THEY LIVE B+
USA (93 mi) 1988 ‘Scope d: John Carpenter
I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum.
—John Nada (Rowdy Roddy Piper)
Considered “the finest Marxist science-fiction film ever to feature a professional wrestler,” we finally have a movie that explains why it’s so difficult getting ahead in this world, that is, unless you *conform* and *obey the rules.* This movie, set in Los Angeles sometime in the future, lays it all out for you, as a drifter, none other than professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper, arrives looking for work and hooks up with a construction company, but notices strange goings-on at a church across the street, which really piques his interest when a full-fledged police invasion attacks the church and an entire homeless camp which has been providing free shelter and meals is razed by bulldozers. When Piper checks out what was secretly left behind at the church, he discovers a box of sunglasses that alter the viewer’s perspective, enabling the viewer to see in black and white what’s underneath billboard advertising, which turns into blunt subliminal messages which urge citizens to stay asleep, submit, obey, buy, conform, marry and reproduce, do not question authority, watch TV and have no thoughts. Even more preposterous, it turns out aliens have infiltrated the human race in order to harvest our resources, which they are doing by controlling the TV airwaves and through extravagant business ventures, handsomely rewarding those helpful partners that grease the wheels for them. With the sunglasses, however, one can see the skeletal faces of the aliens, as otherwise they are completely indistinguishable from other humans. Piper goes a little crazed once he sees how humans are being manipulated, but the aliens are everywhere and seem to control the police. When he starts to fight back, he realizes the aliens are all connected by strange wrist watches which immediately connect them to the police and can also help them instantly disappear without a trace.
Defying arrest, television broadcasts are interrupted by hackers who attempt to warn the world about their passivity, where independent thought is discouraged and people are ordered to “watch TV and stay asleep.” Referred to as “free enterprisers” who routinely label their resisters as Communists, this is a brilliant exploration of contemporary 1980’s American culture through an outlandish parody of Republicans in the Reagan era, Big Money subverting Blue Collar interests, suggesting the yuppie revolution of the 80’s was actually an alien invasion, satirically portrayed here as aliens who wish to control the masses through psychological manipulation, hoarding all the money and power for themselves. These broader themes unfortunately continue to plague us today, where not much has changed, as we still struggle with uncontrollable corporate greed and middle class apathy pitting the haves against the have nots, as never before in American history has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few. Piper turns into a somewhat berserk, lone American seeking vigilante justice, as while the world has turned into a totalitarian police state, the dialogue also gets a little campy with some choice one-liners. In fact, the acting is barely acceptable, even for B-movie standards, and Carpenter’s bluesy score is extremely repetitive, creating a near hypnotic mood as the movie takes its time setting up the characters until all hell breaks loose and this turns into an action thriller that never takes itself too seriously, making this delicious fun throughout.
Los Angeles’s darkly corrupt soul is finally revealed for what it is, a vast wasteland of subliminal billboard signs controlled by aliens, where Carpenter, from behind a pair of dark glasses, essential fashion in Southern California, by the way, abruptly alters how the viewer sees the world, often switching from color to black and white. Perhaps the turning point of the film is a vicious fight scene between two friends, Piper and his working class buddy Keith David as Frank, an extended five-minute alley fight, a brutal affair complete with flying suplex wrestling maneuvers, all designed to get Frank to wear the glasses, a legendary scene that may have been the source inspiration for David Fincher’s FIGHT CLUB (1999). Two working class stiffs fighting over what’s left of their stripped down pride and honor gives this film a timeless Us versus Them relevance, also a unique portrait of how the lower class is continually forced to fight over the last scraps at the bottom of the economic food chain. Carpenter’s wit, expressed through a blistering critique of capitalism and the protections provided to an elite upper class, has never been so fully on display as in this paranoid mix of sci-fi and thriller, one of the great unsung satires to truly get the 80’s right. It all plays out like a sci-fi, socio-political horror western, where the individualistic, frontier spirit has to fend off the foreign, outside invaders, which is the key to understanding most John Carpenter movies. What’s unique here is that a professional wrestler is the one chosen to save the world, all given a tongue-in-cheek sensibility that plays out with the cheap fun of an original Twilight Zone or Star Trek TV program.
