I just downloaded and finished watching the first episode of a new TV series titled
Star-Crossed
Description from IMDb:
About an epic romance between a human girl and an alien boy when he and eight others of his kind are integrated into a suburban high school 10
years after they landed on Earth and were consigned to an internment camp.
I'm guessing the show, from the title, is attempting to set itself up as a Science Fiction revisioned interpretation of old Shakespeare's Romeo and
Juliet.
My personal impression?
While I can see the show having potential appeal to some teens, and young adults, the show, for me, did not stand the test of verisimilitude,
otherwise known as suspension of disbelief.
Why?
Well, without spoiling anything; some aliens crash land here on Earth.
We've seen that paradigm portrayed with films and series like District 9 and Alien Nation, and a somewhat with another new series titled Defiance,
where Aliens arrive here as refugees.
The same applies with this series.
My first complaint about the series is that the Aliens, other than a few cosmetic 'tattoos" look no different than humans.
This is a pet-peeve of mine with shows about Aliens.
"Hi, I'm an alien because I have spots, or an unconventional haircut, or pointy ears".
Right.
While I can see from a budget perspective the benefits of human-looking 'aliens', as well as from a perspective where this story (I'm guessing) is
going to be Romeo and Juliet SciFi, but, I otherwise have substantial difficulty in seeing any portrayal of alien species as resembling human.
At least in Star Trek and Star Wars there was some effort in adding prosthetics, masks, and other bits.
Here, with this story, what qualifies as alien?
Spots.
On top of that, on arrival, at the site of the crashed spaceship, the Aliens are immediately dealt with as hostile with zero attempts at even trying
to talk.
"Oh look. It's humans with spots on, holding their hands out in peaceful non-hostile surrender. Let's shoot them!"
That sets the stage for the whole planet having a hostile racist attitude toward these humans with spots on.
The hostility, toward the humans with spots on aliens, most of all, is what really gets me with this show.
They crashed.
They were shot for no reason.
They were rounded up and imprisoned.
There's very little to no reason for anyone to automatically treat the 'aliens' with any kind of hostility.
Exposition filler for the show claims the hostility is derived from everyone thinking the aliens are invading.
Really?
Everyone?
I'm fairly certain we've progressed as a society beyond treatment of folks that just happen to look different like 1950s segregation America.
The show just don't jive.
So, yeah, we have humans with spots on, and everyone hates them because they crashed their ship, because crashing spaceships is a clear sign sign of
invasion.
I'm giving the show a thumbs down