If Aliens Did Attack, What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Besides eating hot dogs and watching fireworks, everyone should stay true to their country and watch the movie that gives July 4 a name: Independence Day. What's a better way of celebrating the July 4 weekend than by showing appreciation that we weren't attacked by aliens and major cities were not destroyed?

If aliens attacked, what's the worst that could happen? Honestly, think about it. After getting caught in one of those endless Wikipedia page searches (you know, where you search for one thing and then you suddenly find yourself hours later on a page that details how maraschino cherries are made), I started to realize that the main reason "bad things" happen in movies is human error, even if it has nothing to remotely do with humans.

But the other thing I realized is that when aliens say they come in peace, they actually are in peace. They can come to earth and not attack us (peace, like Superman), or they can attack us, but lead to world peace (Watchmen). So think about certain apocalyptic moments where ypu're in the characters' shoes and you have to take certain actions in order to survive. What would you do?

Think of every film you’ve ever seen that even somehow remotely involves aliens: War of the Worlds, Alien, Men in Black, Body Snatchers, and who could forget, E.T.? Now think some more. What happened in those films (leave E.T. out for now) that makes people so obsessed (even worried about!) with the idea that an alien attack could happen?

Death, pain and agony; these three menacing facts of life all bring people together to see films, to read books, to make History Channel memes. Aliens have made staring at that object in the sky fun, and they have given skeptics a somewhat plausible reason for the pyramids, the Great Wall, and whatever situation or mystery you can bring to mind (because in our day of age, people cannot believe that hard work accomplishes great feats like the 7 Wonders of the World).

Now if you don’t know by now, I am very proud of living in New York City. And I know for certain that in every epidemic film or any disaster film, New York City will be the first (and sometimes only) city hit. So if an alien attack were to happen, just know that mostly every major city and urban center in the world will be the main target and everyone should try to get away from the target zone.

So hear me out on why aliens are a good thing. Besides the obvious death of millions,  if not billions, of people, those who survived are going to put aside their differences and work together in order to stop the greater threat of aliens. Did I just steal the ending of Watchmen? Possibly, but I did just spoil it for those who never saw it/read it. But it is a rather plausible idea that comes into question: do aliens truly come in peace? And to you I say yes. If they come in peace and don’t attack, then they actually come in peace. But if they do attack, the odds are that people will unite (now I don’t watch Falling Skies but I do watch The Walking Dead, so when I say that people will unite, I mean whole countries and whatever’s left of the government, not individual groups of people).

Now once the people unite, they will put their brains together and hopefully, find out how to get rid of the aliens. While the struggle will be long and difficult, the people will continue to grow stronger together. And after the humans finally get rid of all the aliens, they will get the chance to rebuild society all over again. Not only that, but it’s not like a total reboot where everything is destroyed and we’re back to square one, but it’s actually that the people are civilized people and have basic knowledge. Better yet, they have the knowledge of the aliens to help them improve.

Think about it. Just like above, let’s use Independence Day for example. Around this time of year (Happy Fourth Y’All), aliens decide to come down to earth and attack the major cities around the world. Even though Jeff Goldblum found out about the aliens and their secret plans (because obviously we welcome 15 mile discs in the sky with open arms), he was too late and the aliens destroyed the cities. Here’s what we should learn from this: we should never wait to find something out. Bill Pullman (the president) knew about the aliens- there was even one hovering right above the White House: and he basically took no action until a random person with the right connections brings proof that the aliens were dangerous. The first immediate action everyone should take is action itself- why wait and be sitting ducks for these things to attack when you could run away and possibly have a chance of survival?

While the first thing people should do is act, they should not act greedily. Now, I don’t want to get into Alien for a few reasons: I actually am not a fan of the franchise (well, besides the first one) and it really is too long to explain that it was the original movie with all these twists and not an actual cliché. Basically, (Thar be spoilers ahead of ye), a really greedy company makes a robot that seems like a human to go on board of a ship that is trying to return to earth. Uh oh — something has to go wrong now, so the ship’s computers and everything else shuts down. The crew finds themselves in an alien nursery where one of the eggs shoots an alien monster onto one of the crew member’s face. The crew rushes back to the ship where the alien suction cup crew member is welcomed aboard. Yada Yada Yada, the alien is now on board of the ship and the crew is left for dead ... or so we think.

Here’s why you stupid human beings (did I say you? I meant we ... cue the shifty eyes) need to learn — messing with people’s lives for your own benefit will never come out in your favor in the end. This part I must stress the most because it is the hardest to follow — don’t have feelings for people. Time and time again in numerous examples, the person who was curious or helpful always ended up dying. Whether it’s in horror movies or with zombie films, people who are nice and caring will die. Not only am I telling you to basically be a jerk, but I’m telling you not to be greedy.  Sure, maybe being greedy is part of being a jerk, but don’t be too greedy, because the saying is always true — too much of a good thing is bad. Whether you’re in a deserted super market and you find a stockpile of Twinkies, or you decide to search through a seemingly dead man’s body because he has weapons, just know bad things will happen.

So this is starting to sound a bit like Ender’s Game. No I did not spoil the movie for you because the movie will be nothing like the book, and if you read the book then you already know what I’m talking about. And that’s exactly why an alien attack would actually help society. I hate comparing this, but a brain is only as good as its slowest cells, just how a herd is as fast as its slowest animals. So when you kill cells (hence why I hate the comparison, because people automatically assume drugs are good) or animals, you are technically helping the overall brain or herd. 

The same thing with society. Whether the problems and attacks were helpful (because obviously an attack would be helpful), society will eventually become better than before and be able to ward off any future attacks. Because people will learn from movies, the aliens will cause the humans to join together. With people communicating and uniting, they will turn to help each other in the long run, and cause a whole new society to emerge — better than ever.