Close Encounters is one of the greatest films of all time. It certainly is not perfect. But it is a JOY to watch. I love Richard Dreyfus’ character, Roy Neary, frantically try to understand this calling his experiencing. Nothing, not his job, his wife, his children… it is all second place to trying to scratch this itch, this calling from beyond human understanding.
So much so that he commits these egregious social sins to do what he needs to do.
To have THAT passion in life! Oh! How we would be made new and whole again to have that experience. Many have sought that kind of meaning life, but oh, so few have found it.
As a student of the Bible, I often see films like this and hold them against the template of the Bible. A book, sent from beyond earthly bounds through mysterious force into the minds and pens of 40 different humans. If that isn’t alien, what is?
This comparison reveals a pattern: extra terrestrial forces of great intelligence and power are interested in humans and their home. Sometimes, as in Close Encounters, that interest is benign and intended to have as little impact on the human way as possible. Curiosity is a good descriptor of this type of story. The other trope is always domination. The external forces have an interest, but it is a greedy desire to exterminate the human family and steal our home for themselves.
If there is another type of story, I haven’t yet found it. At least, not in sci-fi.
These are valid story types and, I believe, based on reality. What reality? That extraterrestrial beings do exist, they have immense power and a keen interest in earth and its inhabitants. Those creatures, by and large, have a wholesome interest in coming to earth, ‘invading’ and removing the existing power structures and those who endorse them to the detriment of humankind. This likely is why most invasion-style stories involve destruction. The lie in those tales is that the aliens are greedy and thoughtless. I suppose they would appear that way. No doubt when our bodies receive medicine, at first they might see the antibodies or whatever as invaders, but the in time, the good down far out weights our body’s initial interpretation.
Using the Bible as a template, there are external forces who do NOT wish the earth or its people good. They are greedy and intent on causing as much harm as possible. We call them demons, but they could just as well be described as monsters from the outer world even though they do all they can to make people believe they either don’t exist or are just another aspect of human existence. The irony is, these creatures paint themselves as benevolent and present their efforts to champion mankind as in man’s best interest. However, all of those efforts and goals, indeed the very society in which we live, are based on lies and selfishness. And our lying champions work very hard to convince the human family ANY ‘outside’ interference is bad, harmful and wrong.
Which is why stories like Close Encounters and its brethren always present ET as either curious-but-indifferent or downright punishingly-cruel. These unseen forces at work (who are, to be clear, from a non-terrestrial source) have a vested interest in convincing the human family that any and all input, adjustment or correction from a non-human will only cause harm.
Think about it. When you read the Bible, whose theme is God’s Kingdom or government being restored, you will find that humanity originally started as a happy couple minding their own business having mutually beneficial relationship with the greatest extra terrestrial of them all: God. In short order, other beings not of our own world took umbrage with the magnificent Creator and asserted God had no right to decide right and wrong for humans. So a rebellion was staged that left humans to fend for themselves, making their own decisions without the direct oversight of the one intelligence in existence who not only had the right but also the power and the will (not to mention the love) to assist and guide humanity on their journey into infinity. Insult to injury, that original rebeller (whom we call satan or the devil, again an ET) and his minions have been hiding in plain sight for millennia whispering to people to ignore and forget the original direction people had to be happy and to ignore the guidebook that we’d been sent.
The Bible goes on to describe a period when a great non-earthly power would arrive in power and glory and ‘invade’ earth, destroying all its governments and agents of those who stand against the creator. Naturally, this last stage of what the Bible describes is painted in popular entertainment as a bad thing for humans. And it will be, for some. For most of the 20-30 billion humans who have ever lived, this is not a moment of fear, but one of salvation.
Do it. I dare you. Watch any sci fi movie where ‘heavenly’ forces come to earth and I guarantee 100% of the time, they're painted as ugly, hateful creatures hell-bent on destruction. But, wow, does the book of Revelation paint a different picture.
Then again, I suppose it depends on which team you are on in the end.
I know, this sounds crazy and you probably think I’m wearing a tinfoil hat right now. Well, the jokes on you, I don’t need to wear a hat if my whole room is wallpapered with tin foil. DUH!!
Stay with me here. if you knew and believed all of this, would you be a Roy Neary? Or would you be like those around him, confused and dismayed and unwilling to listen? In the movie, Roy has the incredible experience of meeting these creatures from an outer world. They’re portrayed as naive and almost childlike, but I like to imagine them the incredibly powerful spirit forces they truly would be in a situation such as his. If you did, believe that is, you would upend your life to answer that call no matter the cost, because the reward would be worth it. Unparalleled in human existence.
Let that soak in, oh faithful reader. And while you’re doing it, watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s a great film.
Great read! I too make connections at times with movies and our universal story, but I never looked at aliens this way. Did we just have family worship 🤔
Nice work 👍 ❤️ I’m a believer ❤️