He lands on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Feared by the government and the public, he soon finds himself surrounded by military men with guns and tanks. When Klaatu pulls out what looks like a weapon (but it is only an electronic gift), he is shot once in the arm, but survives. The crowd is stunned but silent, and he is soon taken to the hospital and finds himself unrestrained in a private room…
Truly science fiction.
Today, nearly 70 years later, if this were reality and Klaatu was merely an unfamiliar black man from a nearby city neighborhood suspected of questionable activity, wouldn’t he be quickly surrounded and pushed to the ground by policemen? Possibly held in a chokehold until dead? Or maybe subdued by multiple shots in the back before taken to a hospital, partially paralyzed yet still put into restraints?
(Maybe, if this incident occurred in a city with open carry laws, a white teenage vigilante with a semi-automatic rifle would do some shooting — and not to apprehend any criminal suspects, but to “protect” businesses by murdering a few unarmed protesters, only to walk quietly past groups of police to get into his car and drive back to his home, 20 miles away.)
Then there’s the 2008 remake of this sci-fi movie, where a being lands an enormous, spiraling orb in New York City’s Central Park, and again he is surrounded by the military and curious spectators and shot. But he is then comforted by a kind white woman scientist... Today, even if he was just a black man walking alone in Central Park, armed only with binoculars for birdwatching, he could be feared by a seemingly intelligent but hysterical white woman who angrily calls 911, saying she is being threatened and afraid for her life, only because the man talks to her about her unleashed pet.
Aren't science fiction movies supposed to be more gruesome than reality?
Acknowledgements to 20th Century Studios, the company that produced the movies, and the various news media sources, where these news images were sourced.
For those of you who may be reading this in the distant future, here are a variety of links to the actual 2020 news items referenced in this essay:
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