Incidental Confrontations

When I was young and impressionable, someone in my family watched at least a few episodes of The X-Files. I can't remember who it would have been; neither of my parents, as far as I understand, were huge fans, and I don't remember if my brothers watched TV much. But at least at some point during my youth, I was exposed to one of the decade's greatest and most popular efforts in modern, out-of-the-box, conspiracy science fiction.

I've always considered myself a fan of weird, strange, or abnormal stories. Maybe I have those few moments of The X-Files to thank for that. When I think of The X-Files, however, I can only think about how that show made me so totally, irrationally, terrified of aliens.

Extraterrestrial aliens, of course, not foreigners.

I'm not sure how creepy The X-Files really was, but in my somewhere-between-5-and-10-year-old eyes, it was downright scary. I remember hiding when that intro music started playing, drowning myself in whatever book I was reading just to forget about what was on the television.

A few years later, when I was older and better able to retain memory, the youngest of my older brothers got into some Disney Channel show called So Weird. I remember hating that show. It was creepy and weird (obviously), a younger version of The X-Files, and when it came on I tried to force him to turn on Pepper Ann instead (looking back, I'm proud of how far I've come since then, and a little ashamed of how boring I was as a young'n. Pepper Ann? Seriously?).

The Martian Tripod in Woking, Surrey, the
hometown of H.G.Wells and the novel's narrator

I've pretty much retained an aversion for Alien fiction since then. I recognize that this doesn't really make sense however; when I logically think about aliens, I'm not afraid of them. I get more annoyed at characters in Alien stories, who freak out and try to kill the extraterrestrials without thinking, than sympathetic. I loved the story behind The Day the Earth Stood Still (Farewell to the Master), which changes the old "Evil, Invading Aliens" trope into "Nice, Friendly Aliens (who are unnecessarily attacked by humans)".

I'm also fascinated by The War of the Worlds, which is, I believe, one of the first Alien-Invasion stories ever written. Most alien-invasion stories end with a general feeling of power and kinship as the humans overcome impossible challenges to defeat the invaders. The War of the Worlds is the story new writers look to, and yet it still stands out as a counter-stereotype - It's not the humans who defeat the invaders, but "they were undone,
destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth."

Signs, however, terrified me. I was stupid enough to watch it on my own when we first rented it, getting all the way up to the scene when the audience first sees the alien before being overwhelmed with terror, turning off the TV, and hiding in my room, crying. I think part of the reason why Aliens frighten me so much is because of the unknowing suspense about them, though I've noticed that I'm more afraid of the alien antagonists in their respective movies than other monster-like antagonists, such as the Vampire/Zombies from I am Legend.

Even seeing pictures of the Signs aliens frightens me,
so I'll post this picture of them wearing funny hats instead.

Faked footage of UFO sightings also freaks me out. I know the footage is faked, especially when the footage is of an easily-visable sighting, and there are no citizen reports to accompany them. I still freak out though. For some reason, however, I keep watching them (Well, only as often as I chance upon them).

The only aliens that don't freak me out at least slightly are the cute animated aliens from Disney or other kid-themed studios (Also, for some odd reason, a majority of the aliens from Doctor Who). It's probably because they're all so nonthreatening, even when they're trying to be. In any case, while I try to be a reasonable, logical person, if aliens ever do get up the courage to visit our planet, I'm afraid I might just be the idiot to flip out and shoot them before they can finish saying "We come in peace."

Just remember: "Klaatu Barada Nikto"