What is an "Alien" ? *warning: soapbox moment*

When is a fan an "Alien" and why, in the eyes of some, is someone who likes the music @tokiohotel creates not an "Alien" simply because they don't gasp and scream and devote their lives to the looks and sexuality of a particular band member or members?

As someone who loves @tokiohotel and the music they make, I consider myself a “fan”. I’ve been called a “non-screaming fan girl” by someone whose opinion on the subject of “fans” I respect greatly  

In my opinion, “Aliens” is simply a name for a collective group of people who enjoy the music of @tokiohotel.  There is no mystique around the name, it was coined when Bill said “make some noise Aliens” during the Humanoid City Tour or maybe even earlier with the song title “Alien” I think.. eitherway, it’s been adopted and is an accepted noun for a group of Tokio Hotel fans.

Embraced enthusiastically by some, used to create a hierarchy by others and rejected as a collective name by fans who prefer simply to be “fans” or “Tokita’s” or whatever..

It is an MTV publicity construct that has fans of Artists pit themselves against each other as if in battle. KatyKats against Aliens, Little Monsters against Directioners. Its media publicity at its mildest form, and divisive at its worst. All media is publicity savvy and it makes good sense to be that way. That’s the industry that music is these days, however much people try to pretend otherwise. It always has been, right from the early days of mass produced easily accessed music media.

I've always imagined that to the band, an “Alien” is simply a name for their fans, that’s apparent from comments on the BTK App, or Facebook or in video.

But why do fans who claim to like @tokiohotel music and call themselves “Aliens” turn on other fans for not being “Aliens” or not being "Alien" enough? When did belonging to a clique,  being “better than others” become accepted as behaviour?

Perhaps it’s largely a pubescent female thing, to want to be “better” somehow is a bit like being on the cheer leading squad in High School or in whatever clique is “better” currently -  it’s part of growing up.

Or maybe it’s a deep need to belong to a group, a collective, a family of like-minded people, that’s a far more preferable reason to be called “Alien”..

Can one “Alien” be better at being an “Alien” than another? Even the question sounds daft. But that’s what people seem to think..

So let’s look at this..
Is it a question of being a good friend? Nope, whether people call themselves “Aliens” or not, the majority of people who enjoy @tokiohotel music whom I’ve come to know virtually from places like Twitter are really friendly.

Is it a question of enjoying the music @tokiohotel create? Nope, because whether someone calls themselves an “Alien” or not, enjoyment of the music is a common ground.

Is it a question of whether someone has an Android or an Iphone and has access to the BTK App? Nope, because having access to a private messaging software is kind of irrelevant when the information on it is all over Twitter and Facebook and the Internet within minutes, maybe even seconds, of things being posted on the App.

Is it a question of fanaticism.. of how much someone idolises the band members..? Hm.. and here I think we get close to the nub of the argument.

Someone being “not a good “Alien”” is something that comes up in discussion on places like Twitter.. usually when someone else feels slighted and decides to make a unilateral decision on the subject, declaring that person to be "a bad Alien" or "not an Alien" .. that's pretty arrogant when you come to think about it..

Is that because the he or she "not - Alien"  doesn’t describe their “ovaries exploding” at the latest hot pic? (and I have no idea what male fans make of that phrase. It is kind of gross after all – if ovaries were to explode a female would be in agony!)

Is it because he or she doesn’t often go into graphic detail about what they would like to physically do to any of the guys, separately or collectively?

Is it because he or she doesn’t show a blatant disregard of personal decency and the right to privacy the band members should have?

Is it because he or she doesn’t fit in the clique?

My personal opinion is that an “Alien” is simply someone of whichever gender who enjoys listening to @tokiohotel music, who may or may not ever have been to a concert, who may or may not own band merchandise, who may or may not have posters on the wall.

In my opinion, being an “Alien” is all about the music. Nothing else. There is no hierarchy of “Alien-ness”, there is no such thing as a bad “Alien”.

In my opinion, there are only “Aliens” – fans of @tokiohotel and their music  - and people who are not @tokiohotel fans.

In my opinion, people who are not fans are those who don’t enjoy the music, those who start the rumours and the drama, who enjoy pitting people against each other and gossiping about band members private lives or pretending to be any of the band members on Twitter or Facebook without declaring themselves to be role-playing..  

In my opinion, these are the people who could be described as “Not Aliens”..

Me, I’m a card-carrying Tomgirl.  I love watching him perform. He puts his heart and soul into it and gets lost in the music. I love Tokio Hotel music, it's what captured my imagination when I first heard it on-line, before I even knew who was performing it, and I've been a fan ever since. I think the guys are very talented musicians, I love the lyrics, the musicality and the beat of their music and am really looking forward to hearing what they release on the new album whenever it appears.. I could listen to Bill sing a shopping list, I admire anyone who can play a musical instrument like guitar or keyboards and having attempted drum lessons briefly, I am awed by the rhythms that Gustav creates..  

Am I a Tokio Hotel fan? Yes, absolutely.

Am I therefore an “Alien”?
Probably, but I think it depends whether that’s one of the band members describing me as an “Alien” or one of their fans.

*climbs off soapbox*

I will leave you with a couple of examples...

Waking the crowd up, MTV Day Greece 2009


and then the reference to Aliens and "Make Some Noise Aliens..in the Humanoid City Tour script - I chose the clearest one, not the earliest date



and it wouldn't be right not to have the whole song as well as the introduction
This is "Alien".. enjoy