indeed i did! i'll compile some general thoughts here and try to keep it clipped, though ofc i'm prone to rambling, especially about movies (and lance henriksen in general...)
in both films, these characters are a part of prominent society primarily through wealth + influence. newton's (bowie's) wealth comes from inventions + patents he brings via the knowledge of his home planet. raymond (lance) has been given most everything he has from similar figures that have access to cosmic forces, and per their goal, they invest their power and resources in him.
raymond isn't an alien like newton, so i admit the comparison i had in mind is more... looking at how these films depict otherwordly influences and the allure / corruption of power. newton is explicitly a type of humanoid that comes to earth to retrieve water for his dying home planet, while raymond is a rich sports team owner working with a secret society trying to revive / manifest an ancient cosmic entity. newton is the true outsider, while raymond is more like... a human given access to the powers of outside / inhuman forces, and what he does with that is more insidious (convoluted context: the secret society realizes the entity they're trying to manifest can be brought back through a woman named barbara, whom they assigned raymond to, and so he develops a romantic relationship with her. it's mentioned that this entity had children with humans and has half-human descendants, so the idea is that barbara has its blood, and thus has the power to give birth to its reincarnation... raymond's assignment is to uhh basically ensure that she continues having children until this entity is reborn within one of them).
newton's alienness makes him vulnerable to the influences of earth + human society, while raymond's connections make him predatory within it. newton falls in love with parts of humanity and is consumed by it. raymond is already in it, and uses his position to manipulate situations with the institutional influence his sponsors provide, all in order to pursue cosmic transcendence.
newton is somewhat looking for this as well, but via the salvation of / return to his home, and i don't believe he truly wants to achieve that in a way that will harm those living on earth. newton is treated as this strange and beautiful figure, but is still so alone and separated from community.
raymond is part of this community, but when he's trusted with the powers of alien entities, he becomes a force against that same community. newton exposes the horrors of humanity by being destroyed by it, raymond exposes them by blending into our systems in a scarily effortless way.
hmmm... i just greatly enjoy thinking about the dynamics there. the ways a human feels comfortable destroying others simply for the chance to gain access to alien intelligence, versus the interior conflict an actual cosmic visitor feels when faced with the turmoil of loving humanity and losing themself in that, as they also face the horror of losing their home / sense of self...
if i had to describe either film in short words, i'd say TMWFTE is similarly surreal and existential to the visitor but far sadder... newton is supremely lonely and misunderstood, and his backstory is tragic. the visitor is a baroque / giallo scifi horror flick coming right out of the satanic panic era, and raymond's character is terrifyingly stoic / single-minded. i don't think he regrets anything he did and he doesn't seem to have any feelings of sentiment for the people he's surrounded himself with, because they're just pawns to him + those directing him.
