History Headscratchers / Signs

* When the Reverend Graham and Merill are boarding up Bo's bedroom, look closely. The door goes inwards and there is a cab caused by the frame of the door between said door and the boards. And the weren't. even that many boards. In conclusion, the aliens would still be able to get in through that door.
** The boarding up of the house is not a calm, rational process where they have all the time in the world. It's being done in a near-panic, thinking that they might be attacked at any moment, with Merill desperately holding on to his courage and Graham halfheartedly holding on to his sanity. It makes sense that they'd make mistakes during it and not be thinking clearly... that's how the attic door winds up ignored.

* Or why they couldn't take any number of any other approaches (e.g. blanket bombing nerve gas).
** Assuming they have no material constraints and they can produce that much gas within an unspecified period of time. Or the fact they might have some kind of cultural attachment to hunting and some sort of code.
* Or why they just turn out to be "crawling in the shadows to grab at you" monsters that can't break down a wooden barricade.

** Also another assumtion is that they have a choice. There's no indication in the movie that the aliens have faster than light technology. We assume because is the default for every non-hard sci fi movie but is not shown. We don't know either how difficult, hard or time consuming is space travel for them. Is possible that Earth, as dangerous as it was for them, was the only planet they could reach within a reasonable amount of time/before they resources ran out.

*** Rayguns in real life are impractical. They look cool but there are many mechanical, energy-consuming and technical reasons why they don't work and why they don't exist out of sci-fi. About means of propulsion, use as weapon that's kind of a non sequitur. Let's assume they do have faster than light propulsion, now let's assume the two more plausible (yet still hypothetical) ways to do it which is with AlcubierreDrive or OurWormholesAreDifferent. I don't see how warping space or traversable wormholes can be use as a weapon. At least not in a way that won't destroy a whole planet, which clearly is not what they intend. Now lets assume they don't have FTL or that even if they do have it still is a very costly and difficult effort to travel interstellarly, that presents a lot of possible reasons why not to carrying certain things like too many weapons; maybe the space inside of the ship is limited due to the need to acommodate food or fuel for years or even centuries. Maybe the energy needed to charge rayguns would be needed elsewhere, etc. I would coin the term "Star Trek Travel Syndrom" when people assumes space travel is as easy and confortable as to enter the Enterprise, seat confortably and travel thousands of light-years in a few hours.

Christianity is a whole different issue (although Islam has a similar problem) because Christ is, as we know, an Earthling. There are different aproaches, from as I said, some who believe no extraterrestrial exists and they are demons in disguise, to some Protestant branches who believe a very interesting theory that Earth is the only planet were the created (us humans) commited the original sin, the eating of the fruit in Eden. Thus as the other planets did not commit the sin they don't need a savior like Jesus and those planets would never contact humanity before the Second Comming as doing so would cause them to be affected by sin. The Catholic Church on the other hand has acknowledge officially the possibility of the existence of alien life. \\

So, if you believe that there's a God in the Signs universe and that God made Christianity the right religion as Gibson's character is Christian, and every alien culture has its own prophet teaching them what God is, not everyone in that planet is going to follow that religion, in a similar way how we don't. We have crime in our world despite the fact that a lot of people is religious. The aliens can be criminals, pirates, people in general who don't believe their religion's love and peace teachings if they have it. Or their religion perverted with time. And let's not start with the fact (because is a long debate, although also valid) that religion do not really prevent crime or evil and sometimes it inspire them. Evil people just use religion twisting it for their own evil goals or do not see themselves as evil but radicalize, that's why we have Mafia bosses going to Church, narcos and gang members attending Evangelical Churches, mass shooters who are devote Christian and of course Islamic and other religion terrorist. Even radical Buddhists kill people in Burma. So the aliens may be religious fundamentalists for what we know.\\

** OK; this subject is very complex and requires sort of a long answer. Different religions have different conceptions of what aliens are, from some Fundamentalist Protestant churches who consider that there's no life outside of Earth and every alien encounter or UFO is a really a demon, to some like Buddhism and Bahaism who outright say there are intelligent beings in other planets (Buddhism mentions other "realms" inhabited by non-human people and one text even says that in the way that here we use words to spread the Dharma in other realms they use colors and smells and they have their own version of Buddha). In the case of Buddhism and Hinduism these realms can be seen as part of the mythologies common at the time of multiple realms of existence but some modern interpretation sees them as explaining other planets or dimension to primitive audience. The Bahai text (which is more modern and the concept of alien life already existed) outright says that there are extraterrestrial civilizations that would contact humanity someday and that have their own prophets of God.\\\
Christianity is a whole different issue (although Islam has a similar problem) because Christ is, as we know, an Earthling. There are different aproaches, from as I said, some who believe no extraterrestrial exists and they are demons in disguise, to some Protestant branches who believe a very interesting theory that Earth is the only planet were the created (us humans) commited the original sin, the eating of the fruit in Eden. Thus as the other planets did not commit the sin they don't need a savior like Jesus and those planets would never contact humanity before the Second Commins as doing so would cause them to be affected by sin. The Catholic Church on the other hand has acknowledge officially the possibility of the existence of alien life. \\\
So, if you believe that there's a God in the Signs universe and that God made Christianity the right religion as Gibson's character is Christian, and every alien culture has its own prophet teaching them what God is, not everyone in that planet is going to follow that religion, in a similar way how we don't. We have crime in our world despite the fact that a lot of people is religious. The aliens can be criminals, pirates, people in general who don't believe their religion's love and peace teachings if they have it. Or they religion perverted with time. And let's not start with the fact (because is a long debate, although also valid) that religion do not really prevent crime or evil and sometimes it inspire them. Evil people just use religion twisting it for their own evil goals or do not see themselves as evil but radicalize, that's why we have Mafia bosses going to Church, narcos and gang members attending Evangelical Churches, mass shooters who are devote Christian and of course Islamic and other religion terrorist. Even radical Buddhists kill people in Burma. So the aliens may be religious fundamentalists for what we know.\\