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Signs: An SF Film for the Ages (1150 words)
For nearly the entire history of mankind, people have wondered whether we are alone in the galaxy. There have been many attempts to theorize what ‘aliens’ would look like, and how they would interact with our very own planet, Earth, if they came into contact with it. The genre of science fiction is home to many theories, ranging anywhere from aliens who just want to cuddle up and be friendly, to those who are out to blow stuff up. A recently released film, Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, takes a stab at the classic sci-fi sub-genre of alien invasion. Advanced technology, cognitive estrangement, and an examination of religious faith all combine to make Signs a sci-fi experience any viewer won’t soon forget. (Thesis in three parts—five paragraph essay structure.)
Early on in the film, the viewer is introduced to the protagonists of the story, the Hess family, who are being plagued by crop circles mysteriously appearing within their cornfields. At first, the family believes that a prank is being played on them. But when crop circles begin to appear all around the world, there appears to be more to the situation than meets the eye. The viewer begins to wonder about them. “Are they a signal? A greeting? Or a road map for the aliens to attack?” (Petrakis 38) Besides these questions, the question of technology comes into play (Topic #1 from thesis). If the circles are being made by humans, how would people in thirty different countries around the world be able to coordinate a massive campaign of crop circle building, all on the same night? If it is aliens, what type of technology could allow hundreds of thousands of stalks of corn to be bent over perfectly at right angles, but without breaking even one? And how on earth would these crop circles be made into such precise shapes? Later on in the film, the question of technology comes into play again, when, “a squadron of unidentified hovering lights has taken up position over Mexico City” (Parker 33). The appearance of unidentified flying objects subsequently occurs all over the world. What kind of alien intelligence has created a technology that can support a being over presumably long periods of space travel? How fast can those ships travel? Advanced technology is an integral part of any sci-fi film, and we find it in abundance here.
So, we might be asking ourselves about the best way to listen in on alien communications.
Iin this film at least, the kids, “tuning in to alien jabber on their
baby alarm”(Parker 33) have discovered a new use for this device. This
plot device, known as cognitive estrangement (Topic #2 from thesis) is often
used in sci-fi films and books. We thought we knew what probing was?
Well, evidently “The behavior of the visitors--forming scout parties,
committing vandalism--is identified as "probing" by a particularly
excellent local Army recruitment officer” (Parker 33). So what we have
here is the whole human race being ‘probed’ by an alien civilization
that seems to have a penchant for vandalism. But perhaps the most promising
use of cognitive estrangement occurs towards the end of the film, when a great
discovery is made. Everyone knows that a little rain never killed anyone, right?
Water is the stuff of life to humans. Well, to the alien invaders, it turns
out water is like sulfuric acid, and burns like hellfire when it comes into
contact with their skin. So we now have yet another use for that most innocuous
and common of substances, and another reason why Signs is a great example
of science fiction.
Finally, the examination of religious faith (Topic #3) within the movie is another sci-fi mainstay, although there is a different spin put upon it here. Usually, religion is cast in a rather negative light in the science fiction genre as a whole. In Signs, the religious overtones begin when, near the start of the movie, Graham wakes up, and “on a wall we see, blazing with inane obviousness, the dust penumbra around the white outline of a crucifix. A crucifix, in other words, that has just been taken off the wall”(Parker 33). Has this man whom we’ve been introduced to lost his faith in religion? We can’t help but wonder. “This perception is heightened when we discover that Graham is a former Episcopal priest who handed in his round collar six months earlier. (He has to remind people not to call him "Father" anymore)”(Petrakis 38). We also learn the Graham has lost his wife. So now the viewer is acquainted with a protagonist who is confronting an alien invasion without any sort of faith in religion at all. It is very arguable, that in this film, which could as easily be called social science fiction as an alien invasion story, the whole point is to test Graham’s faith. Graham’s faith is tested by a car accident in which his wife died. Graham’s faith is tested when he boards himself inside his home against invasion. Graham’s faith is tested right up until the last scene of the movie, when Fate--or God, depending on who we ask-- plays its hand and saves his young son from a slow death by asphyxiation. At this point we might be thinking what this has to do with science fiction? Well, the alien invasion caused Graham to confront the issue of religion in his life. Without it, change in his and the other character’s lives involved might not have occurred. So, how does Graham come to grips with his faith? Well, let’s just say he and God are on good terms again. The examination of faith and religion are a sci-fi mainstay not glossed over in this film at all.
Just as in real life, many of the questions surrounding the aliens in M. Night Shyamalan’s movie Signs are never answered. Their technology was never explained, no reasons for the invasion were given, and we didn’t even truly see one of their flying saucers. Instead, we got an insightful alien invasion story that included several issues pertaining to the genre of science fiction as a whole. We got just enough of a glimpse of strange new technologies to set our curiosity afire, some interesting cognitive estrangement, including a whole new perspective on the deceptively harmless nature of water, as well as an examination of religion from a very unusual perspective in science fiction works. When we evaluate all these elements together, we have a great sci-fi experience, which in turn becomes a great movie as well.
Works Cited
Parker, James. “No Surer Signs: Clunkily Earnest, it Must be M. Night Shyamalan’s
Latest.” The American Prospect 9 Sep. 2002: 33-34.
Petrakis, John. “Sci-fi Smorgasbord.” Christian Century 119.18 (2002): 38.
Signs. Dir. M. Night Shyamalan. Perf. Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix. Touchstone
Pictures, 2002.
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