Are the aliens using a mask? - Communion (1989) Discussion

[–] coldoven 20 years ago

yeah, i felt the same way you did. i think it was more of a shock-value thing.

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[–] verb80 20 years ago

I think what the movie is also trying to say is that alot of people can describe the aliens slightly different, perhaps saying that the aliens are always changing masks to that we never really know what they look like. I guess, thats a rather smart move if you think about it.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] rtz549 19 years ago

I haven't seen this movie in a while. It seems like the scene where the mask is removed, he says "that's not what you are" and someone says "you can't know who we are".

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[–] Movies_For_Life 19 years ago

That's what I thought when I first saw the movie since I read the book first, although I read it back in the 80's. If you watch the outtakes or listen to the director's commentary version there's something he says about Whitley says that's what he saw, so I'm assuming he didn't write about everything that happened.

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[–] wildgunz 18 years ago

I think that was part of the whole theme in that scene, because it kinda seemed the Aliens were playing with his mind or making him confused, telepathically.. You know?

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] JetLagDMT 17 years ago

The scene where Whitley discovers that the "aliens" are deceiving him about their true appearance was actually from a later book he wrote about his experience, not from Communion. But the filmmaker decided to include it in this film. I'm glad. It was one of the greatest scenes in the film because it draws attention
to the idea that these experiences are very subjective. The film doesn't tell you what to think. It gives you ambiguities and let's you make up your own mind (much like life itself!) Are the "aliens" from another planet? Another dimension? Archetypal presence in the human mind itself? You decide!

Call it... friendo.

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[–] moon-scorpio 17 years ago

I think aliens are demons.
Just my opinion of course.

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[–] JetLagDMT 17 years ago

"demons" are what you resort to when you've run out of ideas/grown bored with scientific methods. Thanks but no thanks.

Call it... friendo.

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[–] moon-scorpio 17 years ago

demons" are what you resort to when you've run out of ideas/grown bored with scientific methods. Thanks but no thanks.

That is not my reasoning or the reason as to why i think that.
I know the thought of them being demons is quite frightening. Not to mention it takes away the romantic idea about them being some intelligent life force from outer space.
Look i would much rather have them be that too...but i am afraid, they are not.

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[–] JetLagDMT 17 years ago

What I said has nothing to do with romantic notions. I have no one theory about who/what they are and no one theory about their intentions. I'm merely saying that calling them "demons" is bringing us back to the dark ages (blaming schizophrenia, tourettes, and any mental illness on "demons" etc.)

Why would we explain away a reasonably believable myth backed by some supporting evidence ("alien" abductions) with a completely unreasonable, unfounded, and unprovable myth (demons) backed by zero evidence? Bad idea. Beside the fact that it requires buying into fantastical, unrealistic, infantile, unscientific and again, unprovable belief systems. That's just me. I'm not ready to crawl back in a cave and scream "demons!" at everything that passes by that I can't explain. Scientific study is a much more viable option (though I admit the failings of the Western system of observation and testing may prove that whole new systems of thought are required to adequately test/explain/create models to explore the alien abduction phenomenon. Our whole consciousness and thought processes may be inadequate for understanding at this point.)

Call it... friendo.

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[–] Master_Cilander 16 years ago

Don't knock a spiritual explanation. There's a reason Strieber mentions all the serpent imagery in one of his later books. Although calling them demons is overly simplistic, don't write off that entire line of thinking.

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[–] bastasch8647 16 years ago

Exactly. Strieber's experiences match the research of Jacques Vallee, the late John Keel, Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman - which reveals a "Trickster"-like, weird intelligence lurking behind the ufo/abduction phenomenon. This includes religious manifestations, and thus the demonic explanation cannot be excluded.

To say that aliens are "scientific" and therefore real-world, but demons are "religious" and therefore unreal does not reflect the nature, identity and behavior ***reported*** of the "aliens." There is a high strangeness and paranormalistic factor in many ufo encounters and in most abduction narratives. That is, if these bizarre entities behave more like demons than they do scientific space explorers, "the demonic" comes to the fore as one possible scenario among many possible scenarios.

I don't believe in the Abrahamic definition of demons, but I am open to the possible existence of "paranormal," "paramental" entities which sometimes appear to be what we identify as extraterrestrials, sometimes what we identify as "interdimensionals" or "ultradimensionals," sometimes what we identify as "angelic" or "demonic." The total, global ufological picture is much weirder than the "mere" extraterrestrial hypothesis would suggest.

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[–] carpediemalready 9 years ago

"Exactly. Strieber's experiences match the research of Jacques Vallee, the late John Keel, Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman - which reveals a "Trickster"-like, weird intelligence lurking behind the ufo/abduction phenomenon. This includes religious manifestations, and thus the demonic explanation cannot be excluded.

To say that aliens are "scientific" and therefore real-world, but demons are "religious" and therefore unreal does not reflect the nature, identity and behavior ***reported*** of the "aliens." There is a high strangeness and paranormalistic factor in many ufo encounters and in most abduction narratives. That is, if these bizarre entities behave more like demons than they do scientific space explorers, "the demonic" comes to the fore as one possible scenario among many possible scenarios.

I don't believe in the Abrahamic definition of demons, but I am open to the possible existence of "paranormal," "paramental" entities which sometimes appear to be what we identify as extraterrestrials, sometimes what we identify as "interdimensionals" or "ultradimensionals," sometimes what we identify as "angelic" or "demonic." The total, global ufological picture is much weirder than the "mere" extraterrestrial hypothesis would suggest."

I love your explanation and it is what I happen to believe almost to the letter. I often just refer to them as "demons" if anyone asks how I feel about the visitors... but your explanation is truer to my real thoughts on the matter. Thank you for your response. A+

"We all go a little mad sometimes." - Norman Bates

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[–] captkirk_4 15 years ago

by - moon-scorpio on Sat Feb 16 2008 19:21:52
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I think aliens are demons.
Just my opinion of course.

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I think both aliens and demons are the work of the imagination.

Seriously this book is written by A FICTION AUTHOR OF HORROR NOVELS, do we need anymore clues that maybe we should take these claims with a grain of salt. I do have to say this is quite a scary work of fiction, when I saw this in the theater it scared the heck out of me when the aliens burst into his bedroom in the middle of the night. If someone really was getting abducted by aliens, it would help to go to bed wearing a pair of depends.

The scene with the mask was meant to be an hullucination by Strieber trying to figure out what they were all about, it was esentially the idea from the miniseries "V" where the aliens were really reptilian hidding under a mask. Strieber toyed with that idea in that scene and then said "No, that's not it."

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[–] carpediemalready 9 years ago

"I think both aliens and demons are the work of the imagination. "

I think you'll think differently when or if you ever experience something of high strangeness. Millions of people all over the globe that have been checked out by shrinks and doctors and are not fantasy-prone or schizophrenic or delusional are experiencing odd experiences that fit into the "alien abduction" scenario. Something is going on, but the question is... what?

The fact that Strieber wrote horror doesn't mean he is lying. In fact, have you considered that maybe the fact that he was compelled to write horror in the first place is because of repressed memories of horrific events in his life that he was compelled to work out in some way? Strieber himself has said that even though he didn't know it at the time, some of his monsters he wrote about have the same essential qualities as the visitors (he specifically named the Wolfen).

The trickster quality comes up again and again with these types of experiences if you study it and read the reports. I think it is far too easy to call people "crazy" or write off their experiences as lies or delusions if they report weird *beep* that doesn't fit into our every day notions of reality.

It also is psychologically comforting to write these folks off as liars or crazy, because it means that the scary ideas they are shedding light on aren't true. The idea that you or I could be abducted by something demonic, alien or otherwise.. but with a definite trickster personality, that causes great mental distress and can snatch you up no matter what you do, that is a truly horrifying thought...

Meet "real life" abductees, go to meetings and learn as much as you can about this phenomenon. Something very strange is going on, and Like Vallee and Keel, I have come to believe that it has origins that might be considered "demonic" (and what I mean by that is there is a spiritual, non-material, interdimensional component to this, with some of the qualities of the events lining up with Biblical descriptions of demonic spiritual entities and where the nature of these creatures implies that they are dishonest, deceitful and carry out actions which seem to serve no other purpose than to create terror, horror, feelings of helplessness, etc) But of course "demon" is a chunky term and doesn't explain what they are anymore than alien does. It's sort of like "x" and "y" used in algebra.

Peace to you and I pray to a God you no doubt do not believe in that you will never experience anything of high strangeness which terrifies you or pushes you to the edge of your sanity. Have a great day.

"We all go a little mad sometimes." - Norman Bates

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