Roswell: Alienating Aliens

The effects post-columbine were typical of any other major catastrophe in America; people demand for justice and an increase in security protocol to prevent such a horrific event from happening again. People began to question those around them and wonder if they are a threat. I'm sure after columbine many social outcasts and goth high-schoolers were looked at as though they too were murderers just waiting to strike.
In the pilot of Roswell, we are given a glimpse into a town where businesses bank off of the commercialization of an "alien invasion" that occurred there in the 1940's. The humans (specifically the local sheriff and police department) are terrified of the aliens walking among them and their potential powers. So they fear them and want them gone yet still choose to profit off their existence. Max, the love interest and alien character in Roswell, is portrayed as normal, sweet and shy. He certainly doesn't seem to be on a mission to take over the world or destroy humankind. His only distinguishable difference is his ability to consume massive amounts of Tabasco sauce. Yet he's still classified as different and someone to keep a distance from. Even Liz, the main human character, struggles to accept Max's differences and treat him like a human.
As we see in the show, there is a strong level of fear between the human students and the "other". The same holds true post-columbine. I think the scene at the crash festival sums up the way many people must have felt post-columbine. The festival recreates the alien crash (as Dave Matthew's Band "Crash Into Me" plays- ha ha, Roswell) and the burning of the alien bodies as the crowd cheers on. It's like a public lynching as the three alien characters watch on, seeing others celebrate the destruction of their people. Viewers in 1999 might have felt a modicum of sympathy for the social alienation Max faced, but I think they would have related more to the "better safe than sorry" approach. This would mean monitoring any potential threats, whether they be alien or a high-school gothic Marilyn Manson fan.