Ethel empties her gun into Sam and Michelle and leaves. There's something wonderfully creepy about suburban America. The manicured lawns and color-coordinated houses send a chill down the backs of the people who don't live in them. It's the opposite of the primeval wilderness, the banal made mythic, a triumph of central planning over organic life. If there's a reason the Gua picked Earth to invade, it's probably that they want to move into neighborhoods like this one.
Suburban developments have their own special hold on the American nightmare.
Movies like The Graduate, American Beauty and The Ice Storm have made good use of our knowledge that the people inside these perfect houses are just as imperfect as we are. Why, that's right neighborly of you Part of the problem is that the neighborhood never feels real. Neighborhoods like this tend to be anonymous and empty during the workday. This one, however, is constantly filled with smiling children, adults and a ubiquitous postman. Despite this, none of the families seem to interact with each other.