• Tired of SciFi Aliens looking like humans.
    239 replies, posted
Just finished watching Avatar and I couldn't really get into it. While I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to such matters as faster-than-light travel, I always balk at humanoid Aliens. It's a cop out and a failure of imagination. It's not even a budget issue, considering that Avatar cost anywhere between $400-500 million. We're supposed to accept the fact that even though there are living organisms on our own planet so bizarre that many wouldn't even recognize them as life, beings in another star system who share none of our biochemistry would be essentially very tall blue men with pointy ears. This kind of thing is harmful in that it stymies the imagination of the masses, convincing them that whatever is out there, we would be able to communicate with it on some kind of spiritual level. I won't even get into Star Trek and its rubber forehead aliens(inb4 Panspermia). A refreshing antidote to all this is Stanislaw Lem's novel Solaris(don't bother watching the films). He makes a point about Human beings venturing out into the Cosmos and encountering intelligence that is so alien, so different, that all notions of what life and intelligence are go out the window. Man discovers just how incomprehensible space really is. In Avatar, the same old Human dramas are played out in an unimaginative 'alien' landscape. Also kudos to Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick for 2001. It's one of the few sci-fi novels/films where alien means truly alien. EDIT: I'll also add Forbidden Planet and The Thing(1982) as movies that treated Aliens in imaginative ways.
all aliens should look like this [img]http://www.facebook.com/profile/pic.php?uid=AAAAAQAQHvF7iz9HTeoM3d9zThsJLAAAAAqovQTmjzG3MwBImTc0cxUH[/img]
I completely agree, but films like these just don't have the artistic freedom to do such a thing, because of the huge budget. There's too much at stake... The film has to appeal a very big audience. More people will feel like they can identify themselves with the aliens (look at Avatards)
The further the alien is from us the harder it is to relate to them. Real-life precision isn't everything. Admittedly Avatar did have 6-legged horses and 4 armed monkeys and things.
no, this [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_56uq77msz_g/SfbYVk2cPvI/AAAAAAAAATQ/i9iEXR9yWRo/s400/mars2-16-09.jpg[/img]
It's hard to imagine another intelligent lifeform without it looking humanoid.
When they look humanoid people relate to them easier. They can't read the emotions of, say, a fat slimy worm thing with writhing flagellum.
[QUOTE=MegaJohnny;23622535]The further the alien is from us the harder it is to relate to them. Real-life precision isn't everything. Admittedly Avatar did have 6-legged horses and 4 armed monkeys and things.[/QUOTE] 1. Take a regular Earth animal 2. Add extra limbs and other assorted body parts 3. ??? 4. ALIENS!
[QUOTE=Rexen;23622540]It's hard to imagine another intelligent lifeform without it looking humanoid.[/QUOTE] No it isn't. It's hard imagining another intelligent lifeform that isn't based on current science-fiction concepts or Earth life.
[QUOTE=Raxas;23622563]When they look humanoid people relate to them easier. They can't read the emotions of, say, a fat slimy worm thing with writhing flagellum.[/QUOTE] [B]I disagree[/B]. (major UQM spoilers) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJOu-VyDY8[/media] Then again, they are speaking english. Skip to 3:42 for the beginning of the story. This game is proof that you can relate to something that doesn't look anything like a human, and I wish more people would recognise that.
Ever heard of convergent evolution? Given the same kind of variables as are on earth, there are only a limited amount of body plans available, for example legs evolved seperatly in vertebrates as well as invertebrates, wings have evolved seperatly in insects, birds, bats and pterosaurs. Considering life as we know it can only evolve under certain conditions, it is not hard to assume that life on other planets with the same kind of conditions for life may end up looking quite similar.
Mass Effect
It's actually pretty likely for higher lifforms to look humanlike. For instance eyes: One eye is too less for 3D, 3 eyes would be wasting energy. 2 eyes is most likely. Then the concept of a "head". Organs for interacting with surroundings close to the brain is just effective, same for "hands".
It's a good plot device. I personally prefer both in my novels. Realistic aliens because [B][I]scientific accuracy is the main priority[/I][/B] and to please the hard sf fans, and the humanoids (Either humans genetically engineered to live in another world without terraforming, or left behind by an ancient alien Seeding Program, I like both) because yes.
[QUOTE=Raxas;23622563]When they look humanoid people relate to them easier. They can't read the emotions of, say, a fat slimy worm thing with writhing flagellum.[/QUOTE] I cried when they were hurting that giant worm thing in an episode of Torchwood :(
[QUOTE=Rexen;23622540]It's hard to imagine another intelligent lifeform without it looking humanoid.[/QUOTE] Actually if there is an alien lifeform out there somewhere, it would probably look something like this: [img_thumb]http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/phasegallery/images/paramecium.jpg[/img_thumb]
[QUOTE=axemunger;23622694]Actually if there is an alien lifeform out there somewhere, it would probably look something like this: [img_thumb]http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/phasegallery/images/paramecium.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] If there is an intelligent life form out there, they are probably thinking the same :v:
[QUOTE=Raxas;23622563]When they look humanoid people relate to them easier. They can't read the emotions of, say, a fat slimy worm thing with writhing flagellum.[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.sarahfobes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/district9_prawn_small-thumb-550x308-21280.jpg[/img] You can't tell me you never cared about these guys.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;23622659]It's a good plot device. I personally prefer both in my novels. Realistic aliens because [B][I]scientific accuracy is the main priority[/I][/B] and to please the hard sf fans, and the humanoids (Either humans genetically engineered to live in another world without terraforming, or left behind by an ancient alien Seeding Program, I like both) because yes.[/QUOTE] You may consider it to be. I doubt Star Wars complies totally with the laws of physics, and that turned out fine.
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;23622609][B]I disagree[/B]. (major UQM spoilers) Then again, they are speaking english. Skip to 3:42 for the beginning of the story. This game is proof that you can relate to something that doesn't look anything like a human, and I wish more people would recognise that.[/QUOTE] Perhaps "Easier" would be a better word than "impossible", then.
[QUOTE=axemunger;23622694]Actually if there is an alien lifeform out there somewhere, it would probably look something like this: [img_thumb]http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/phasegallery/images/paramecium.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] The keyword here would be[I] intelligent. [/I]The characteristics of an organism rely heavily on the environment and even the gravitational pull of the planet itself. There is no limitation to what might be out there. macroscopic alien life forms may be unconscionable in shape, size, chemical make up, and even have completely opposite biological processes to that of earth bound organisms. It all depends heavily on how the planet formed and what chemicals were abundant at the time life started to arise on said planet.
[QUOTE=Micr0;23622800][img]http://www.sarahfobes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/district9_prawn_small-thumb-550x308-21280.jpg[/img] You can't tell me you never cared about these guys.[/QUOTE] They have human emotions (Mostly), they stand on two legs, have two arms (Except the two little things on their abdomen), have a single head, two eyes. IMHO, the prawns were just as humanoid and easy-to-relate-to as the Na'vi, it's just minor stuff like different skin/carcass-exoskeleton-thing, and such.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;23622854]They have human emotions (Mostly), they stand on two legs, have two arms (Except the two little things on their abdomen), have a single head, two eyes. IMHO, the prawns were just as humanoid and easy-to-relate-to as the Na'vi, it's just minor stuff like different skin/carcass-exoskeleton-thing, and such. [/QUOTE] bad reading he was talking about depicting emotions, read what he replied to. just look at those eyes
[QUOTE=marcus;23622611]Ever heard of convergent evolution? Given the same kind of variables as are on earth, there are only a limited amount of body plans available, for example legs evolved seperatly in vertebrates as well as invertebrates, wings have evolved seperatly in insects, birds, bats and pterosaurs. Considering life as we know it can only evolve under certain conditions, it is not hard to assume that life on other planets with the same kind of conditions for life may end up looking quite similar.[/QUOTE] TL;DR: "Why are bubbles round?" If we were ever to encounter advanced life that has managed to accomplish as much as we have, they'd likely look the same given they live in similar conditions. The humanoid form is optimum.
[QUOTE=Micr0;23622800][img]http://www.sarahfobes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/district9_prawn_small-thumb-550x308-21280.jpg[/img] You can't tell me you never cared about these guys.[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.che.eng.ohio-state.edu/~aiche/images/Zoidberg-Why.gif[/img] Same thing. It looks fairly human, aside from the mouth and abdomen.
reeaaaaad his posttttt
I think some authors insert humanoid aliens for, er, fetishism. Case in point: [IMG]http://i26.tinypic.com/15o798j.jpg[/IMG] She could have razor blades in her vagina, but it's worth a shot.
Considering we haven't scratched the surface of space, who's to say there isn't some crazy elements/compounds with similar effects to those that sustain our life out their? Sure, nearly all the "possible in nature" elements have been discovered, but what if there are some we don't know about?
[QUOTE=Fycix;23623098]Sure, nearly all the "possible in nature" elements have been discovered, but what if there are some we don't know about?[/QUOTE] No. Elements do not work like that. [editline]10:23PM[/editline] Elements form according to strict physical laws. Once you go beyond a certain atomic mass, heavier elements decay in microseconds.
[QUOTE=Fycix;23623098]Considering we haven't scratched the surface of space, who's to say there isn't some crazy elements/compounds with similar effects to those that sustain our life out their? Sure, nearly all the "possible in nature" elements have been discovered, but what if there are some we don't know about?[/QUOTE] Elements? We've tried quite a few you don't find in nature, at the top end they just decay nearly instantly.
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