A 'must' and a 'should'

Scripts of movies.

I've seen a lot of movies in my life, naturally. Not as much as true fans, alas, but still, a significant amount.

Now, I know that it (as in, plot) has all been done before. Vampires in year 3234!!! Done. Aliens in the past! Done. Alien Nazi unicorns fighting for the freedom of raccoons on fire with lightsabers! Probably done, but rejected. I know that there is no such thing as a genuinely 'new' plot that makes some sense.

What I'm getting at, though, is that some plots get overused. And since I'm a fan of fantasy and Sci-Fi, let's delve into that.

First rule I've always seen in those movies: Aliens are bad. Unless there are so many of them, that eventually one out of 9001 is relatively friendly. Rest just want to kill. Always. It's kind of like that "one black guy only" rule in some movies, so that they don't get law suit on their heads.

Second rule: Any society that is not humanity is evil and wants to destroy us. Now, why they want that, I do not know. They always have a reason for it, though. Always our world that needs destruction. Hey, why don't you try Mars some day? Yeah, the public is used to Earth and wants to see how it gets endangered by other species, but should it all be about certain money income? Money income for the movie business is a must, yeah. But shouldn't they consider the fact that more could enjoy a film based on not-so-overused subjects?

Why doesn't anybody try thinking outside the box for just one time and make them complex beings? Why must they always be like the classic prototype for an antagonist? You know, the smart, beautiful, with good taste and a thirst to kill everyone around him guy. And let's not forget the urge to die from a dumber opponent after months of planning that sole evil scheme. Why should everything alien to us be unfriendly? Or even if it is, why should it be such because of its nature and not because of ours?

I know, I know, you'll pinpoint me to one or two good movies that have done so. Compare them to the amount of flooding garbage that is just like in the above-mentioned.

What is so wrong with simply meeting a species with complex society? You know, with one part of it which rejects others simply because they are different and another part of it which accepts us for who we are, and let's not forget the middle, unconvinced part. Why should every different fiction species be either too friendly or too unfriendly, or too smart/primitive? Why can't they be complex? Like here.

Why must vampires be either shiny and gentle or evil and cruel? Why can't they be complex either? Although there are some recent improvements in that section. Like Underworld, where they have minds and use them.

Death got free from that grasp, thanks to Terry Pratchett and some TV series etc afterwards. Why can't every creature do that? Why can't they simply be rational beings? Why can't they stop and ask themselves "What am I doing? What will this cause? What has this caused so far? How would it change me? Is it my place to do this?" Instead, they seem to have a little chip in their heads appointed to "Seek and Destroy" or "Oh golly look, human love! I can't possibly destroy such beauty!"

What I'm aiming at is, at the moment other intelligent species are described only in the two possible corners -- too good and too bad. Am I the only one who wants something in between, something more realistic? I know, I know, if you make it look realistic, it will be. But it could always be much more. Because things aren't just black and white. Maybe it's just me, tired of those 2 extremes; maybe it's only me with some need for gray. I don't know anymore.



*Treat this as an opinion only.