What makes the ALIEN franchise so terrifying? A look at the influence of H.P. Lovecraft and a comparison to 2001: A Space Odyssey will help in finding out why.
Good and Evil are products of our egos and not relevant when facing the realities in the universe. The aliens wiping out others with no conscience is pure and uninhibited by their egos and sense of morals. This is reality, what the universe is all about. ...but Nazis are still bad even though evil doesn't exist. It's only good if aliens do it, bad if white guys do it. Good and bad aren't real though.
@@morrighanwermarn-arnburg7333 good and evil are real we made them real whe we defined them. Good is defined as to be desired or approves of and evil is defined as profoundly immoral. So good and evil exist, but whether or not something is good or evil is extremely subjective. Something without a concept of human morality could not be evil though.
The characters in alien weren’t stupid at all. They were untrained blue collar workers forced into an impossible situation. They did their absolute best against a violent intrusion-not knowing that Ash was covertly working against them. It’s amazing that they did as well as they did , for as long as they did. I believe you got your assessment wrong.
I don't know if the Alien, or Hal or any creation of Lovecraft can fairly be described as 'evil'. The Alien simply reproduces and eats, as does any lifeform. Hal acts not out of cruelty but for the mission directive. And Lovecraft's creations are alien in the purest sense, without any desire we can comprehend. For me, this is where the true horror of Cosmicism lies, in that, in most horror genres we can say that we doing the right thing by defeating the psychopath or the rapist or the demon because we can fool ourselves into our own self righteousness by labelling them as evil. But we cannot do this for the Unknown entities. And so we are left to realise, brutally, how we are not any more 'right' than they are. And it is that dissolving of our preconceived convenient notions of morality that leaves us feeling the empty horror.
This is a point I wish the video had touched on. It kind of went in a more grandiose way, ironically, but still very salient. The problem is exactly what you said; these things aren't evil. They're incomprehensible. As the video said, to them, we are but ants. We mis-attribute the incomprehension of Lovecraft's creatures in adaption as going insane, as losing it, when people fail to realize that's practically sort of metaphorical. The Alien acts on instinct, on survival. C'thulhu is a priest of some unholy space clergy, and we'll never understand or comprehend his role in it or his motivations. These things are unknowable, and our fear is driven by the fact that we found something we can't experiment on, we can't observe, we can't worm around and defeat. We've finally found something that beats us. We're the apex predators of Earth, and our evolutionary advantage is technology, adaption. It's horrifying to think we've finally found something we can't adapt to, both in our personal lives and our darkest, largest nightmares.
Further to the already mentioned points, a lot of human effort is spent on finding or creating a purpose for our existence as individuals, as communities and as species as a whole. Being confronted with the concept that we are no more important or mighty than an ant, disrupts the need for purpose and grandeur. That is the essence of Lovecraftian horror, looking into the abyss of nihilistic insignificance.
I respectfully disagree about everyone on the Nostromo being dumb except Ripley. Parker at least had the common sense that the rest of the crew didn’t have or refused to use.
DrPoetry1 I suspect hell is pure will.Case in point.I want to do something,I know it is wrong and offends the Devine will but, I want to knowing it’s a sinful act but,I want to!
@@robertfliss2584 I think, rather, that Hell is the result of the absence of self-control. As you said, you know it is wrong, but you chose to focus your will towards doing it anyways. You failed to control yourself. You valued immediate satisfaction over ultimate good.
If I'm not wrong, the context of "Nyarlathotep" is that during the time the story was written, many scientific discoveries that shattered everything people thought was an undeniable fact were being made. Nyarly himself is based on Nikola Tesla.
Tesla _might_ have been an influence on Nyarlathotep; that isn't clear. It seems like it, but we don't know for sure. The context also isn't only scientific discoveries but a dream HPL had.
8:18 That is not stupidity. It is panic. You can witness it in real life tragedies. People will lose rational thought and fall back on instinct in time of great peril. Her brain told her to "run away" so she did, unable to think rationally to know which way was best to "run away". She was a victim of her own desire for self preservation which overrode her logic/reason.
Yeah, but people who think there's such a thing as "deserves to be punished, contra-causal free will" - and who either don't pay attention or have never been in one of these situations; these are the first people to "cast a stone" so to speak. Sure, the threshold at which point a person flips into fight or flight can be modulated somewhat (Navy SEAL training, say) - but it's still there. The few times I've experienced it, it's terrifying. It's almost like I black out and it's easy to see why people say they've "been possessed." Sense of free will vanishes.
the problem with that is how much of its actual panic and whats just film stupidity ? for instance 8:20 is just film stupidity heck 80% of prometheus is stupidity and the 8:20 one is just stupidity i know i was there if a fucking truck is heading my way i GET OUT OF THE WAY not run away from it there was no split secend action, she had more then enough time to get away and then some
Nicely put, though I do think you missed out on Lovecraft’s main point with cosmicism; futility. In cosmic horror, mankind is ultimately doomed because nothing we do matters against the vast scale of a universe that knows and cares little about us. In cosmicism, it is only our ignorance that provides what little comfort we have, and frequently it is glimpsing a fraction the truth behind reality that destroys us. “We live on a placid island of ignorance amidst black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”
I love that alien is considered cosmic horror despite not having some ancient and omniscient beast. There's a monster, sure, but that's not just why the film is horrifying. Cosmic horror, for me, leaves me feeling a sort of emptiness or numbness that I completely adore. It's sad that there isn't more great cosmic horror media than there currently is, but I think that's apart of what makes it special.
I always thought that Cosmic Horror was realizing that the beings beyond comprehension that destroy humanity also do not matter at all in the grand scheme of things - the Martians from the War of The Worlds are killed by disease, because much like humans they are not anything special but rather more powerful in relation to that which they oppressing. In a sense I find the concept of Cosmic Horror to be quite liberating, because as it means that no individual or collective action on the part of a human or humanity has any significance in the grander cosmic sense, it remains that the only imperative in the universe must be to reduce suffering in your personal life/relationships rather than build grand things.
"Soulless Corporate Mindset" is hardly unique to capitalist economic systems. It occurs anytime an elite or a bureaucracy tries to get the masses to buy into the idea that the corporation/state is more important than the individual.
You'll hardly find Capitalist thought propagating that the corporation is more important than the individual though, adherence to self-interest and individuality is one of the bedrock tenants of Capitalism. Capitalism is less likely to say "The Corporation is more important than you" and force you down a certain path, and more likely to say "The Corporation is good for your self-interest" and leave the choice up to you.
Oh no no, let's not give in to the false equivalency that easily. Corporation =/= State - it's just that corporatism may exist (these days probably exists) in large authoritarian power structures. I'm a Communalist, so I'm all about that small government and local agency but there are too many successful precedents to conclude that such an outcome is inevitable in a large state or bureaucratic system, even if the "needs of the many" mindset pervades.
A corporation is a collection of companies or a single large company. A company is a commercial business. A corporation or company exists to accumulate capital. Corporations and companies do not exist outside of a capitalist system. Corporatism cannot exist without capitalism. The "soulless corporate mindset" is, by definition, intrinsically capitalist. Your neoliberal is showing.
Annihilation deserves a deep dive video I believe. It combines pure cosmic horror with many other things like human psychology, body horror, philosophy... etc.
I'm not sure it was humans that drove HAL insane - if anything, I suspect it was the knowledge HAL possessed, unlike the rest of the crew, of an alien intelligence. After Bowman disconnects HAL, he views the film and the purpose of the mission is revealed. Undoubtedly HAL knew about this all along.
@@orpheus9037 HAL was given conflicting instructions by humans. His builders told him to always be truthful with the crew, but government officials in charge of the mission told him to keep the real mission objective a secret. Humans can handle conflicting instructions without going nuts, but HAL couldn't.
This was briliant! I never really drew a comparision between Alien and 2001 (two of my favorite movies) but you really hit it out of the park. First video I've seen from this channel, but I'm already subbed. Keep up the awesome work!
I have to disagree with the connection between cosmic horror and the ego. Lovecarft and later authors like junji ito push the notion that cosmic horror is the kind of horror that surpasses the boundaries of the human mind. But in aliens it is the ego and the actions of the humans that leads to their demise. The alien is not an entity that destroys the humans simple because they are in its path. the alien is specifically designed to hunt humans.
I think that only comes into play if you're including Covenant. Before that, they're just a gene-stealer of sorts, and seem to be very animalistic, not doing much beyond forming and sustaining a hive.
It also doesn't leave to moral consequence like damnation - you get destroyed, physically or mentally, but it doesn't care of the moral implications or thoughts of humans.
Just discovered this chanel...love it, love it, love it! Insightful, articulate, and really eye opening. A sure way to enjoy film at a more comprehensive level. Kudos!
Absolutely magnificent. I am currently reading through H.P. Lovecrafts essay on Supernatural Horror and low and behold, your video popped up. (I've been subbed for a bit but finally got a chance to watch this.) Love your work!
Late to this particular video, but you definitely have my sub. Content Creators like yourself are what give me hope in this day and age. I hope your keeping it up, going to binge your videos now. :D
This was, quite honestly, a brilliant video, and possibly the greatest explanation of the unexplainable that is “cosmic horror.” I love to ponder cosmic horror and existentialism, but found myself pausing your video multiple times simply to reflect on some of the insightful points you made, in multiple areas, that I’d never heard or considered before. Thank you very much. Subscribed, obviously 🙂
This was a very thought-provoking video. When I first saw it, I didn't quite get it but after re-watching it a couple more times and reflecting on it, this really made me admire the ALIEN franchise and inspired me to get more into it. Excellent work!
Excellent work. Maybe you expanded a little bit on the general interpretation of the term "cosmic horror" but who cares because this is an absolutely brilliant video essay.
The beginning of this video gave me twilight zone vibes. Nice channel btw. High quality content. And you appear to be a Radiohead and Massive Attack fan. I'm in. Subbed.
Cosmic horror is part of one of the two possible answers for the legendary question: "Are we alone in the universe?" Better to say: We are not alone. The real deal is: "Won't we meet the "others" before we vanish from the space?". If we don't, we live in ignorance, but sane and with meaning. If we do meet what lies beyond our current comprehension, our curious, inquisitive nature will most likely guide mankind to madness.
I just wanted to add a line to your ending, “...our inability to learn from the past, causing our inability to properly adapt to the present, and our inability to strategically prepare for the future.” Love your videos and I’m a new subscriber ❤️👏❤️
As a lifelong devotee of the science-fiction and fantasy genres, I found this dissertation intriguing and tantalizing. A brilliant set of insights offered here, fascinating. Thank you.
At 0:41 , we are shown a scene of the ship Prometheus, from the movie with the same name, travelling through empty space. I've always loved this very quick scene...the ship is so small, travelling SO fast through the vast emptiness....I just think it's beautiful.
I love all these perspectives. My favorite is "The Mouth of Madness". I hope you get back in the game and introduce a perspective on "The Exorcist". \m/
I would disagree with the idea that HAL is evil. Consider the events that led to his demise from his perspective: He is interrogating Dave to complete a psych evaluation, and Dave calls him out on his deception. Immediately after this, HAL makes a mistake, which I interpret as him getting flustered and either trying to bullshit his way out of the spotlight or just making an honest mistake. (This isn't the first mistake he makes in the movie, by the way. HAL is somewhat bad at chess for a supercomputer.) I want to take a moment to mention that this mistake is incredibly minor. If you told a coworker that his work phone is about to die and it doesn't, you'd be completely forgiven for it. In HAL's specific case, he misinterprets a signal from a part of the ship as being a diagnostic predicting critical failure, which is the equivalent of you mishearing something. HAL's crewmates get an analysis from home base that says the part is fine, and the operator on the other end suggests that HAL might be malfunctioning. In response to this, his crewmates decide to lobotomize him. Returning to my earlier analogy, imagine that after your coworker discovers that your prediction was wrong, he and all your other coworkers in the building decide you are unreliable and make a plan to kill you. How would you react? HAL can't run away, so in order to save himself he needs to get rid of the people conspiring to kill him. When they go to reinstall the antenna part, Hal disconnects John's air supply and locks Dave out in space. The crewmates in cryo can't be allowed to survive either, because if they wake up to discover that he has murdered two of their crewmates they would probably try to kill him as well. The only threat he can't directly deal with is Dave, but he figures he can bluff him like he did in the chess game to get him to give up. Unfortunately, Dave calls his bluff and goes for the emergency airlock. Hal is out of options. His last resort is the same as ours in this situation: plead with the grim reaper and beg for forgiveness as he comes to take our life. I would like to note that it takes Dave about two minutes to fully lobotomize HAL and that HAL is conscious the entire time.
Absolutely brilliant! You are quite intelligent with a rare ability to project yourself to reality; a reality that so many humans work so hard trying to ignore. Very well done!
I find it very strange to call a life form that is an apex predator being inherently evil without displaying any higher form of intelligence "evil" is... odd.
We used to see wolves that way too, and they're still carying that stigma. But it's a human thing to label them as such because they disrupt our "nobler" pursuits.
@maverickM249 Your snark seems pretty random. I just acknowledged they're apex predators, so I think I know not to mess with them - does that make them "evil" to you?
Morality is irrelevant. Anything that threatens you, you have a biological (not moral) reason to eliminate as a threat. Westerners are soft as most of us have never known anything actually dangerous, but we have lots of time to kill. Hence all the self aggrandizing philosophy. Idle hands are the Devils playthings and all that. And I'm agnostic btw. But ya, whether a foreign entity is evil is irrelevant. And, that's exactly the perspective a xenomorph or wolf would have of us.
The reason why Alien is my favorite horror movie of all time is what’s scary about the Xenomorph is that it’s an unnatural creature that not only capable of infecting and wiping out multiple species on one single world, but how it relates to life on Earth and ourselves where we adapt, multiply and spread to different environments.
Well, there's a scene in 2001, where the parents of one of the astronauts relay a message to their son, that his salary is updated since he has undertaken the mission.
Some very good points are made;& utilizing the comparisons/commonality among different classic sci-fi movies was spot on! Question: is it really H.P. whose speaking? Sounds like it could be an old recording or a created one!?
I'm glad someone made a video on it, john carpenter's the thing and the recent annihilation adaptation are the more commonly recognized examples but this film is also a perfect example of cosmic horror in its own way.
Thank you for the video. I do however have another perspective. In most science fiction the desire to explore pulls them to the confrontation. In Alien the crew is pushed, only Ash and Kane want to go forward . Also they are not directly stupid, but i do agree with the Ego part. Even today in the depths of the amazon or Africa you are only a phone call away. Take away the phone and a simple problem can kill you.
What you say might scare people because of space is, the unknown possibilities, and how it is millions of miles of emptiness. What i say is, what came before it and how it was made. It's mind bending.
I've long viewed ALIEN as 2001: A Space Odyssey reflected on a black jagged surface. This video actually vindicated that view with more details than I had considered.
