Monday, May 05, 2014

I Am A Stranger Here

So many movies deal with the issue of someone new entering a society. In some cases, like UNDER THE SKIN, which I saw and liked a lot last week, the stranger is from another planet or world. But often it's an immigrant or a new kid on the block.

What are some of the best movies and novels that use this plot device?

9 comments:

George said...

The obvious movie choices are E.T. and COMING TO AMERICA. For TV, KUNG-FU. With books...where to begin. Nabokov's PNIN, MY NEW AMERICAN LIFE by Francine Prose, and
MIDDLESEX by Jeffrey Eugenides for starters.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, have not read the Prose book. MIDDLESEX is a great pick.

Charles Gramlich said...

hum, I'd have to think about this probably. ET perhaps.

George said...

I'm a big fan of Francine Prose's work. MY NEW AMERICAN LIFE is terrific.

pattinase (abbott) said...

What I've read I've like too. The newest got great reviews. Or is this it?

Rick Robinson said...

The film AVATAR certainly fits.

Deb said...

One of the enduring tropes in fiction begins "a stranger arrives in town." Sometimes we see the story through the stranger's eyes; other times, through the eyes of those who are affected by the stranger's arrival.

Ron Scheer said...

Obvious, I know, but THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET. There are countless westerns that begin this way. I'm struck, though, by how often popular fiction sets a story around a character returning home after a long absence.

J F Norris said...

This is probably one of my favorite themes in literature, film and theater.

FILMS: Star Man, The Man who Fell to Earth, Bad Day at Black Rock, Lars and the Real Live Girl, Edward Scissorhands, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The Elephant Man...

BOOKS: Oliver Twist, Sarah Canary, The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon, Stranger in a Strange Land, Kaspar, Pilgrimage: The Book of the People (and other story collections by Zenna Henderson)...