I received a set of the “Alien Nation” movies for Christmas,
so before I watched them, I refreshed my memory by rewatching the original
series. This TV show ran for one season
on the Fox Network, from 1989-1990, and then was cancelled due to
lower-than-expected advertising revenue.
But the show struck a chord with viewers, and four years later, the
first movie, “Dark Horizon,” was made.
Its acceptance led to four additional movies in the next three years.
The stories spring from an event that predates the series’
inception, when a space ship lands on Earth.
The aliens, known as Tenctonese, or Newcomers, disembark shortly before
the ship explodes. The series envisioned
how Humans might adapt to the forced inclusion of a quarter of a million
Newcomers on Earth. We view this through
the eyes of two Los Angeles Police Department detectives, the Human Matt Sykes,
and Newcomer George Francisco.
Returning to the world of “Alien Nation” was a special
treat, as I had loved the series when it aired.
Unfortunately, the stand-alone nature of the TV movies meant that
several characters had to be simplified or excised. Each movie therefore lacked the richness of
the former series, but benefitted from more complex story ideas, and a more
tightly honed plot.
As a bonus feature, most of the actors reunite in director
& executive producer Kenneth Johnson’s home in 2007 (ten years after the final
movie aired) to discuss various aspects of the show, and its impact upon their
world. Gary Graham, who played Matt
Sykes, mentioned how enthusiastically a group of stature-deprived people
greeted him at a Hollywood function.
Eric Pierpoint, who played Newcomer George Francisco, told of entering a
subway car in New York City, and not being able to leave for half an hour (long
after the train reached his intended stop), because of all the people of
different races who recognized him and wanted to tell him how much the show had
meant to them. As Kenneth Johnson
summarized, every socio-ethnic group who has ever felt prejudice, or been
marginalized, bonded with the Newcomers.
On a personal level, watching the original series, and the
TV movies, reminded me how easy it can seem to treat others equally, but how
difficult it really is. Take, for
example, Albert, a Newcomer who works as the janitor in the police
station. At first, he seems mentally
handicapped, but as the series progresses, we realize that Albert is just as
smart as everyone else: he simply has different gifts and abilities. Yet some characters never see past their
initial impression. Thus, they treat him
poorly, and never realize how special he truly is.
A high school instructor once told me, “Marriage is about
bad smells.” I think I understand what
he meant. When we go out in public, we
do our best to make a favorable impression, visually as well as odor-wise. Due to their different physiology, Newcomers
eat and drink different foods than we do.
Imagine going into a restaurant and having dinner, while at the next
table, the Newcomer family is eating small mammals such as weasel or beaver, or
organs like the spleen or pancreas.
Their bodies cannot tolerate cooked food, so these choice morsels are
served raw. And instead of drinking alcoholic
beverages, they drink sour milk. Imagine
working with such people, and having to smell their food (and their breath) all
the time. This goes beyond their other
body odors we would have to learn to tolerate.
Maybe we could adapt to people who looked different. But would we really choose to eat with them,
or work with them, if the smell of their bodies and their food threatened to
make us ill?
In “Harry Harrison’s Final Message,” I wrote about how
tolerance is different from acceptance and love. Ironically, those who preach the virtues of the former
many times only succeed in further isolating and marginalizing their opponents. I’m not sure if I really could adapt to
Newcomers as Matt Sykes does throughout the course of “Alien Nation.” I don’t know if I could put aside such huge
differences, and come to regard Newcomers as close friends. But the real test of whether one can accept
the group is to first accept the individual.
And who better to start with than the Alberts of the world, who most
need our acceptance, our friendship, and our love?
Dragon Dave
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