Summary: Changing the Climate: Utopia, Dystopia and Catastrophe | Lauren Bliss Extraterrestrials are often represented on screen to be the evil Other. When analysed historically, the perceived motives of extraterrestrials invading Earth shift to reflect the inner fears of Western civilisation. For example, in the 1950s such films generally reflected the concern of nuclear terrorism and the fear of invasion by the Russians. Today, representation has evolved to symbolise the new threat of global warming. Extraterrestrials are visualised as a menace to our planet, intent on destruction and invading our earth to sap the planet of its resources. This visualisation is in fact a mirroring of humanity itself and its actions; it is a denial of our own destructive capabilities, a transferral of responsibility onto the Other and a method of expressing fears about the destruction of our planet. Filmic examples of such representations include Signs (2002), Independence Day (1996), Communion (1989), District 9 (2009) and Avatar (2009). Lauren Bliss is a PhD Candidate in the department of Film and Television Studies, School of ECPS, Monash University.
