How do you feel about "too humanoid" aliens in Trek?

What is your opinion about the aliens in Trek who look too much like humans. In some episodes of all five shows we see species who are almost identical to humans or have some minor physiological differences (such as a slightly different nose or a forehead).

I think it is highly unlikely for species from planets with completely different environmental conditions, chemical balance and gravity to look so identical to humans.

Do you feel that the producers sometimes underestimate the intelligence of their viewers by icluding such alien races? Or are you OK with that concept?

 

Don't really have a problem with it myself. Sure, we could maybe use a few more orange- or red-skinned races, and yes, some forehead ridges inevitably recall others, but for me Trek is fundamentally about humanity, so it doesn't bother me much. And while it'd be neat to see really alien-looking races like AOTC's Kaminoans, I'd rather they spent limited TV budgets on cool ships and sets rather than finding more elaborate ways of messing with an actor's performance.

 

I think it's more due to budget reasons than anything else. I'm one of those people who notices these things and it completely takes me out of the fantasy. If it's an alien, it should look alien. The universal translator should occasionally fail completely. I want to hear Andorians speaking Andorian. I want the subtitles (unlike most people). I do appreciate the Klingons speaking their native tongue, however.

I have a special nag on this very subject on my site.

 

the question is rather if there can be life on planets with radically different conditions. on earth-like planets, it's quite likely that life looks similar, and a humanoid race developes intelligence. planets undergo life cycles, venus and mars were much more earth like in the past, and earth too will turn into a dead rock in a billion years or two.

 

Until we actually find life on other planets we can only speculate on that matter. On Earth every form of life is carbon based, but there are more than a hundred elements in periodic table and every single one of them could be the basis for life on other planets.Even carbon based life forms on this planet are very different from one another.

We can also assume that on other Earth-like planets evoulution may have followed a completely different path. The best example are the dinosaurs - they were the dominant species of this planet and could have developed intelligence if they hadn't died out.

 

I don't have a problem with "too humanoid" aliens. Sure, there could be more aliens like the ones in the film Avatar (they are more realistic as aliens and they look human enough to be relatively easy to relate to) but totally non-human aliens like Species 8472 are hard to relate to (they are good as rarely used villains). And if the budget doesn't allow more realistic aliens I can accept human aliens if the story itself is good. And too much make-up makes it hard to act.

 

An original idea of an alien:

http://application.denofgeek.com/images/gb/st/tholian.jpg

A not so original idea of an alien:

http://www.geoffreylatham.com/repute/li_nalas.jpg

 

possibly, but what are the chances? carbon is special. no other element can form that variety of compounds (almost 10 million are known), and keep them together resisting virtually all oxidizers. carbon's affinity for bonding with other atoms is unrivalled. most of its isotopes are stable, and it is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. in fact, it's share of earth's mass (15th most abundant element) is by far smaller than it's share in the universe, the 4th most abundant. it's everywhere. so why would alien planets try a whole new approach if they've got carbon?

 

I'm another one that never had a problem with "too human-like" aliens because I tend to think humanoids are fairly common life-forms throughout the Star Trek Universe. You would probably find more non-humanoids on worlds that are mostly or completely inhospitable to humanoid life, IMO.

 

Its not so much the physical similarities that I have a problem with, instead its the overwhelming cultural similarities, as they all seem to have a very human "frame of reference".

The cultural components are just exaggerated to seem more "alien" but there is rarely any real divergence in thought or expression. I'd like it if they explored that aspect more - similar to how the author in "Stranger in a Strange Land" did so - showing something that was really alien, really new, and couldn't be reconciled in a 45min framework.

Although of course, this would be a little difficult to execute!

 

Even if there are truly "alien" aliens out there, how big are the chances of us having a menaingful interaction with them? I mean, how often do you meet the giant squid? The habitat, the biology, the needs of humans and squids are so different that there is virtually no point where they'll intersect.

If we meet aliens, they'll be similar enough to us that there is competition. Or probably cooperation. But I'm not too optimistic about the latter.

 

The problem with trying to apply too much real world stuff with Trek is that inevitably there comes a point where reality clashes with the fictional aspects and things start to break down. Realistically, the odds of encountering any alien lifeforms face-to-face out there could be very slim given the enormous distances to be overcome, but we can search for signals and other signs that someone else is out there.

Worst-case scenario is that there aren't any other sentient life-forms out there and that the Universe is waiting for us to grow up, leave the cradle, and make it our home. If we're lucky, many billions of years from now--after Earth has long since been devoured by its sun--the Universe could be inhabited with all sorts of very different lifeforms that all evolved along divergent paths from the human race...


Whoa. Sorry. I don't know where that idea come from.

 

The number of aliens who look 99% human is a bit silly, yes. But it's one of the TV conventions that you have to put up with, because they make the show stories possible in the first place. Like the Universal Translator - it is completely unbelievable, but it's preferable to the assumption that everyone in the universe speaks English. They can't have 70% of the actors in heavy makeup, for budgetary reasons. And in TOS, it was better they did not have actors in heavy makeup or costumes too often, because it was too unconvincing - just look at Gorn or Horta, it's painfully obvious that it's a guy in a suit, and Horta looks like a rag. They came up with clever ways to present non-corporeal aliens such as Medusans or Tholians, but it couldn't be done in every episode, because there couldn't be regular interaction between such aliens and the main characters. Today, they can use CGI, but it would be far too expensive for a TV show to use it in almost every episode.

There is another reason for the lack of physical differences, which does seem to show that the producers lack imagination or underestimate the audience. A well known example is why Bajorans look the way they look - when Michelle Forbes was cast as Ro, the first Bajoran character in Trek, the producers told Michael Westmore: "We've hired a pretty girl, and we want you to keep her pretty." Which seemed to translate to, don't go overboard with the makeup, just add a minor difference. I guess they tended to believe that there's no way that viewers could find heavy-makeup aliens attractive - even though that has turned out to be wrong in a few examples.

Cultural similarities tend to annoy me more. Stuff like the reptilian aliens in "Distant Origin" jovially talking to each other about the younger one wanting to marry his superior's daughter and if there is a problem with him being from a lower class, or discussing whether a female in charge of Voyager means that humans live in matriarchy.

 

Yes but even on our own planet carbon based life forms are so diverse, that it's almost unbelievable that intelligent species in the galaxy would look so identical.

I'm not sure if the budget was really the biggest problem. The Australian show "Farscape" didn't have a higher budget than Trek but they had some very originally looking aliens (actors and puppets). It makes me wonder why the producers of Trek never used puppets for the non-humanoid aliens.

http://www.farscapefantasy.com/photos_DNAMS.3/images/DNAMS (112)_jpg.jpg

http://scapecast.org/media/IntroductionToFarscape/Rygel.jpg

 

Aside from the questionable assumption that an ugly, big insect-like thing is original... which of those two aliens gave a more compelling performance?

 

Honestly, I've always wished that the aliens looked more varied and interesting. It's one of the only things that I would change about the show. I guess for the budgets they were given, they did okay. And even the humanoid aliens' makeup jobs were usually good. However, I agree with Docrice... I'd love to have subtitles, translation malfunctions etc.
I enjoy the fantasy, but the great thing about sci fi, as opposed to other fantasy genres, is that the fantasy seems (at least partly) plausible.

 

I thought the Progenitors story line was a plausible explanation for why so many aliens looked humanoid. Even though I knew the real reason was budget, it made for a good in-universe reason.

Perhaps it has been overlooked by some here, but storytelling is the primary focus of Star Trek. Overly strange looking aliens are a little more difficult to relate to by the average viewer. If the character appears too alien, how are viewers expected to apply the message to themselves? Before you vilify me, it IS a legitimate point which producers dealt with on a recurring basis.

 

It think that movies like "District 9" and "Avatar" proved that viewers can feel empathy for CGI aliens the same way they feel about aliens portrayed by actors.

Another good example of a believable alien who wasn't played by an actor is Yoda - he was a puppet in the original Star Wars trilogy and computer generated in the new movies.

 

People love Yoda, Rigel, Golum, Watto, Jabba, King Kong, Godzilla, Wall-E...Darth Vader! All atypical subjects.

It's budget, habit, and laziness that are the problem.

 

given the seeding of planets by the ancient race revealed in "The Chase" humanoid life in Trek doesn't annoy me much. what tends to annoy me more are that there aren't any sulphur-breathers or methane breathers or what have you.

making some of the aliens blue, green, orange or red skinned instead of just slapping a bit of putty on their nose/forehead is a tad lazy though.

still, that's what the novels are for...

Choblik, Nasats, Caitians, Pak'shree, Pahkwa-Thanh, Sti'atch etc...