Most everyone, I suppose, has heard (and laughed at) the ‘theory’ that advanced aliens taught humans just about everything and that they were the actual gods of antiquity and the source of this ridiculous idea that there is a supreme being.
Well, I of course won’t waste time debunking this idea. It hardly needs debunking, does it? My question, though, is rather why on earth anyone would want to believe it. It seems clear to me that this is just disappointing-hero-worship on a cosmic scale; the ultimate ‘That’s IT?!’
Oddly, I’ve rarely heard anyone take this approach (of course, I haven’t done much research into it, for obvious reasons). I’ve seen this idea broached in a few films, and it’s always played up as a huge enlightenment; the ultimate answer which leaves the characters speechless with awe (except in ‘Alien vs. Predator,’ where it is merely played as ‘so that’s why the monsters are here’).
The most sensible reaction I’ve heard to this revelation comes not from a movie per-se, but from an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which, as I assume everyone knows, revolves around a guy and two robots making fun of bad movies.
This movie, a truly lame Italian Superman-knock-off called ‘Puma Man,’ takes as its basis the above world view and concludes with the ‘gods’ descending in a scene that is intended to leave the viewer in awe, but is executed as horribly as the rest of the film.
However, it is the reactions of Mike and the Robots watching the film which makes the scene, as they spout off the disappointment inherent in this revelation:
“Is there anything we should tell the people about truth, or…”
“No, I don’t think so,”
“Should we love each other?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,”
This, as I’ve said, is really the most sensible reaction to the ‘aliens are gods’ idea; not pointing out the factual dubiousness of the idea, which will either go without saying or likely be impossible to demonstrate to the satisfaction of your listener, but by taking a leaf out of Mike and the Bots’ book and merely asking ‘Is that it?’
P.S. Bonus points to the first person who can complete the titular quote from ‘Puma Man.’
P.P.S. If this idea is true, who taught the aliens?
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