Humanity's Quiet Extinction Event

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What if the inevitable alien invasion didn't come from the stars? What if it came from Earth instead?

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▬▬▬▬ Tale Foundry Team ▬▬▬▬
• Talebot — The Talent
• The Taleoids — The Talent's Helpers
• Benjamin Cook — Writer, Director, & Voice Actor
• Kathyrn Healy — Researcher & Writer

[wesguffey]

So fun fact, when you revealed the name of the story, I grew extremely confused. I remembered reading this short story in my English textbook in the early 2010s, but I remembered it being called “The naming of names.” Turns out, the original name was The Naming of Names when it was originally published, but changed later to “Dark they Were and Golden Eyed.”

[screamingcactus]

Honestly, the main thing that shifts it into a tragedy for me is them forgetting their past lives. Their memories being altered to believe they were always martians is the point to me where this goes beyond metamorphosis into identity death.

[Terranrd]

I see it as not only a tragedy, but as outright cosmic horror, if an uncommonly subtle sort.

[Lucius_Shiro]

I remember when I got onto uni one year ago. I checked my schedule and saw "Universal Literature" on it. I thought "Why am I going to learn literature? I'm gonna be a history teacher, not a literature one".

One year later and I'm here, leaning about all those amazing stories I always ignored.

[michaeljebbett]

I'd say Henry embracing his Martian-ness wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the fact taht they seem to not only forget who they were, but have disdain for them.
They've forgotten their past, and are thus doomed to repeat it.

[berry]

I let out such a big grin when it was revealed it was written by Ray Bradbury. I read his The Illustrated Man recently and this story gave off such similar vibes. Truly an icon of classic scifi literature!

[aquaticcatfey]

Small correction: the word for Earth was "Iorrt, " not "Lorrt." A capital I, not a lowercase L. Fonts where those two letters are identical are a plague.

[michaelcherry]

When Bradbury wrote this story in 1949, it was a time of very rapid change in the world. He reflected the uncertainty about change in the best way that science fiction can: by setting the problem in another world. I highly recommend Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" as well. I remember reading his short story "And There Will Come Soft Rains" (later included in The Martian Chronicles) in high school and being profoundly affected by it. Later on, I was fortunate to find a very nice copy of The Martian Chronicles in a second-hand bookshop. Ray Bradbury is definitely an author well worth checking out. Thank you for this analysis of "Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed". I truly enjoyed it.

[Ryu_D]

The problem I have with this story isn't the change in the environment, or even the physical change of the humans themselves, but in the lack of care for the things that mattered so much to them before. If there was still a sense of wonder for the stories that the earthlings made, for the beautiful and bizarre things that mattered so much to them, and a desire to find how they can matter to the new culture that the martians develop, then it would be a change I could accept, because the important parts of what made them human would still remain. But with all those things being deemed nothing but clutter, being completely forgotten as if they never mattered to begin with... It's one thing to change. Everyone grows up, after all. But to have never been a child to begin with, even with all the remnants of that childhood around them. The people they were before haven't changed. They died. They were replaced by something that doesn't care, or even know, that they had been something wonderful in the past. They may be something wonderful again, but something deeply important is lost in that transition, and that's not something I could possibly consider a happy ending.

[hartthorn]

Really like this one because it understands the fear that change can bring, but by having an ultimately benevolent ending it tries to comfort. I can't say EVERY change is always good. Some times resistance is warranted. But so many fears about change are nothing more than uncertainty.

[omnipenne]

Silly theory: I think this is a cyclical thing. The martians had their own atomic war and they sent families down to Earth. Those survivors underwent a similar change and became humans. No matter where they go and what they become, these things won't ever go extinct.

[HyenaPlayGames]

I feel this story is horror because the chance in the humans were outside their consent/control.
I enjoy post-Humanism Sci-fi, but mostly when is a "cyberpunk type" where the change is voluntary.

[StoryMing]

I understand that the original ‘I Am Legend’ (which I’ve not read) explores similar themes; the last remaining human on earth comes to realize that in this new world… _HE_ Is the Monster.

[rodneykelly]

18:05 The whole video could be summed up with a question I was often asked when I was a child, "If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?" Statistically speaking, the majority are usually correct, but there are many historical examples of when the same group was wrong.

[eloquentornot]

I'm so used to 1950's ideal American suburbia being a setting for horror that I was actually relieved when you revealed the twist in the intro lol!

[ronaldcounterman]

Bradbury is truly one of the greatest, with his stories running the gamut between sci-fi, fantasy and blood-freezing horror. That's why many of his stories were adapted to the EC horror comics (Tales from the Crypt, etc.).

[honeybeemoo]

Bradbury's short story 'All Summer In A Day' was included in our English text books in 6/7th grade in school. It's really cool to see one of his other works here

[Eileeleedon]

Not accepting change is what makes people hateful and bitter. We should strive to never forget our pasts, while still being open to the future and change. If they hadn’t forgotten what it was like to be human, I would say this story was almost uplifting. But forgetting who they once were is what makes it sad.

[cullenlatham]

My problem with the story as it is told here is less about the concept of change, but instead the lost history. They forget they were once human, and with it, loose sight of the culture that would let them communicate. The cycle wouldnt be so scary if there was a guiding hand or diplomacy. When the anomoly becomes a known science, then the choice can be made consciously compared to the subtle "corruption" of self that gives the story its horror elements. Acknowledging "i was once human, but now i am not."... I dont know, that just feels less like a loss of self and more an acknowledgement of the change.

[MrSC]

The grown food being the first noticeable change and Harry losing his desire to leave Mars after a trip to the canals made me think the water is what changes people which brought to mind "The Waters of Mars" from Doctor Who.

"Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. Wears down the clifftops. The mountains. The whole of the world. Water always wins."