Everyone loves science fiction. Since its birth, the world has reveled in its ability to entertain and expand on ideas that could one day be real. A common trope in science fiction is the presence of aliens, extraterrestrials, beings from another world or dimension. Throughout the countless films and books that involve humans and aliens, the interactions have become stale, cliché, and predictable. However, there are a few examples that are able to exceed expectations and present the alien as a metaphor for something larger within the story—theme. In this article, I will provide a few examples of when the alien as a metaphor was written correctly and how you can do the same in your stories.
Why Use Aliens as a Metaphor?
Having the presence of aliens in your story is, of course, a conscious choice. An author decided he or she wishes to tell a story that includes aliens. Easy enough. But why? The author could have easily told a sci-fi story about super technology on Earth and just kept aliens out of the story.
The decision to have aliens in a work of fiction means something. It represents a layer of theme that is significant to the overall meaning of the narrative. Aliens are not simply there for no reason. They are important to the main character or to society or represent an obstacle.
It is important that you research why you are using aliens in your story. Are they there simply to tell a story about battling worlds or will they represent something deeper?
The Human and Alien Connection
Listen up: If you decide to incorporate aliens into your story, they better have a specific and personal relation to either mankind as a whole or an individual character.
This choice is very critical, as it will have an impact on your audience’s attention and relation. Will your alien be humanlike? Or will it be animal-like? Will it be intelligent, to navigate a spaceship or think critically to solve technological problems? Will your aliens have two eyes, two legs one brain, etc.?
These are serious choices that need fleshing out before you begin writing your story. If the alien is very human, the metaphor and theme of your story will be very noticeable. If the proper subtext is too discoverable, it could not resonate with your audience as deeply as it should.
The unforgettable stories that last forever are the ones where the audience has to discover the hidden meanings of a story.
In my opinion, a mixture of similar and foreign human traits on an alien works the best. Let’s look at some of the most popular ones:
Alien (1979)
One of the best science fiction stories of all time. I couldn’t discuss this topic without talking about Alien.
On the surface, the film is about a space crew of miners that seemingly stumbles upon a beacon. From there, horror ensues. Clearly, the Alien narrative is about rape while surviving in a male-dominated society. But, more importantly, is taking note of what the actual Xenomorph looks like.
The filmmakers chose to use a hybrid version of human traits and alienesque traits. It walks on two legs. It has two arms. However, it has a tail. And it doesn’t have any eyes. Most notably is the shape of its head. It doesn’t have the shape of a human head nor does it look like an animal. Rather the filmmakers chose to shape the head in the form of a penis, further implying the subtext of rape and overall sexuality. Each time the Xenomorph kills a crew member, it does so in a sexual fashion.
The Xenomorph has similar traits with humans (bipedal, arms). But it uses animal traits (tail) to separate itself from humans, giving it a foreign and unexplainable vibe. But its head is the most obvious characteristic that keeps it strange and yet, at the same time, familiar. These specific traits are why Alien resonates on a subtextual level and keeps the audience interested since its debut in 1979.
The Thing (1982)
Another great science fiction film from many years ago that keeps a successful hybrid of traits. The Thing is unlike your average alien you will see in science fiction. Whereas aliens are usually a solid and recognizable form that stays familiar throughout the story, The Thing doesn’t follow those rules.
The Thing is more akin to a blood virus that infects a host (dog, human) and then keeps the primary traits of its host. It stays hidden. That is The Thing’s technique that allows its survival. It is only when The Thing decides to reveal itself to a potential host or a potential threat do we see its alien form. The Thing can distort itself, grow extra limbs, morph, and tear itself apart while defending itself or while overtaking a host. The Thing is a great example of an alien portrayal.
But because The Thing stays hidden and has no primary form, it keeps the narrative mysterious, making a who-dun-it atmosphere. It keeps the audience guessing at who the actual alien is within the group. But more than that, The Thing exists greatly on a subtextual level as a metaphor for a blood disease. As with many blood disorders or viruses’, it is impossible to know who is infected and who isn’t. Because of this, The Thing symbolizes fear of the unknown and contagion, specifically blood contagion.
Predator (1987)
The theme of war isn’t a difficult layer to recognize in this movie.
The actual Predator alien (Yautja) exists as a perfect metaphor for war. Its appearance is very humanoid. It has two eyes, two arms, two legs, and uses technology. Therefore, its obvious connections to humans symbolize an obvious theme. Watching The Predator is basically like watching a blatant critique on humans. In that respect, it isn’t so different. However, there are lessons to be learned as a writer.
You can follow what the writers of The Predator did to offer a critique on a social issue of your choice. They chose to discuss the horrors of war. There is even a scene in the middle of the film where the female character says that the elders in her village had seen horrors like this when the temperature grew extremely hot. This implies that the aftereffects of war not only made an impression on others, but that war existed to such a violent degree beforehand.
It is worthy to discuss two significant things about The Predator. The first thing is the alien’s usage of technology. It can navigate space exploration very well. It chose to hunt humans as trophies because humans already hunt humans as trophies (symbolic of war). And it uses bombs, lasers, and even has a first aid kit. Notable is the way it commits suicide in some weird form of self-respect when it knows it will lose a battle. Rather than be taken alive or allow its winner to walk away, it chooses to destroy everything it can. It figures, if it couldn’t win, then why should anyone else?
The second thing is how the alien’s presence identically mirrors the Dutch character. They are both alphas in their profession. They are both expert soldiers. Dutch eventually learns (by accident) how to cloak himself as invisible by using mud so The Predator can’t see him. Dutch symbolically becomes the human version of The Predator at this point. The final 20 minutes where human and alien face-off is some of the best filmmaking ever. Dutch knows that he can’t match The Predator’s strength, so he must defeat him with his wits, which he does. This battle of intelligence represents a very human relevance because it is our ability to think critically and utilize the resources we have to survive.
Signs (2002)
M. Night Shyamalan’s best film, in my opinion. He crafted a touching, masterfully executed film about faith in God and science fiction. The best mixture that I have ever seen. It isn’t easy to combine faith and sci-fi. Many storytellers have tried and have failed. He, however, succeeded.
He used the presence of aliens to represent the main character’s lack of sudden faith. Graham’s wife died in a sporadic car accident. Because of this, Graham doesn’t practice his Christian faith anymore, believing that his devout faith should have saved him from the suffering of dealing with his wife’s unexpected death.
Enter the aliens.
The appearance of the aliens is very humanoid. They have two arms, two legs, two eyes, and can navigate spaceships. Because they are so humanlike, it means the themes that will follow will be humanly relatable. And they are. There is detail about the aliens, such as using crop circles as landing markers and how they tend not to venture near water (religious cleansing of sins).
Through several flashbacks, we see Graham discover clues he can use to defeat the aliens. His brother’s baseball bat and a mixture of water do the job just fine. However, there is a very quick reference on television as to how the aliens were defeated. The news announcer claims that three cities in the Middle East found a way to destroy the aliens. Obviously, this is a reference to the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), meaning that it was faith that defeated the alien invasion.
Choose Your Alien Wisely
I hope this article helps. If you haven’t ever thought of what the portrayal and appearance of an alien in fiction means, I hope that you do now. Science fiction, in general, is used as one large metaphor for human progress and critique on social issues. It always has and always will. If you can create a new, genuine, and interesting form of alien that tells a different story than what is already out there, I hope that you do the absolute best that you can.
Just remember: In the best stories that involve Aliens, the Aliens are connected to an individual or humanity on a personal level, and therefore act as a specific critique on that individual or society.
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