Extraterrestrial

"If the universe and our galaxy are teeming with advanced civilizations, where is everybody?" While we're waiting for the SETI project to confirm, at least in part, the Drake equation's optimistic estimates, we can take temporary refuge in the world of fiction where the reply to the above-mentioned Fermi paradox is a resounding: everywhere! Yes, because on the silver screen - and before that, in the pages of sci-fi fiction - not only has there been a huge interest in the figure of the alien (understood as an organism originating from beyond the Earth's biosphere), but these aliens frequently show up right in our own back yard, a sort of bizarre "visitor" whose intentions aren't always friendly...

Limiting ourselves to the cinematic universe, a boom in "alien visits" hit American sci-fi in the 1950s, with dozens of such films whose extraordinary success can be understood in light of the era's cultural context: First, following a rash of unexplained sightings, there was a growing national obsession with so-called "flying saucers" (the expression was coined in 1947 following the widely publicized UFO sighting by American pilot Kenneth Arnold). Second, the public was on edge as the Cold War era ushered in unprecedented paranoia regarding Soviet espionage and a potential communist attack. Against that historical backdrop, the "alien" became something of an allegory for the "communist menace", although some films of the genre managed to buck the trend, such as the enlightened "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) by Robert Wise and "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) by Jack Arnold. Conversely, during that same period, films set on other celestial bodies were temporarily given short shrift, even though such works date back to 1902 with the George Méliès short film "A Trip on the Moon" (home of the "Selenites"). In time, the number of such productions would explode exponentially, especially after the release of milestones the likes of "Star Wars" (1977) and "Alien" (1979).

From a figurative point of view, screenwriters' imagination was off and running: we get to see an assorted variety of little green men, pulsing brains, pseudo-plants, parasites that prey on body and mind, creatures with tentacles or claws, insectoids, lizard-men, etc. Among the countless on-screen alien depictions over the decades, one of the most enduring has been the so-called "Gray aliens" (aka "Zeta Reticulans" or "Roswell Grays") - these are the classic, stereotypical E.T.: diminutive, gray-skinned, macrocephalic humanoids featured in various sci-fi productions, not to mention several high-profile frauds over the years (such as the fake "alien autopsy" footage released in 1995, yet another in a long string of speculation related to the 1947 Roswell incident). At any rate, this Tag isn't limited to cases of technologically advanced individuals or civilizations. On the contrary, any lifeform of extraterrestrial origin will be included here, regardless of its apparent "evolutionary level".

Note: Possible exceptions regarding the application of this Tag (actually specific narrative situations that we evaluate on a case-by-case basis):

1. for films in which the alien doesn't appear physically, but its artifacts speak for it, the choice as to whether to apply this Tag or not will depend on circumstantial reflections;
2. in the event that human beings (or any typically terrestrial fauna) are born on other celestial bodies, the tendency will be to not use the "Extraterrestrials" Tag. (For example, the film "Saturn 3" won't receive the "Extraterrestrials" Tag since Alex, although not born on Earth, is clearly a human being for all intents and purposes. The same case could be made for Altaira in "Forbidden Planet", but in this case the "Extraterrestrials" Tag will be applied since the equipment built by the Krell takes on a role of irrefutable importance to the plot);
3. for far-flung outer space scenarios populated by imaginative species, we would be inclined to use the "Extraterrestrials" Tag despite the fact that, semantically speaking, the concept of "extraterrestrial" doesn't mean much when Earth's existence doesn't even factor in to the film.