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Thanks for looking at this objectively. I was expecting to be launched deep into the grey zone on this statement, and it has indeed begun - but I'd really rath
by aa-jv 1y ago
Thanks for looking at this objectively. I was expecting to be launched deep into the grey zone on this statement, and it has indeed begun - but I'd really rather talk it out than just get downvoted into oblivion.
>A lot of alien lore has racist elements and origins.
Inasmuch as most of this lore deals directly with the inferiority/superiority of literal races, I think all of alien lore is about racism.
>Also, you're unfortunately wrong about racism - you absolutely can be an out-and-out racist now. People are more openly and proudly racist now than they have been at any point in my own living memory.
Oh, I don't think this is the case - at least, not outside the borders of the USA, anyway. Things were far, far more racist in Europe prior to WW2 - which is not to say that racism has been eradicated, just that it was tempered by the need to acknowledge its ultimate product, in the form of ruined cities that had to be rebuilt. Meanwhile, the U.S. has used technological superiority to assert dominance globally, often over non-Western cultures, as seen in interventions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
UFOs, as symbols of advanced technology, could resonate with this imperialist mindset, reinforcing hierarchies.
For sure, there is a rise in racism within certain states of the Western hemisphere - but there has been a rise in UFO'ism, too - which in my opinion, has allowed for the covert justification of racism, without social retribution, to occur. Leading eventually of course, to more overt racist expression.
- bondarchuk 1y agoDon't complain about downvotes, read the rules. You might find The Dark Fantastic interesting.
- aa-jv 1y agoI didn't complain, I did however acknowledge the foreshadowing of incoming downvotes on the basis of expressing an unpopular opinion, even though I believe this aspect does indeed warrant discussion - especially in todays political climate. Thanks for the recommendation - I've added it to my list of things to read on the subject, although I fear it may be targeted for a much different audience.
- krapp 1y ago>UFOs, as symbols of advanced technology, could resonate with this imperialist mindset, reinforcing hierarchies. They can, but I disagree they do, universally, in all cases. UFOs do tend to follow the cultural zeitgeist and reflect people's fears and stereotypes, maybe about themselves or their own government, but in a broader and more complex sense than "all of alien lore is about racism" would imply. I tend to slot aliens in the same cultural headspace as angels/demons or fae/cryptids, like Jacques Valee (except I don't believe these beings are actually real and imitating our folklore, so much as actually just being folklore.) For instance,it's interesting how one doesn't hear about alien abductions as often as one used to. Now it's all "interdimensional NHI" and psychic bonding. As if the dehumanizing trauma narratives of Communion served some cathartic purpose that we're now we're moving on from. Also we've moved on from saucers. No one sees saucers anymore, it's all spheres and tic-tacs and "jellyfish."
- graemep 1y ago> Oh, I don't think this is the case - at least, not outside the borders of the USA, anyway. Things were far, far more racist in Europe prior to WW2 - which is not to say that racism has been eradicated, just that it was tempered by the need to acknowledge its ultimate product The UK is far less racist than it was in the 1980s, and I think the rest of western Europe seems to be generally similar. That said, while the vast majority are not racist, the racists seem to have got more extreme - I think social media is at least part of the problem there.