Malay Mars Attacks! Blog

 Choose two scenes that illustrate how Burton humorously satirizes government, the military, capitalism and patriotism inMars Attacks.  What is the film saying about sacred institutions? You might also discuss how the film parodies the science fiction genre taken so seriously by films such as Blade Runner, Alien, and Independence Day. If you have seenIndependence Day, think of the respect paid to the President in that film, versus the treatment of Jack Nicholson's role inMars Attacks.

Mars Attacks! Alien

In Mars Attacks! Burton satirizes government in the scene where the Martians kill all of the congressmen and women. The Martians go to Washington D.C. to apologize for killing all of the people in Nevada, however their apology is not sincere because within five minutes of being there, they annihilate everyone. By killing all of the congress-people, Burton further reveals the true anarchist nature of the Martians. Burton also makes a political statement in this scene criticizing the fact that the American government makes everyone conform to its standards and if they do not, then we invade those people’s country and start war. The Martians in Mars Attacks! are similar to the Martians in Plan Nine from Outer Space in that they represent the fact that American loves to destroy others who are different from us. Burton is saying that the anarchist spirit of the Mars Attacks! Martians are like the anarchist that America feels in that we do not have to abide by everyone else’s rules, but that they must abide by ours. Burton is satirizing the notion of American exceptionalism in this scene.

The satirizing of patriotism is present in the scene when the Washington Monument is about to fall over onto a group of Cub Scouts.  The idea that one of the most American of American monuments would crush a group of one of America’s most American organizations is ironic. It parallels the idea that America will destroy itself from the inside presented in Plan Nine from Outer Space. The satirizing of patriotism also is a reference to the hyper-patriotism in Independence Day. By making fun of that, Burton is also poking at the idea that America has too much patriotism in general because most of the monuments destroyed by the aliens are American monuments.

A common plague of the science fiction genre is that its films take themselves too seriously. For example, Independence Day is loaded with images of terror and destruction that make the viewers feel that all is lost and there is no hope left in sight. Burton pokes fun at that too by making the aliens look silly and the American people look silly because they lose a war to little green men with giant, exposed brains. Burton shows viewers that sci-fi doesn’t always have to be dreary and depressing.