Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Posted by J on July 4, 2007
A 1977 yarn, Close Encounters shows us that music–at least John Williams’–brings together the galaxy. And thankfully the federal government takes care of things for us. If it hadn’t displaced whole populations by concocting a toxic gas hoax in Wyoming, and if it hadn’t spent millions on a synthesizer lightshow, we would never have made contact with our lovable outerspace friends. And now we know the truth: space aliens love tubas. We had no idea before last night.
If the above paragraph makes little sense, dear reader, you’ll have to watch the movie. Just know that you’ll get a veiled “journey to heaven” tale in the form of the movie’s main character getting to ride on the mothership, which, we are told, is akin to near-immortality. That character, played by Richard Dreyfuss, certainly deserved all he received. First, he led a dysfunctional family into further dysfunctionality. Then he drove that dysfunctional family away with his unexplained obsession. Then he cheated on his wife. For all that, he enjoys a Rapture-like experience and gets to live forever on Planet Tubala. What a wonderful life.
Spielberg has gone on to show us (in War of the Worlds) that aliens aren’t the warm, fuzzy creatures he once imagined after all. We have to agree with him there. Nothing could be trustworthy about a race of beings who flash mysterious lights in the sky and create crop circles, but who won’t let us see them or who refuse to establish galactic peace and join the United Nations. Perhaps, with space aliens, there’s some connection to the ancient notion of “daemon”– that is, creatures who inhabit the realm (in an older cosmology) between the earth and heavens. These creatures weren’t trusted at all, hence the conceptual and linguistic connection between “daemon” and “demon.” We are pretty sure, space aliens can never be trusted. Perhaps Devil’s Tower was an appropriate location for first contact after all. Anyway, enjoy a well-constructed but moronic UFO tale, an obvious prequel to a worse one, E.T. The Extraterrestrial.
Entertainment: 8 (of 10)
Intelligence: 4
Morality: 2
