Alien Eyes Humanized: From ‘E.T.’ to ‘Avatar’

Something struck me about the fine sci-fi romp District 9 when I finally caught it the other day -- that being just how sympathetic the aliens are. Not just in terms of their social situation as oppressed minorities under the thumb of human thugs et cetera, but just viscerally and visually. Which is odd, considering they are basically giant bugs, and bugs disgust me; the aliens are referred to pejoratively as "prawns" by the humans in the movie. Part of the aliens' believability comes from excellent CGI effects and movement work, but there's another factor. Despite having a bug face with constantly writhing mouth parts, the aliens also have a big ol' pair of soulful human eyeballs. Not much chance of that happening in evolutionary terms for an insectoid race, but screw verisimilitude. This is about getting relatable, and movie aliens have been copping man-eyes for decades in order to connect with human audiences.

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - Steven Spielberg had a problem. How do you make an alien cute? Make it look like a doll, of course. (You may recall that E.T. actually hides amongst a pile of stuffed toys at one point in the movie, to the terror of a wee Drew Barrymore). Sure, the face is simian, the head’s shaped like a golf club atop a wrinkly body, and certain parts of him glow when aroused. But check out those baby blues! Surely this little darling doesn’t want to conquer our planet and eat our chromosomes?

Aliens in the Attic - If you doubt the pernicious legacy of the E.T.-cute-alien, just examine any other family-friendly alien movie in the many years since, such as this piece of crap from 2009. Doesn’t matter if it’s a gremlin with multiple limbs, as long as it has a pair of human eyeballs up top. Perfect way to straddle the uncanny valley without falling in.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi - Enough of Spielberg’s legacy, what about George Lucas? Despite the preponderance of aliens in his movies, his general dislike of actual humans (and actors) means he rarely bothers to give them human eyeballs. The Ewoks, cutest of his critters, are styled after teddy bears and have what could charitably be described as hamster eyes. They sure are twee, but if they lived on your planet you really wouldn’t feel too bad about cutting down their rainforest to pasture more cows.