harrassed and raided by the Aztecs for decades. These tribes were happy to assist the Spaniards in order to get back at the Aztecs. Some of these allies even went on with the Spaniards to conquer the Maya peoples after the Aztecs had been subdued. It is estimated that in some battles there were 20 native allies for each Spanish conquisator.
So the conquerer’s fear is to be confronted with a dark mirror of themselves. They are afraid of being on the receiving end of an offensive force that acts the way they acted in their darkest moments. And this cultural fear feeds the appael of Alien Invasion movies. But the movies that confront this fear also show something different: a remarkable ignorance of the history of invasions, and overly optimistic view of the unity of the human species.
Keeping this in mind, it is interesting to think what would happen if an alien invasion force would suddenly appear in our atmosphere. They’d like to get the lay of the land first and manage to establish communications. If their logic of domination would align with that of colonizing western societies, all of Earth wouldn’t suddenly unite against this outsider threat. Instead, the aliens would have had some talks with various humans, identified which ones feel grudges towards the strongest opponents, and recruit them on their side to fight alongst these most threatening adversaries. Divide and conquer.
The hero of Independence Day and the locale of District 9 beg the question: if the aliens appear, all of us will come together, right? Despite colonial power dynamics, slavery, apartheid, patriarchy, racism, ever-increasing inequality and war?
As things are now, I don’t think so.
The Conquerer’s Reaction
The danger of the conquerer’s fear is obvious in the conclusion of Ender’s Game. The leaders of Earth would rather chose genocide over negotiation. In their mindset, there exists no possibility of coexistence with an entity that has challenged their power, even if it was only once and unsuccesful.
This same mindset applies to discussions about BLM and #metoo. When racist statues are removed or rape jokes are booed off stage, these actions are immediatly regarded by some as attacks upon the dominant culture, rather than as attempts to create space to coexist.
A conquerer cannot see a request to compromise as anything other than surrender. As an Outsider trying to conquer and dominate them through subversive means. Of course not, when they have only ever been able to imagine (and thus create, and thus see) a pyramid society where the only good place to be is at the top. To share therefore becomes to die.
The seemingly never-ending stream of rants against “cancel culture” originates from here. Perhaps some of these commentators are actually worried about free speech, but I think most are simply defending the status quo out of fear that soon, in a reversal of roles, they will be the second-class citizens, silenced by a dominant faction that does not have their best interest in mind.
It doesn’t have to be like that.
We’re not yet at the French Revolution stage where, after years of neglect and violent surpression, people had had enough and gruesomely executed all their leaders (although quite frankly, from where I’m standing in the EU, the US seems to be inching closer and closer each day). Today’s social progressive movements aren’t planning a violent overthrow of the government or patriarchy, nor do they wish to impose a Reign of Terror where all dissent is punished with death. The wish was and is simply a society for all, rather than a society for the few.
If anything, the ones who are actually preparing for violence today, are the heirs of the conquerers of the past, as seen by a global increase of white supremacist terrorism and politics. All this talk of anticolonialism and emancipation and feminism feels to them like defeat and surrender, rather than growth. Again: the conquerer’s fear is being conquered themselves, and so they react the only way they know — with violence.
Nothing good will come of this.
A Different Story?
If the aliens show up, all they would need to say to humanity to get at least half of them to switch sides is “equal opportunities for all”, “equal reward for equal work”.
How difficult is this “utopian” dream, really? Is it really so much to ask? It seems to me the only thing holding humanity back here is the conquerer’s fear.
It must be overcome in order to progress as a society. Humanity needs to let go of conquerer psychology and understand that sharing is not, in fact, dying. We need time and space to heal old wounds and set the path for the future.
If the dominant tribes of Earth really want all of humanity to stand together when the aliens show up, they’re going to need to create a whole lot more space for everyone else and learn to share it.
