Hash Bringing Goes to the Movies

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THEY LIVE!

 

 

 

The 1988 film "They Live" provides a deep exploration of 1980s commercialism and excess, reflecting John Carpenter's disdain for these societal trends. Its premise is based on the short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning," written in 1963 by Ray Nelson (the story is only 6 pages long, and I recommend a read-through).

 

 

(MINOR SPOILERS)

 

The movie follows Nada (Roddy Piper), a homeless man from Colorado, as he enters town (LA) looking for stable work. Nada ends up at a homeless camp outside of the city when he notices some unusual activity going on at the church next door. The church turns out to be a meeting ground for some resistance fighters attempting to awaken their fellow citizens to the alien overlords. After meeting with some of the resistance fighters, Nada obtains sunglasses that allow him to see the world for what it really is. Nada proceeds to try to awaken others, and eventually the movie ends in a major showdown at the aliens' transmission site, the TV studio "Cable 54," where a signal is being processed to keep the entire human population in check.

 

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum."

 

 

 

"They Live" is a fun watch with, I think, one of the more iconic movie lines in cinematic history. While there are some unnecessary scenes — for example, the fight scene between Roddy Piper and Keith David lasted FOREVER — the overall premise is really interesting from both a political and science fiction standpoint. The aliens in the film are also pretty terrifying, and the masks created for this movie were top-notch, really filling you with a sense of dread whenever you see them on screen. My favorite example of this was when all of the aliens realize Nada can see through their disguise in the grocery scene, and they all begin moving towards him speaking into their watches. The ending also leaves a lot to the imagination, which I really enjoy. You see Nada destroying the device used to control the population, but there's still a lot of aliens in positions of authority. I'd have to imagine that they could figure out a way to reestablish control. Overall, the movie is a solid watch with an easy hour and a half runtime, and if you have never seen it, there are worse things you can watch on a Saturday night.