The bug-eyed monster (BEM) is an early convention of the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

genre.

Extraterrestrials Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

in science fiction of the 1930s were often described (or pictured on covers of pulp magazines) as grotesque creatures with huge, oversized or

compound eye A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which disti ...

s and a lust for women, blood or general destruction. In the

contactee Contactees are persons who claim to have experienced contact with extraterrestrials. Some claimed ongoing encounters, while others claimed to have had as few as a single encounter. Evidence is anecdotal in all cases. As a cultural phenomenon, c ...

/ abductee mythology, which grew up quickly beginning in 1952, the blond, blue-eyed, and friendly

Nordic aliens In ufology, Nordic aliens are fictional humanoid extraterrestrials purported to come from the Pleiades who resemble Nordic-Scandinavians. Professed contactees describe them as being six to seven feet tall (about two meters) with long blonde hair ...

of the 1950s were quickly replaced by small, unfriendly bug-eyed creatures, closely matching in many respects the pulp cover clichés of the 1930s which have remained the abductor norm since the 1960s.

Popular culture

* The

Daleks The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Wh ...

from '' Doctor Who''. When the show was created, the BBC producers stated that ''Doctor Who'' would be a "hard" science fiction show, and there would be no bug-eyed monsters – explicitly stated by show creator

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...

. Writer

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...

created the Daleks in the show's second serial, much to Newman's disapproval.BBC – Doctor Who – A Brief History of the Daleks
URL accessed April 26, 2007 * The main character in the animated children's television series ''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

'' is a bug-eyed monster. * The '' Pokémon'' species " Beheeyem" is based on the concept of bug-eyed monsters in its design, characteristics, and name. *

Arthur Dent Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character and the hapless protagonist of the comic science fiction series ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' by Douglas Adams. In the radio, LP and television versions of the story, Arthur is played by ...

in '' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'' sarcastically asks if he and

Ford Prefect The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...

were picked up by a green bug-eyed monster, which Ford confirms the

Vogons The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''—initially a BBC Radio series by Douglas Adams—who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an interga ...

to be. * In "

What Is This Thing Called Love? "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical '' Wake Up and Dream''. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most ...

", Isaac Asimov's parody of both pulp fiction and the bug-eyed monster idea, a woman captured by aliens for the purposes of study keeps using the term when referring to her captor.

References

{{Stock characters Stock characters Extraterrestrial life in popular culture

Popular culture

See also

References