The Odyssey: Aliens in Popular Culture

The Odyssey: Aliens in Popular Culture

The Odyssey: Aliens in Popular Culture

How does our culture portray alien life forms? Whatever we imagine to be “out there” tells us a lot about our fears, our hopes, and our understandings of how the world works. So, your assignment for tonight is to find aliens. Seriously.

Look on the internet for a movie clip that shows aliens, an artistic representation of an alien, a description of an encounter with aliens, or a scientific explanation about aliens.As you look, please dig around to find something interesting or captivating that will intrigue your classmates and contribute to our conversation. Look for any of the following:

  • Scientific theories about alien life. Check out the following links to get started:
  • National Geographic
  • PBS
  • Imaginative representations of aliens from the last 100 years. Check out the following links to get started:
  • Life
  • Wikipedia’s list of films featuring extraterrestrials
  • Wikipedia’s list of fictional extraterrestrials
  • Believer portrayals of aliens. Check out the following links to get started:
  • Real Aliens!
  • Youtube (Please note that our school searches in safety mode, so some videos may be filtered at school and may not show. Choose wisely!)
  • Wikipedia’s list of alleged extraterrestrial beings
  • AND BEYOND! Use your imagination! Find something interesting!

The Odyssey: Aliens in Popular Culture

How does our culture portray alien life forms? Whatever we imagine to be “out there” tells us a lot about our fears, our hopes, and our understandings of how the world works. So, your assignment for tonight is to find aliens. Seriously.

Look on the internet for a movie clip that shows aliens, an artistic representation of an alien, a description of an encounter with aliens, or a scientific explanation about aliens.As you look, please dig around to find something interesting or captivating that will intrigue your classmates and contribute to our conversation. Look for any of the following:

  • Scientific theories about alien life. Check out the following links to get started:
  • National Geographic
  • PBS
  • Imaginative representations of aliens from the last 100 years. Check out the following links to get started:
  • Life
  • Wikipedia’s list of films featuring extraterrestrials
  • Wikipedia’s list of fictional extraterrestrials
  • Believer portrayals of aliens. Check out the following links to get started:
  • Real Aliens!
  • Youtube (Please note that our school searches in safety mode, so some videos may be filtered at school and may not show. Choose wisely!)
  • Wikipedia’s list of alleged extraterrestrial beings
  • AND BEYOND! Use your imagination! Find something interesting!

Whatever you find, you need to be able to share during class, so email a link to yourself, or bring in a hard copy of a movie or a printed page or write down a web URL so that you can present your alien discovery to the rest of the class.

BONUS (for a B or A):

+ Bring in a scene from a movie or a short piece of literature that portrays aliens in a creative way.

+ Bring in something that no one else finds! (Dig a little deeper than your first Google search! Try alternate terms or do additional research on your first findings.)

+ Do additional research on your finding to answer your own questions or anticipate classmates’ questions.

Be prepared to discuss what you noticed, including:

  1. What is distinctive about the alien creatures? How are they different from humans? Why?
  2. Why do you think the writer/artist/director/scientist created this alien creature? Is he trying to scare us? Inspire us? Inform us?
  3. Why does the believer think it is important for us to believe him? Is s/he trying to warn us? Mock us? Inform us?
  4. What does this portrayal of aliens show about what people in our culture fear? About what people in our culture hope for? Is it fair to say that this alien portrayal shows us a fear or hope that MOST people could agree with?

Whatever you find, you need to be able to share during class, so email a link to yourself, or bring in a hard copy of a movie or a printed page or write down a web URL so that you can present your alien discovery to the rest of the class.

BONUS (for a B or A):

+ Bring in a scene from a movie or a short piece of literature that portrays aliens in a creative way.

+ Bring in something that no one else finds! (Dig a little deeper than your first Google search! Try alternate terms or do additional research on your first findings.)

+ Do additional research on your finding to answer your own questions or anticipate classmates’ questions.

Be prepared to discuss what you noticed, including:

  1. What is distinctive about the alien creatures? How are they different from humans?
  2. Why do you think the writer/artist/director/scientist created this alien creature? Is s/he trying to scare us? Inspire us? Inform us?
  3. Why does the believer think it is important for us to believe him or her? Is s/he trying to warn us? Mock us? Inform us?
  4. What does this portrayal of aliens show about what people in our culture fear? About what people in our culture hope for? Is it fair to say that this alien portrayal shows us a fear or hope that MOST people could agree with?
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