Sox, it gets better. A lot better. From a press release issued on Sept. 20 by, of all people, a comic book publisher. (I’m sure it’s partially tongue-in-cheek, but one never knows these days.):
STUDIO CITY, Calif.–(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)–Sept. 20, 1999-- Zen Comics Publishing
has named the sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun” as the television program most offensive to aliens .
As publishers of the “Zen Intergalactic Ninja” comic and the book “Alien Hero” (ISBN
1-892572-00-1), Zen Comics Publishing is a recognized leader in the movement to provide a more balanced view of ETs in the popular culture.
The www.zenintergalacticninja.com Web site has for years included a Petition Against Alien Discrimination that has been signed electronically by thousands of respondents.
Publisher Steve Stern said, “‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ is particularly offensive for its portrayal of aliens as hopelessly gullible, pathetically foolish and terminally moronic beings who are ill-equipped to deal with modern human society.”
The program is about to begin its new season on the NBC television network, and is also running in syndication throughout the country.
While such offenders as the “X-Files” and “Independence Day” engender a paranoiac fear of extraterrestrials as wanton destroyers of mankind, “3rd Rock From the Sun” is equally offensive for its unbalanced view of aliens as buffoons.
“The movies of the 1950s, like ‘I Married a Monster From Outer Space,’ essentially directed our fears of Communism at extraterrestrials,” Stern explained.
“Today, on the cusp of the new Millennium, the spate of anti-alien movies and tv shows is spreading a more insidious form of discrimination, namely against those who are simply different from us. There’s a spillover effect on how we treat other humans, as well.”
No less important is our jaundiced view of actual ETs. When we eventually encounter an alien race – either here on earth, or when we ourselves travel to other planets – the fears and derisiveness encouraged by the mass media will ill-equip us to deal with them in a rational manner.
Zen Comics Publishing urges everyone who believes that extraterrestrial biological entities deserve a fair and balanced portrayal in the media to contact the NBC network and demand that the producers of “3rd Rock From the Sun” take significant remedial action, such as including a positive alien role model in the program, on a regular basis.
Contact: CONTACT: Zen Comics Publishing, Studio City Steve Stern, 818/598-8190
ZenEmail@aol.com