A superb Sunday to you Steemians!
It's feeling a little tricky to even really get into this article at the moment, simply because my head is SO full of vaccines, immunizations, mercury poisoning, government fraud, and the like. I'm currently a few days into what looks to be by far my largest research paper yet, on the "vaccine debate". Stay tuned for that.. probably at least a couple weeks out still realistically.
Welcome to episode 4 of my weekly series: Sunday Cinema Reflections.
Previous Episodes
Episode 1: K-PAX
Episode 2: Snowden
Episode 3: The Peaceful Warrior
Be warned, while I do not plan to spell out the whole story of any of these movies, there will most likely be at least some spoilers in every episode.
Episode 4: They Live
The Movie
This classic action-comedy from John Carpenter was basically The Matrix of the 1980s. To be fair, the fight scenes are nowhere near as fancifully done, and the special effects are almost non-existent, but the light-shining on the system of control & manipulation in modern society is at least as powerful.
As with many campy 80s movies, this is not something you watch for the acting, or even for the writing... It's just funny, enjoyable, and gives a pretty crazy look at a metaphor for modern society (or the reality of modern society if you believe folks like David Icke).
The Story
The story follows Nada, a construction worker who has moved from Colorado to Los Angeles hoping to find work. While settling into some construction work and staying in the local shanty-town, he discovers that the local church is actually a front, the choir a recording, and the building filled with cardboard boxes. That night, the police who up and raid the church, bulldozing the shanty-town as well. The next day, Nada decides to head into the church and check things out, and comes across a box full of sunglasses.
Upon putting the sunglasses on his face, the world around him suddenly changes, with all the magazines, billboards, and TV screens turning into giant text simply saying "OBEY", "CONSUME", "DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY", and various other things that we could certainly identify as the subliminal messaging that is always at work in the "media". Oh, and did I mention that he also sees many of the people around him are actually aliens?
From here, Nada convinces his almost-friend Frank to try on the glasses (after the most ridiculous & drawn out fight scene in an alley (5m20s)), and they go on their way to kick some alien ass and free the human race. Their mission ultimately leads them to the local TV station, from which the aliens are releasing a mind-control frequency.
Some Quotes
Drifter: You still don't get it, do you, boys? There ain't no countries anymore, no more good guys. They're running the whole show! They own everything, the whole god-damn planet. They can do whatever they want!
~
Frank: Maybe they've always been with us, those things out there. Maybe they love it — seeing us hate each other, watching us kill each other off, feeding on our own cold fucking hearts.
Nada: Well, I've got news for them. Going to be hell to pay, 'cause I ain't daddy's little boy no more.
~
Frank: I have a wife and kids in Detroit. I haven't seen them in 6 months. Steel mills were laying people off left and right. They finally went under. We gave the steel companies a break when they needed it. Know what they gave themselves? Raises. The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules.
~
Frank: What do these things want?
Gilbert: They're free-enterprisers. The earth is just another developing planet. Their third world.
~
Street Preacher: Outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us, from birth to death, are our owners! Our owners! They have us. They control us! They are our masters! Wake up! They're all about you! All around you!
Why I Wanted to Share They Live
This movie is undoubtedly the most culty, cheesy movie I will be featuring in this series, but it is also almost painfully honest and eye opening. One of the most widely recognized images from the movie is the moment when we see US dollars becoming simple pieces of paper with the words "THIS IS YOUR GOD" on them.
This is an especially great movie to start a conversation with someone who loves cheesy action movies or who as ever been a fan of professional wrestling, since the star, Rowdy Roddy Piper, is a long-time wrestler.
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Sunday Cinema Reflections, and please be sure to follow my blog to catch the next one, plus all my other content (I publish daily, on a wide range of topics)
If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy some of these highlights of my blog:
"Greatest Hits/Table of Contents" of my first 2 years on Steemit