A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
educed not <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> relatively benign fashion <strong>of</strong> Sartre’s watcher, merely by becom<strong>in</strong>g an element<br />
<strong>in</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r’s visual field, but ra<strong>the</strong>r more <strong>in</strong>tensely. The example <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> watcher <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> park<br />
nicely captures a k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> narcissism specific to a media-saturated culture. The watcher <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
park observes a vista that has been arranged for his or her delectation—land rendered as a<br />
packaged experience. This was clearly <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>tent <strong>of</strong> such landscape designers as Frederick Law<br />
Olmstead—<strong>the</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> environments that serve to generate a particular k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> experience,<br />
an experience where<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> watcher enjoys a sense <strong>of</strong> mastery. Th<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> park are arranged <strong>in</strong><br />
such a way that <strong>the</strong>y have a clear mean<strong>in</strong>g—readily accessible to <strong>the</strong> observer. This sense <strong>of</strong><br />
pre-arranged mean<strong>in</strong>g and illusion <strong>of</strong> mastery are central to contemporary media culture. The<br />
end user has access to experience via an ever-proliferat<strong>in</strong>g array <strong>of</strong> media, all <strong>of</strong> which place <strong>the</strong><br />
user <strong>in</strong> a position both powerful and pampered. Powerful <strong>in</strong> that <strong>the</strong>y assume an apparently<br />
panoptic perspective on <strong>the</strong> world around <strong>the</strong>m and pampered <strong>in</strong> that a world is presented to<br />
<strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong> a way that <strong>the</strong>ir pleasures and presuppositions are catered to. The moment <strong>in</strong> which<br />
Sartre’s watcher f<strong>in</strong>ds himself observed constitutes a crack <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> narcissism promoted by <strong>the</strong><br />
manufactured vista. The experience <strong>of</strong> abduction does so <strong>in</strong> a much more violent fashion.<br />
The o<strong>the</strong>r whose visual field <strong>the</strong> abductee passes <strong>in</strong>to is not ano<strong>the</strong>r like <strong>the</strong>mselves, as <strong>in</strong><br />
Sartre’s scenario, but an O<strong>the</strong>r who is wholly strange. Some level <strong>of</strong> identification always<br />
tempers <strong>the</strong> paranoia that might follow a sense <strong>of</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g observed by ano<strong>the</strong>r human. The<br />
potential motives <strong>of</strong> that o<strong>the</strong>r are tacitly understood. The abduction scenario presents little or no<br />
purchase for identification or mean<strong>in</strong>g. As previously discussed, most contactees tended to<br />
report encounters with well-behaved, highly communicative be<strong>in</strong>gs who not only appeared <strong>in</strong> a<br />
clearly human form, but <strong>in</strong> forms that were highly appeal<strong>in</strong>g aes<strong>the</strong>tically—noble creatures with<br />
blond hair and high foreheads. Robust and beautiful, <strong>the</strong>se be<strong>in</strong>gs were a far cry from <strong>the</strong> sickly<br />
218