How to be inhuman, with Cas and the Doctor

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to be human AND evil, with Rumpel and Regina.”

I’m not exactly quiet when it comes to which fandoms I particularly enjoy being a part of. Supernatural and Doctor Who are certainly two of them. Within each of those shows, there are some favorite characters. Dean is obviously one of them – how could you not love his sarcastic dialogue and amazing one-liners? I miss and love Donna Noble, not to mention Amy and Rory, too.

But Castiel and the Doctor own my heart.

You can probably count the number of times Cas smiles throughout the whole series on one hand.

Cas popped up in Supernatural about half way through its run. It’s a new-ish character (at least, not as old as Dean, Sam, or Bobby), but he made quite an impact. At first you’re not sure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy – or, rather, a good guy with interests that don’t involve keeping Dean and Sam alive. But he slowly grows on you as he becomes more and more aware of how amazing the human race is.

The Doctor is an alien that travels all across space and time. He visits different galaxies and planets like we visit our local grocery story. But he seems to have a particular affinity for Earth. He loves the human race – we have so much potential, so much greatness flowing through our veins. And although he’s run into plenty of people that don’t live up to that standard, he never gives up hope for us as a whole.

Neither one of these characters is human, yet they have to interact with humans on a daily basis. This often leads to plenty of hilarious situations, particularly because neither one truly knows how to act human. They’re like foreigners on steroids – it’s a little obvious they’re not from around here.

Castiel’s voicemail message: I… I don’t understand… Why do you want me to say my name? (sound of random phone buttons being pushed)

Take Cas, for instance. He just about never shows emotion. He doesn’t understand sarcasm. And he doesn’t know about that little thing called personal space. The writers make his inhumanity obvious by putting him in situations where he wouldn’t understand what’s going on. It’s not giving him wings and a white robe to wear to make him seem inhuman – it’s more about making it subtle.

This is where the latest version of the Doctor discovers his favorite food – fish fingers and custard.

This goes with the Doctor as well. He’s an alien, but he looks just like one of us. So how do you make him seem alien? It’s in the way he acts – his insistence on kissing a person’s cheeks when he meets them, whether or not the occasion calls for it. It’s also about what he doesn’t know – like modern currency. Giving someone a million dollars to rent a flat for a few weeks? Sure, why not? He’s also never surprised, not matter what kind of alien race he’s bumped into this time. Where humans would probably run screaming for the hills, the Doctor just sits there and marvels at the creature he’s discovered.

Craig: Where did you learn to cook?
The Doctor: Paris in the 18th century. No, hang on, that’s not recent is it? 17th? No no, 20th. Sorry, I’m not used to doing it in the right order.
Craig: Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit weird?
The Doctor: They never really stop.

If you’re writing a book about aliens, it’s not always about the big grand spectacle. Sometimes it’s about the subtle things, the little hints that this person might not be who we thought they were at first. It’ll keep things fresh and allow you plenty of moments for hilarity – a winning combination in my book.

Do you like your favorite inhuman characters armed to the teeth with tentacles, or do you prefer someone like Cas or the Doctor? (Also, share your favorite Cas & Doctor moments in the comments!)

What is it about Cowboys and Aliens?

Cowboys represent a golden age in American history. Sure, life was tough. But it was also good. You had to work hard to make a living, but you could also sleep under an open sky and live your life exactly how you wanted to. The only rules that mattered were those of honor and respect. Men removed hats in the presence of women and a handshake meant a promise you kept for a lifetime.

Aliens, on the other hand, represent something bigger, vaster. There’s the penultimate question of whether or not we’re alone in the universe. The unrestricted idea of dreams gone wild. The sky isn’t your limit, the whole universe is. Spaceships. Galaxies. Life on other planets.

So what in God’s name do these two things have in common?

Well, you might be surprised. But, first, let’s take a look at a couple of example of when cowboys and aliens meet face to face.

We’ll start with the really obvious one, the movie Cowboys & Aliens (I did a review of it in January). I didn’t particularly like this film, but I didn’t hate it either. It had an interesting concept, but the actual storyline just sort of fell flat for me. The basic idea, if you’re unaware, is that in 1873 a spaceship lands to take over the world (they’re always doing that, aren’t they going to learn?). The cowboys and local Arizona natives are all that can stand up against them.

Next up, we’ve got Firefly, which takes everything that is awesome about cowboys and everything that is awesome about space, and mashes them together into the perfect recipe for a television show. The premise is that there is a band of misfits traveling through space aboard the ship named Serenity. Sometimes they do honest work, and sometimes they don’t. But it seems as if they’re always running from somebody.

Lastly, there’s Doctor Who. The Doctor deals with aliens far more often than he deals with cowboys, but in the upcoming season 7 trailer we get glimpses of a cowboy-centric episode titled “A Town Called Mercy.” The Doctor flies around in his TARDIS throughout time and space, going on adventures and saving our planet more times than we could possibly count. One of the characters, River Song, has a very cowboy-esque feel about her. On top of that, this new Wild West episode will seemingly have the perfect balance of guns, leather, and people with weird things on their faces.

These three examples are certainly not the only ones that exist out there, they’re just the ones that I happen to be most familiar with. We’ve been mashing these two seemingly opposite genres together for years. But why? Is it because they’re so completely different that it’s interesting to see what would happen when we put the two together? It’s possible, but chew on this:

How exactly are they different?

Okay, cowboys are from Earth and aliens are from outer space. One is human and the other is probably an interesting shade of green. Cowboys spend their days on ranches looking over their livestock, while aliens (usually) spend their days trying to invade our planet.

But I think these two types of beings are more similar than we give them credit for. Stories of cowboys and stories of aliens both revolve around the unknown. For cowboys, the unknown was the Wild West. It was uncharted territory. Same with space. It represents the unknown. It’s uncharted territory.

Cowboys invaded the west and took land from natives, just like aliens often take over whole planets. Men in the west often captured and tortured locals for information. Sound familiar? Aliens have their infamous laboratories where they supposedly probe and dissect human beings in order to learn more about us.

There are countless stories of “pale faces” and local tribes meeting. Sometimes they fight and sometimes they learn that they’re not so different. The same could be said for any alien landing on our planet for the first time. There’s an opportunity there, between both groups, to learn and grow from their experiences.

And what do stories about the Wild West and stories about space travel teach us? That there’s more out there than we know. That good and evil exist. That honorable and decent beings will always come out on top.

So, are cowboys and aliens really that different after all?

Can you think of any other ways in which these two seemingly different things are similar? Are there any other genres or types of characters that are at odds with each other that you would like to see in a single story? My first thought was Disney princesses and vampires – that would be interesting!

Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens

Bottom Line:

Don’t Watch.

Details:

I didn’t hate this movie. I didn’t even really dislike this movie. Actually, it had a lot of good things going for it. I love Daniel Craig, especially for his work in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I also love Harrison Ford – the Indiana Jones movies are classic action flicks that I love to watch. It was directed by Jon Favreau, the guy who did Iron Man – which was an instant hit with me.

And the very concept of the movie is incredibly intriguing. Cowboys and aliens. Let me say that again. Cowboys. And. Aliens. This film had great potential to really knock us off our feet and give us a unique spin on two classic genres by spinning them together.

I think that was the problem. This film was just mediocre. I felt like most of the stand-alone cowboy scenes were cliché. You know how when the bad guy walks into the bar and the music cuts off mid note with that brittle ping of the violin strings? Yeah, that actually happened. They actually did that. The dialogue was okay, but it seemed forced. The action wasn’t bad, but there was a lot of gun slinging and I’m more of a swords-and-knives girl myself. The entire thing was a little hokey with the dialogue and the relationships between the characters. A little too over-the-top.

The funny thing was, the concept of the movie wasn’t the problem. It was a brilliant idea, but the writing just fell flat. I will say that there were a couple of twists that surprised me. There are some funny jokes, the aliens are actually pretty scary, and there are some characters that you just instantly fall in love with.

I got this as a Christmas present, so I feel a little bad for not liking it. But my Mom (who gave it to me) didn’t like it either, so I don’t have to feel too guilty. We’re going to set it aside for a month or two and watch it again later on, now that we know what to expect. There’s been a few movies where I’ve actually decided that I liked them after doing this. I’ll let you guys know if I change my mind.

Have any of you seen this yet? What did you think of it? Did my review sway you in anyway? Do you agree with what I’ve said?

P.S. For anyone who has seen this movie – please tell me I wasn’t the only one who thought they were going to put up a “Perfection” sign on the edge of town at the end of the movie. That would’ve been ASTOUNDING.