Hey. Just wondering if anyone knows of any good examples of a peaceful first meeting between humans and extraterrestrials. I need some help finding some for a research paper. Any media is acceptable (book, film, etc.)
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
You've never watched Star Trek? or Stargate? or ET? or any of like a million other movies or TV shows with peaceful encounters (to say nothing of books)?
Why don't you list everything you have thus far, and we'll see what hasn't been covered.
Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
I have E.T., Mortal Gods(great short story), Pennterra, The Listeners,In the Ocean of Night/Across the Sea of Suns and honestly that's about all I have. Ive never watched too much Star Trek, Ive seen about 4 episodes all about the borg. But if there are any episodes that anyone can name that are peaceful encounters that would be awesome. My sci-fi collection is limited unfortunately. Havent read too much lately or seen much.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by greenebaritone08: I have E.T.,...
Serious? Men trying to ambush and run down an alien before he can get back to his ship is "peaceful?"
Or were you referring to Elliot running away scared because his baseball kept getting thrown back?
Or perhaps you meant the scene where Elliot and ET both freak out and scream when they encountered each other in the corn field.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
Okay, the men trying to hunt him down were maybe not so peaceful. But just because both Elliot and ET were afraid of each other on first meeting doesn't mean their meeting wasn't peaceful. It certainly wasn't violent, and neither side was trying to hurt or capture the other. Initial fear is understandable.
Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
I think the case with any meeting is that there will be a slight negative side.I was going for the non-violent portion of the meeting.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
How about Close Encounters of the Third Kind?
Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
I had completely forgotten about that. Thank you! Its been a while since I've seen it. I need to re-watch it anyway. The ending confuses me.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
1. Gordon Abbo, A Meeting of Two Worlds (note: link automatically loads video as part of site, so turn volume down)
2. Would the piggies count (OSC)?
3. Starman 4. Mac and Me 5. Contact
6&7.Initially, both The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Day the Earth Stood Still (contact was peaceful, but afterward, as relations developed, things went sour)
8,9,10.Children's books: It Came from Outer Space, Ceto's New Friends, and The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (and sequels)
13. 3rd Rock from the Sun (television) 14. My Favorite Martian Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Seriously, Stargate: SG-1.
There were a lot of non-peaceful meeting eps, but lots of peaceful meetings too.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
To some extent, 2001: A Space Odyssey as the threat was from human-designed technology, not from the aliens.
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Also:
Cocoon (and sequel)
[ March 19, 2009, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Illegal Alien, by Robert Sawyer. Yes, one of the aliens winds up on trial, but other than that, it's a peaceful first contact.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The first contact in his Calculating God is peaceful too, isn't it?
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Does it have to be a real first contact, i.e. no humans have ever met someone from another planet before? Or can it be any first meeting between one planet and another's occupants?
quote:Seriously, Stargate: SG-1.
There were a lot of non-peaceful meeting eps, but lots of peaceful meetings too.
The movie Stargate, although not by any means a particularly good movie, is where Earth people first meet up with non-Earth people, but it's not precisely aliens + humans. The movie has both peaceful and non-peaceful interactions.
One early SG-1 episode that comes to mind is 'The Nox', but these are not the first aliens to be met by Earth people.
More obviously: Contact by Carl Sagan, which is also a looong movie.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
It's also a coooool movie. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Teshi: More obviously: Contact by Carl Sagan...
Yeah. Why didn't I think of that!? Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Left Hand of Darkness is all about the process a large galactic civilization has developed to make first contact with other worlds in a non-threatening way.
Okay, it's about a lot of other stuff too, but that's a big part of it.
Also, everyone in it is human, or at least descended from humans -- it's set in a world where colonized planets lost contact with each other thousands of years earlier. So maybe it wouldn't work for what you're doing.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote:It's also a coooool movie. [Razz]
Agreed.
quote:Yeah. Why didn't I think of that!? [Wink]
I checked! I swear I checked!
Well, nobody's even actually mentioned by name the Star Trek movie 'First Contact', which would seem to be the obvious candidate. I suppose the actual contact never really plays out beyond initial greeting, though, so perhaps it's not the best example.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Superman is by and large pretty peaceful.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Teshi: I checked! I swear I checked!
Oh sugar, it's one word in a long post with a slew of different fonts. No worries. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Teshi:
quote: Well, nobody's even actually mentioned by name the Star Trek movie 'First Contact', which would seem to be the obvious candidate. I suppose the actual contact never really plays out beyond initial greeting, though, so perhaps it's not the best example.
Also the Borg blowing their stuff up would technically be their first encounter. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Childhoods End by Clarke.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The first contact in Octavia Butler's Dawn is peaceful, I suppose.
Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
My paper is about a very first meeting. So it would be humans have never met someone from another planet.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
That'd rule out most of Star Trek except for actual First Contact when Cochrane meets with the Vulcans.
And that might rule out Stargate too, unless you count the people of Abydos as first contact, though the experience as a whole wasn't exactly pleasant what with Ra and the Horace guards and all.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
"The Color of Distance" and "Through Alien Eyes" by Amy Thomson. One human encounters aliens on their planet and has to adapt to the natives' way of life before she can be rescued. Then she must try to help the humans and aliens get along.
These may not be exactly what you are looking for, but they are excellent books - very rich in detail.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
greenebaritone08, was this information useful?
Regardless, it might be worth considering to extend some appreciation to people who went out of their way to help you. Looks like about a dozen people spent some time thinking about your assignment for you.
Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
This information was highly useful. Thank you all very very very much for helping. Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
P.S. Sorry these thank yous are coming so late. I've been working on the paper and presentation that went with it. Again thank you all so much for helping me out.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: The first contact in Octavia Butler's Dawn is peaceful, I suppose.
For some value of "peaceful".
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I'm glad it is going well, greenebaritone08. Posted by greenebaritone08 (Member # 11997) on :
Hey all! Just felt like letting everyone here know, I got my paper done. I feel awesome about it, and I could not have done it without everyone here. So once again, thank you all so much for helping me out. I really appreciate it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Glad it went well!
quote:Originally posted by rivka:
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: The first contact in Octavia Butler's Dawn is peaceful, I suppose.
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