Alien Arts Are Appreciated: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

[[Rubber Forehead Aliens]] as applied to aesthetics rather than physiology, or alternatively the cultural counterpart to [[No Biochemical Barriers]], Alien Arts Are Appreciated when [[Speculative Fiction]] depicts arts and entertainment made by one species as finding an audience among aliens. As for how likely this would be to occur, ask yourself the following: What human being would appreciate the works of a species that communicate by emitting scents, with the closest equivalent to a novel being a device that emits smells in order to tell a story, or a "sculpture" consisting of a single scent? Or a painting made by a being blind in the spectrum visible to humans but sighted in frequencies humans cannot perceive? Of course, there are also the psychological differences: What would a species with no concept of fate make of the ''Iliad'', for example?

 

Common in [[Space Opera]]. When done by an alien to humans this is [[Klingons Love Shakespeare]], which may be a result of [[Intrigued by Humanity]]; when done by humans to aliens, it may be because the character/group in question is [[The Xenophile]]. When this is applied to TV, it's [[Aliens Steal Cable]]. See also [[Humans Through Alien Eyes]].

 

* It's unclear exactly how much exposure {{spoiler|Kaworu Nagisa}} of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has had to human culture, but he does specifically cite music as the Lilim's crowning achievement, claiming that it "cleanses the soul".

* A huge part of the plot in ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]''/''[[Robotech]]''. One major reason that humanity wasn't wiped out by their vastly more numerous foe was that many Zentraedi were interested in human entertainment and didn't want to see it disappear. This gets amusing when humanity figures this out and essentially ''weaponizes pop music''.

* [[New Mutants]] and [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] supporting character Lila Cheney is an Earth-born folk rock musician who uses her mutant power to teleport interstellar distances to include alien planets on her concert tours.

* In ''[[El Eternauta]]'' a "[[Rubber Forehead Aliens|Mano]]" starts ranting on beauty after seeing a coffee pot.

* In ''Nexus'', the strange sculptures dug up on Ylum prove to be tremendously popular throughout the galaxy, and command high prices. That's partly a result of the fact that the artifacts in question are made of unidentifiable materials. Also, it's not unreasonable to think that people might be interested in the artifacts of an otherwise unknown alien civilization.

 

 

== Films -- Animation ==

 

 

** Grand Admiral [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Thrawn]] uses his appreciation of alien art to [[Awesomeness By Analysis|get inside its creators' heads]] and kill them more efficiently. In ''[[Outbound Flight]]'' he also demonstrates that he can determine the visual ranges of these creators and how many arm joints they have. Thrawn considers it [[My Greatest Failure|his greatest failure]] the one time where he was unable to do that with a race and was forced to destroy them. Bear in mind, it's not the destruction of an entire species that bothers Thrawn. It's the failure of his analysis.

** In ''[[All There in the Manual|The New Essential Guide to Alien Species]]'' it is explained that [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Zeltrons]], who are offshoots of humanity, write some of the best erotica. To be fair, Zeltrons are also a [[Free-Love Future]] race with empathy abilities, so it makes sense for them to have a good understanding of the subject.

** Some of the barriers to this trope are shown (sort of) in [[Attack of the Clones|the second movie]], according to some EU sources, those bare, plain walls that all rooms on Kamino had, turns out they were actually all covered in grand, colorful murals. It's just that you have to be able to see into the ultraviolet spectrum to notice them.

* Ax of ''[[Animorphs]]'' is the only alien on the team. His species consumes food by absorbing it through their hooves, and have almost no concept of taste. Once he gains a human morph, it takes no time at all for him to become a [[Sense Freak]], to the point where he once crawled around the floor of a movie theater, looking for "brown globules" (Raisinets). And his favorite television programs are "These Messages".

* [[Larry Niven]]:

** In the ''[[Known Space]]'' 'verse, the Kdatlyno "touch-sculptor" Lloobee is a celebrity throughout human space.

* In the ''[[Uplift]]'' universe, several alien species are enamoured with human literature and poetry (including old science fiction pulp novels), because [[Humans Are Special|the human languages present a high degree of ambiguity of meaning and pronunciation which is not present in the artificial languages used by galactic society]]. Just as many species revile human culture [[Broken Base|for the exact same reasons]], of course.

** And whale songs are considered an art form beyond peer by some aliens.

* In ''[[I Married An Earthling]]'', Earth's TV broadcasts are the subject of academic study on the planet Zeeron.

* An ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' example can be found in the short story ''The Grand Tour''. There are very few intelligent alien species, only about 12 known ones in human space, and none currently advanced enough for space travel. One species which died out was advanced, and are simply known as the Alphanes. There are large crystal pillars that remain of their architecture which are considered quite beautiful.

* In James P. Hogan's novel ''The Legend That Was Earth'', Hyadean films (which are mostly exercises in social engineering) fail to make a splash on Earth. Human films, on the other hand, are becoming very popular on the Hyadean homeworld.

* Murray Leinster's classic short story ''First Contact'' is centered around the dilemma of a human and alien ship, meeting unexpectedly for the first time, who can't possibly trust each other because they have no shared frame of reference, so they can't be certain that they're interpreting anything the other side says or shows correctly. While the captains agonize over this, two low-level crewmembers somehow manage to swap dirty jokes.

* In ''[[Perdido Street Station]]'' by [[China Mieville]] the character Lin is a khepri (basically a human woman with a large beetle for a head) sculptor. Her art consists of chewing colored sticks and extruding a resin of some sort out of the back of her beetle head's body and using the beetle's hind legs to form it into statues. She's commissioned by [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|the (arguably) human]] Mr. Motley to create a sculpture of himself.

* In [[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''This Immortal'', the aliens view original-formula Coca-Cola as humanity's second-greatest contribution to galactic culture. The first being a new and interesting problem in the social sciences, namely, what to do with a species who managed to ruin their own homeworld. (They also apparently appreciate poetry).

* Played with in [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Troy Rising]]'' series, along with [[No Biochemical Barriers]]: the Glatun traders, barred from buying the platinum-group metals they ''want'' by the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Horvath]] warship in Earth orbit, buy a load of human artistic masterpieces (including, but not limited to "Starry, Starry Night" and the Venus de Milo). It's described as the equivalent of European explorers reaching various "primitive" cultures and buying the local glass beads and seashells. They are, however, [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|big fans of the protagonist's webcomic]]. And while [[Take That|Coca-cola]] is deadly poisonous to them, [[No Biochemical Barriers|maple syrup is some sort of ambrosial booze equivalent]]. (They sell the masterpieces back, plus more computing power than in the whole of Silicon Valley, for a semi-truck load of maple syrup)

* Invoked in ''[[The Stars Are Cold Toys]]'' by [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]. Earthlings end up as a [[Puny Earthlings|Lesser Race]] in a galaxy full of [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]]. As such they are forbidden to import any pieces of advanced alien technology, but apparently allowed alien art. Humans use this loophole to get their hands on things like decorative plating that is, conveniently, more durable than any human-made material. Hey, it's not a crime if you want your body armor and starships pretty, is it?

** Actually, humans are allowed some advanced technology, but they're only allowed to use it for its primary purpose. The protagonist mentions there is a large supply of superstrong [[Sharpened to a Single Atom|monomolecular]] string that the worm-like aliens they get them from use for their version of a C-section. Humans are perfectly welcome to use it for the same purpose, but to build a [[Space Elevator]]? No way.

** In another Lukyanenko novel, ''[[Line of Delirium]]'', the massive bear-like Bulrathi are [[Blessed with Suck]] by evolution to have extremely-high-pitched voices. Certain establishments, however, hire Bulrathi singers as tenors, although you have to have a lot of self-control to avoid laughing at a huge bear singing falcetto (that is, if you care about your life). The protagonist also visits the Bulrathi homeworld of Ursa, which features gift shops for tourists, run by humans.

** The Thranx poets are thrilled by the range of human artistry. In ''Phytogenesis'', a small-time crook who's never been particularly into human art sees a Thranx poet's spontaneous recital, spawned by the poet's reaction to seeing the man eat a fish, and despite the fact that the performance is whistling and clicking in a language he can't understand, accompanied by expressive gestures he also can't understand, the crook finds it amazingly beautiful.

** On the flip side, the thranx are fascinated by the unparalleled flexibility afforded by humans' internal skeletons, and teams of human gymnasts and dancers quickly find huge audiences among them.

 

 

* ''[[Star Trek]]'':

** In some versions of ''[[Star Trek]]'', human adolescents appreciate Klingon heavy metal. It is apparently pretty much the same thing as our heavy metal, except that Klingons do it and it's in their character, so it becomes "alien". Their opera, on the other hand, is supposedly without any direct real-world equivalent.

*** And then it turns out they have distinctly non-human tastes in this department; they are impressed by technically hard pieces that have no rhyme or reason to them.

** And then of course, there is ''Star Trek IV'', when aliens threaten to destroy Earth because they cannot hear whalesong.

** After figuring out that Talarian language is based on metaphors from their own mythology, Picard attempts to connect with Dathon by reciting the Epic of Gilgamesh.

** The TNG episode "First Contact" (not to be confused with the film) reveals that it's standard Federation procedure to pirate a selection of entertainment programs of a civilization about to discover faster-than-light technology, to help them get a sense of what the race's society is like. One of the people contacted in the episode is quite embarrassed at this idea, and Picard admits that they give an "incomplete" picture of the society.

* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', Teyla really has a thing for popcorn. She and Ronan, however, do not seem to understand the attraction of TV. Also, Nerus, a Goa'uld, is fascinated with such Earth delicacies as chicken, seedless grapes, and cupcakes.

** Teal'c in ''[[SG-1]]'' is a big fan of ''[[Star Wars]]'', and apparently has seen a number of action movies, including ''[[Die Hard]]''.

* The ''[[Torchwood]]'' episode "A Day in the Death" had a music box/light show thing, which was explicitly the originating species' equivalent of music. It is primarily visual, but pretty.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'':

** While Human humor often relies of physical injury or embarrassment, Minbari humor centers on failure to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Or puns. Or inappropriate greeting protocols.

** Centauri opera is also heard - Vir and Londo sing a bit at the beginning of a season 2 episode - and although it's in Centauri language it still sounds rather human. Londo later studies Human music and finds "remarkable composers" and "astonishing symphonies", but after a solid week of study cannot make any sense out of the Hokey Pokey.

** In the last episode of the fifth season, Vir mentioned that he and Londo heard some Pak'ma'ra singing. And that it was beautiful.

* In ''[[Angel]]'', Lorne is a native of the dimension of Pylea, which doesn't have singing or music of any kind, although they do have dancing. ("Numfar! Dance the dance of joy!") When he finally went to Earth, he loved music so much that he opened a karaoke bar. He can also read peoples' futures when they sing. When he revisits Pylea, it turns out that singing causes excruciating pain to other Pyleans.

** He also likes their jelly babies and edible ball bearings, but that could just be the [[Genius' Sweet Tooth]] talking.

* An example that doesn't leave Earth: Lily from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' is having no success selling her abstract paintings (one trendy gay couple makes a purchase just to get the frame). When she throws them in the trash, they are found by a veterinarian who discovers that her work has a remarkable calming effect on dogs, even in the midst of operations.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Aslan epics and decorative weapons are lovingly described in ''Alien Races 2'' however it is not said whether humans find them popular. However some Aslan ship designs are rather liked by Solomani humans and there were a tales of human warbands in the past who [[Going Native|affected the customs and dress]] of the Aslan [[Worthy Opponent|even when fighting them]]

** One of the straightest examples in [[Traveller]] is the J'aadje. They are obsessed with beauty and what looks beautiful to them will often look beautiful to a human.

 

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'':

** In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', the asari are said to be the foremost exporters of culture among the species of the known galaxy. It also works the other way round; at one point, we hear that the elcor plan to stage a production of ''Hamlet''. Since elcor speak veeerrry sloooowly and preface all their lines with a [[That Makes Me Feel Angry|statement of emotional content]], since other species can't read their body language or inflections, this is one of the funniest moments in the game. And yes, the sequel includes an advert showing clips.

[[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Insincere endorsement: You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have heard him in the voice of elcor."]] }}

*** One of the ads for the play states the (human) director had hoped this would cause the audience to judge the character Hamlet on his actions instead of the emotion behind it.

** ''Stolen Memory'', a piece of DLC, involves going into someone's art gallery. Kasumi, your companion, can remark on various pieces, saying for instance that asari go wild for ancient Egyptian relics, and being disparaging towards an abstract turian work.

** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', you get to wander around [[Adventurer Archaeologist|Liara's]] apartment, where she keeps a lot of Prothean relics. Justified because she used to be an archaeologist with a fascination with the Protheans.

** One of the reports for [[Cerberus Daily News]] says that the asari and the [[Proud Merchant Race|volus]] have embraced Valentine's Day, due to it's focus on reproduction and commerce.

* In the 1997 [[Point and Click]] [[Adventure Game]] ''[[The Space Bar]]'', the films of Jerry Lewis are considered to be the pinnacle of comedy and are universally loved by all species across the galaxy, besides humans.

* The unggoy in ''Halo'' have a black market built around human soap operas, sitcoms, and the like. This probably has more to do with them being tasked to monitor UNSC communications and their superiority at learning (and therefore familiarity with human language) compared to the rest of the covenant than any fondness of humanity.

 

* In a ''[[Starslip Crisis]]'' strip, curator Vanderbeam wanders into Jinx's quarters for the first time and praises the artistry in the crystalline structures he's decorated it with- whereupon Jinx mentions that he has the Cirbozoid equivalent to a human's head cold.

** Considering the strip took place on an interstellar museum ship up until two years ago this trope was half the point of the comic in general.

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Karkat, who typically [[Cultural Posturing|derides human culture as primitive and simplistic]], considers ''[[Serendipity]]'' one of his favourite movies, partially because of its resonance with troll ideals of [[One True Pairing|romantic destiny]], and partially because he has [[Guilty Pleasures|pretty bad taste in movies]].

* [[Kevin and Kell]] plays this straight, with canines having a scented candle novelization.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Futurama]]'':

*** They were saving that for sweeps.

** Then there was this gem of a tale:

'''Henry Kissinger:''' ''Mr. Ambassador, our people tell the same story.'' }}

** Again in the episode ''Three Hundred Big Boys'', there is a showing and sale of the loot Zap Brannigan won over the spider people of a foreign world. Their silks and art are appreciated.

** [[Transformers Generation 1|G1 Autobot]] [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Pipes Pipes] has a fondness for human knick-knacks and made a collection of "nose hair trimmers, patent rulers, and other worthless but fascinating ephemera of the throwaway society."

* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' are not immune. The younger ones break into movie theatres to watch ''[[Bambi]]'', Hudson develops a fondness for television, and [[Genius Bruiser|Goliath]] raids the library for [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]].

 

== Real Life ==

* Åke "Dacke" Axelsson, a journalist at the Swedish tabloid Göteborgs-Tidningen, came up with the idea of exhibiting a series of paintings made by an ape, under the presumption that they were the work of a previously unknown French artist named "Pierre Brassau", in order to test whether critics could tell the difference between true avant-garde modern art and the work of a monkey. "Pierre Brassau" was in fact a four-year-old Common Chimpanzee named Peter from Sweden's Borås djurpark zoo. Critics praised the chimp's works, with Rolf Anderberg of the morning Posten writing, "Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer." One critic, however, panned the work, suggesting that "Only an ape could have done this". After the hoax was revealed, Rolf Anderberg insisted that Peter/Pierre's work was "still the best painting in the exhibition." A private collector bought one of the works for US$90.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_6-IwMPjM This beluga whale] apparently enjoys mariachi music.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]