The other night I found myself watching, for various complicated reasons it would be otiose to rehearse, the Spielberg/Cruise version of War of the Worlds, a movie I previously thought notable mostly for its outstanding illogic and the poor decision not to show Miranda Otto naked. To other people, though, the movie is notable for a plot hole inherited from the original story: How do these aliens not anticipate the danger earthly microorganisms might pose them? Are there no analogues of viruses on their planet?
That’s always bothered me too. But during this latest watching an alternate interpretation occurred to me. The campaign we saw during the movie, however devastating it was to Earth, was only a feint; the aliens never intended to conquer Earth during the movie, but were only gathering info. They sent the equivalent of a single battalion to (a) probe Earth’s defenses and see how effective they were, and (b) to assess the dangers Terran germs posed them. Every member of the alien force was expendable and, in fact, expected to die so that the alien home base might get telemetry that would let them immunize the next wave–which would be much larger. In short, a few months after the last scene of WotW, the aliens return, immune to earthly diseases, and wipe out Homo sapiens over lunch.
But that’s just me. What are YOUR favorite paranoid/pessimistic/cynical fanwanks?
There’s also another observation about the Martians not burying their dead, which is seen as further evidence that they do not expect microbial decay. You can say it’s unlikely in the extreme that microorganisms would be absent on a planet which developed advanced creatures such as the Martians, but the lack of anticipation is covered in the book.
The epilogue also goes into detail about the likelihood of a Martian base set up on Venus, as well as the possibility of another attack. Concerning this the narrator says, “We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man; we can never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may come upon us suddenly out of space.”
Sometimes, I like to pretend that the Mega Man X series is just a holographic simulation Dr. Light made to test X’s moral fiber (or whatever) when he put X in that capsule.
Ditto the Mega Man Z series, except Zero’s the one having trippy dreams instead.
Pokemon are actually opressed slaves of the prolatariate. One day soon they shall rise up and overthrow their masters. Pikachu shall become the new overlord of Earth and make Ash his personal slave.
Preach it, brother. Even when I saw the movie for the first time (in what, 85?) I remember thinking, when the Death Star exploded, “Well, that’s just gotta suck for the Ewoks.”
But then, everyone hates the Ewoks, so no one care.
The vehicles in Cars are clearly living in a world designed by creatures with hands and opposable thumbs. I mean, gas pumps and the bolts on the wheels? But they’re also alone in the world, not operated by any human beings.
So I have come to believe that Cars takes place shortly after the Great Machine/Human War and somewhere beyond camera view is a giant pile of decomposing human beings. Soon, the cars will make over the world to their unique specifications, but right now, they’re still stuck with the anachronisms.
