Alien movies are popular when set in America. Unlike Men in Black, Independence Day focuses on multiple groups of people organizing a counteroffensive on July 4 after an attack from a powerful extraterrestrial race, rather than coexisting with aliens. This affects our imagination of aliens. It also makes me wonder why the survivors in the rest of the world so willingly follow the lead of the Americans, who take the initiative throughout the entire movie. I will analyze the reasons in three categories: cultural influence, historical factors, and America’s ability to shape alien movies that are always set in America.
Heroism of America instills belief in defeating aliens
UFOs and aliens are part of American urban culture1. According to a Pew Research Center survey, about two-thirds of Americans say they believe there are intelligent life exists on other planets2. America does not just accept that aliens exist, it also believes the American people can defeat the aliens. The reason is caused by the widespread heroism in American society during the Cold War.
Americans’ fear of the unknown comes from the Cold War, including the development of nuclear weapons and new technologies related to war3. This is the deepest anxiety of people’s modern existence4. In response, people are looking for heroes to overcome insecurity. The United States has a long and rich history of individual heroism, even though it has only been established for 200 years. In the movie Independence Day, Russell Casse, motivated by a strong desire for revenge, strikes the alien ship’s cannon with a missile and destroys it completely, sacrificing himself in the process. This ending not only reflects American heroism, but also implies that the greatest hero can be a regular person, and that “anyone can achieve self-fulfillment”5. As a result, Americans not only accept aliens, but they also believe there will be heroes who will save the planet, as shown in ID4. They portray America as the hero therefore America’s role in alien films is predominant.
The historical factors of America influence the development of alien movies
There was a connection between the historical events of America and the aliens. The reason American people believe in alien existence comes from the fear of the unknown and the fear of being subjugated by a more advanced society6. The fear of the unknown is due to the high-tech military force for global surveillance and control during the Cold War. While the anxiety of invasion comes from the nuclear threat of the Soviet Union. According to Dowling (2017)7, the Soviet Union tested 36 nuclear bombs in 1958 alone. It is noteworthy that Independence Day was released in 1996, which coincided with the end of the Cold War. This has a strong connection to the outcome we discussed in the tutorial, which the American people have been unaware of since the Cold War. That led Americans to think that aliens exist.
More importantly, Americans are convinced that America can defeat aliens because of its historical background. American independence has been the core of American patriotism. The American struggle for freedom in 1776 against British colonial rule gave rise to a spirit of bravery and tenacity in their people8. Furthermore, they also think that America is different because of its concepts of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism9. Americans believed that the US was a particular country with a unique destiny. Additionally, they believe that America has a right and a destiny to take a special and constructive place in the world. Lastly, the United States emerged as the sole winner of the Cold War10, a global ideological conflict, and the American military and technological forces became the strongest. This victory makes the American people believe they can overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges, including extraterrestrial forces. Therefore, the President of the United States decided to counterattack alongside all the world’s armies on July 4th in the film Independence Day. As July 4th is America’s Independence Day, they perceive it to be a victory day to defeat aliens.
The power of America is incomparable
As we discussed United States is the only superpower after the Cold War, its hard and soft power make it believe they are strong enough to fight aliens.
Crucial American hard power in extraterrestrial battle
America could gather such a large number of forces in Europe and Asia against aliens in such a short time. Shown in the movie, America leads the battle against the alien threat, with other nations such as Britain, Israel, and Iraq positioned on an airbase in the Iraqi Desert waiting for instructions. They are ordered to conduct a concerted counteroffensive after receiving an old Morse code from the United States, so as the Japanese army. These countries were close allies of America in the 1990s, including the United Kingdom, Israel, and Japan11.
On the other hand, nuclear weapons are another evidence of the hard power of America. Nuclear bombs have been used to demonstrate American military might before. For example, the one dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. In ID4, American scientists prepared the Roswell spacecraft for flight, demonstrating American technological prowess, and nuclear weapons play a crucial role in the scene where the mothership was destroyed12.
The soft power of America stood up from others
America has the ability to potentially defeat aliens because of its innovative high-tech talent. During our tutorial, we discussed the high-tech of America’s develops quickly, especially when it comes to using it for war. Independence Day illustrates how effective advanced technology can be when it comes to fighting extraterrestrial attackers, implying that humans do not have to be concerned about the possible threats that come with new technology.
During the counterattack, technology expert David Levinson discovers that a computer virus could mess with the alien shields’ operating system. It is important to note that the computer that destroys the aliens is an American-made machine. According to Wightman (1997), the computer in the movie is a product from Apple that serves to emphasize the effectiveness of the “made in America” label.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are three main reasons why aliens favor the American people. During the Cold War, people began to fear the unknown. Influenced by heroism, they projected the United States as a beacon of democracy. Secondly, historical factors foster the belief that the American people are capable of extraordinary acts of courage and are convinced that they can overcome anything. Furthermore, America’s hard and soft power developed swiftly after the Cold War, leading people to think that no other country on the planet can defeat aliens except for America.
The film Independence Day combines pop culture, urban legends, and American patriotism to provide a thorough understanding of how Americans viewed themselves in the world during the 1990s. After analyzing Independence Day, I realized that it is not aliens who favor America. Rather, it is America that needs the help of aliens to demonstrate its supremacy to the world.
–This case study originates from my research on urban legends at the university. I really enjoy alien movies and was inspired by the class to explore this topic. Therefore, I want to share my perspective with like-minded individuals for fun.–
References
- The Library of Congress. (n.d.). UFOs and Aliens Among Us. https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/life-on-other-worlds/ufos-and-aliens-among-us ↩︎
- Kennedy, C., & Lau, A. (2021, June 30). Most Americans believe in intelligent life beyond earth; few see UFOs as a major national security threat. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/30/most-americans-believe-in-intelligent-life-beyond-earth-few-see-ufos-as-a-major-national-security-threat/ ↩︎
- Edwards, P. N. (1996). The closed world: Computers and the politics of discourse in cold war America. ↩︎
- Ye, C. F. (2019, January). Qian xi hao lai Wu dian Ying de Mei Guo ge ren Ying xiong Zhu Yi. [Analysis of American Individual Heroism in Hollywood Movies]. Zhong wen Zhuan ye xue Shu qi kan. https://cn.usp-pl.com/index.php/xjylt/article/viewFile/5961/6001 ↩︎
- Pan, G. Z. (2020, August 10). 《ID4 Xing ji Zhong jie zhe》wai Xing ren qin lue di qiu Wei shi me zong shi Cong Mei Guo Xian Xia shou？ [Why do aliens always target the United States first in “ID4: Independence Day”?]. Yahoo. https://tw.news.yahoo.com/潘光中專欄-id-4-星際終結者外星人侵略地球為什麼總是從美國先下手-014720610.html ↩︎
- Schilling, E. G. (2020). “Our Greatest Weapon: The Rhetoric of Invasion in Arrival and. Independence Day”. Student Publications. 895.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/895 ↩︎ - Dowling, S. (2017, August 16). The monster atomic bomb that was too big to use. BBC Breaking News, World News, U.S. News, Sports, Business, Innovation, Climate, Culture, Travel, Video & Audio. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170816-the-monster-atomic-bomb-that-was-too-big-to-use ↩︎
- security-threat/
Lagatta, E. (2023, July 3). The power of a name: How a campy alien film became a national ‘Independence Day’ tradition. USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/07/03/independence-day-movie-title/70342261007/ ↩︎ - Walt, S. M. (2011). The myth of American exceptionalism, Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/the-myth-of-american-exceptionalism/ ↩︎
- Davies, J., & Smith, C. (1997). Conclusion: Aliens from Star Wars to Independence. Day. In Gender, Ethnicity and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film (pp. 147–150). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748674428-006 ↩︎
- Massie, J., & Paquin, J. (2019). America’s Allies and the Decline of US Hegemony (1st edition.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429260124 ↩︎
- Wightman, K. L. (1997). “Independence Day” and the new alien invasion (Order No. 1387484). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (304393862). http://eproxy.lib.hku.hk/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/independence-day-new-alien-invasion/docview/304393862/se-2 ↩︎