(A)The bass player.
So anyway...I went on a old sci-fi flick spree yesterday, watching War Of The Worlds and The Day The Earth Stood Still. And it's amazing what they say about humanity.
Let's look at 'WotW'. One thing to point out: Dr. Clayton Forrester, our hero and main character, proves his ability to reason and think time and again throughout the film, figuring out the most mysterious things with ligvhtning speed. He is fascinated to learn that he has become semi-trapped in the middle of a nest of the Martians, but when the Martian camera comes near him, what does he do? Attacks and destroys it...almost. And when the actual MARTIAN is standing in front of him, the creature he wanted so bad to get a better look at, his reaction? throw a chunk of wood at it so that it runs off. Humans think before they act.
But that is nothing compared to 'DtESS'. If you haven't seen it before, a flying saucer shows up on Earth, and it's pilot, Klaatu, is attacked when he tries to give a present to us, then is locked in his hospital room, even after we apologized. He says he has a message for us, but wants to speak to all world leaders. World leaders, however, will not agree to the meeting unless it is in their home country (fucking politics). So he escapes and blends in to human society to try and understand it better. Meanwhile, news reports, etc, tell of this 'Martian Monster', and make him out to be a terrible creature, capable of mass destruction without a thought.
This flick is so dead on, even for 1951. Humans don't understand this new thing, and instead of trying to understand it, they lash out and attack it. They want to control, and subvert. When they can't, they call in all resources, not to make things better, but to kill. Only the scientists are able to band together with a rational and logical enough mindset to want to listen to Klaatu and want to take his message back to the people of Earth. And his message? "We have overcome aggression. You have not. You can squabble all you like on your little planet, but bring your aggression out to space, threatening other planets, and we'll turn your planet into slag. Period."
Dammit, why doesn't he show up for real...
Join me, guys and gals. Next time something shakes you out of your normal frame of reference, or even if there's something that tweaks you out NOW, take a step back, breathe deep, and LEARN something. Lashing out only comes back on you, and stunts our growth as living creatures. Supposedly, we're Homo Sapiens - 'man who thinks'...so think. It'll help us all.
