One of the greatest ironies of John Carpenter’s filmography is that he became famous due to his early horror films that are hailed as genre-redefining classics, but his best known and arguably the most popular film today belonged to the latter phase of career and was initially ignored or disregarded by critics and fans alike. This happened with his 1988 science fiction film They Live, title which was at first seen as disappointing or subpar according to Carpenter’s high standards, but later became quite relevant and morbidly prophetic due to certain economic, political and cultural trends of 21st Century.
Carpenter wrote the script under pen name “Frank Armitage” and based it on “Eight O’Clock in the Morning”, short science fiction story by Ray Nelson. The plot is set in very near future (1990s) and describes the world almost indistinguishable from Reagan’s America, only with certain economic developments brought to the extreme. That included all but complete obliteration of middle class and even sharper social division between privileged elites and impoverished masses. Nameless protagonist (named as “Nada” in the credits and played by Roddy Piper) belongs to the latter. After losing job in Denver, he hops cargo train and arrives to Los Angeles in search of new start. The best he can find is construction site where he befriends fellow worker Frank (played by Keith David) who points him towards shanty town where he can get food and shower set up by activists led by man named Gilbert (played by Peter Jason). Activists congregate in nearby church which is actually front for some mysterious activities that involve scientific equipment and boxes full of sunglasses. After police demolishes the shanty town, Nada puts sunglasses on and discovers that he can see the world in black-and-white and read various subliminal messages used through billboards, magazines and television – all of which promote conformity, consumerism and adherence to authority. Nada also discovers that sunglasses allows him to recognise ghoul-like aliens passing for humans, apparently using their mind-manipulating technology to control the world. Nada becomes hunted by police and barely survives before he sharing his discovery with Frank. Two of them contact the Gilbert who is actually member of resistance movement that tries to locate and destroy the source of mind-altering signal.
Carpenter’s film was often compared with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, another science fiction classic with the main theme of aliens infiltrating and taking over human civilisation. Both films were products of their times; while Invasion was clearly inspired by 1950s Cold War paranoia and fear of Communist infiltration into American society, They Live took inspiration in 1980s Reagan’s Revolution, a drastic right-wing shift in political sentiments further fuelled by celebration of ultra-materialism and greed. Carpenter was a Boomer and, like many in Hollywood, appalled how many members of his generation had discarded 1960s idealism and embraced Reagan’s conservatism for the sake of material comfort. This shift was so severe that it could, at least in Carpenter’s mind, be explained with something as sinister as alien mind-control technology. What made They Live even more biting in its criticism of 1980s America was its pointing fingers at humans who were (like the character brilliantly played by George Buck Flower) not only aware what was going on, but actually openly and unashamedly collaborating with their alien overlords.
This very dark picture was, on the other hand, used as a nice framework for rather effective action film. Carpenter, as usual, directed film very well, putting relatively meagre resources to good use. There are relatively few special effects, but they look impressive even today. Carpenter is also very good in maintaining proper pace. Film starts relatively slowly, but allows viewers to become immersed in the world which is both familiar and alien. Only in the second half the exposition gives way to action, which is in few scenes a little rough around the edges and somewhat repetitive. Yet, They Live also benefits from very good cast. Legendary professional wrestler Roddy Piper is almost perfect in the main role; although he obviously lacked “proper” acting credentials, this very lack of experience made his performance in the role of an ordinary man quite natural. Piper also benefited from his athletic abilities, making the action scenes look convincing. This is especially so in the famous scene when he tries to make his friend take sunglasses, resulting in very long, but ultraviolet and almost parodic fight scene. Carpenter also benefits from good character actors in supporting roles. That includes Meg Foster in the role of cable television employee who uses her icy image to signal her true alignment, something that protagonist, who is ordinary non-Hollywood person, fails to recognise. Simple, blues-like musical score by Carpenter and Alan Howarth, creates both depressive atmosphere and the way for the audience to enjoy author’s irony and black humour.
They Live was the most explicitly political of all Carpenter’s films and was, not by accident, released at the eve of 1988 Presidential election in which Republicans, much to Carpenter’s horror, won in a landslide. Although Carpenter’s film had more than decent result at the box office, critics were less enthusiastic and considered it one of his lesser works. This might be explained with They Live being very out of touch with domineering sentiments of 1980s America. Things weren’t that different a decade later, when Clinton and Blair continued policies of Reagan and Thatcher in more digestible package. Only in 21st Century, when the world experienced exhausting unpopular wars, financial meltdowns, pandemics followed by brash media and propaganda manipulations designed to maintain such state of affairs, They Live began to be recognised as prophetic. So many people in different countries, with different backgrounds and ideologies, ranging from the likes of David Icke to those like Slavoj Žižek, began to appreciate Carpenter’s film and its images served as the source and inspiration for the most of the popular Internet memes today. Whether this was his real intention or not, Carpenter has all the reasons to be proud of They Live.
RATING: 8/10 (++++)
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