Night 4: John Carpenter Night
Carpenter wrote the role of Frank for Keith David, which was something of a relief for David who had not had a film role since John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), his first film. If Piper plays the beat down but optimistic side of the American worker, David plays the beat down cynical, or pragmatic, side. His character says things like, “They put you at the starting line. The name of the game is ‘Make it Through Life’ only everyone’s out for themselves and looking to do you in at the same time.” Like his role in The Thing, he is the supporting character to a stand out leading man, but he is no less memorable. It certainly helps that his character’s comments about economic inequalities and social commentary are delivered in his memorable, authoritative, and booming voice. Arguably the most famous moment from They Live is the extended fight scene between Piper and David in an alley. You’ll hear that this scene has no purpose and that’s why it is memorable, aside from the stunt work and fight choreography. The counter argument is that it is meant to represent how difficult it is to get someone to change their mind, or even listen to a different opinion, since the fight starts when David refuses to put on the special sunglasses. Carpenter has said that the scene is an homage to the 9 minute fight scene in The Quiet Man between John Wayne and Victor McLaglen.
With They Live, John Carpenter both modernizes and pays tribute to science fiction films of the 1950’s. The look of the aliens, designed by Sandy King, Carpenter’s creative partner and later wife, is clearly evocative of sci-fi aliens of the 1950’s and even the EC horror comics that inspired Creepshow (1982) and the Tales From the Crypt HBO series. They might look cartoonish but they fit the heightened satirical tone. Due to the low budget, stunt coordinator Jeff Imada played nearly every alien with a different voice dubbed in afterwards. This explains why certain aliens might seem awkwardly tall compared to Roddy Piper since the short Imada was standing on a box or walking on crates. 
They live. We sleep.
John Carpenter’s They Live is a little bit of everything: science fiction, action, horror, comedy, even socio-political commentary. It vacillates from mystery to comedy to sci-fi weirdness to working class drama. Somehow, it does all of this very well. Carpenter fully meant They Live to be a satire of the consumerist culture of the 1980's and a reaction to the effects of the Reagan era on America as a whole. So much about the themes of They Live is relevant today that there’s no need for an updated version. Nearly every line of dialogue about class and economic inequalities and the elite upper class exploiting and benefiting off the work of the lower class feels relevant today. Yet, this is not merely a dressed up diatribe. Carpenter made a thoroughly entertaining and interesting sci-fi film with an important message that never loses its way.
The plot is pretty simple but also pretty strange. A drifter arrives in Los Angeles looking for work and stumbles across an alien plot for world domination. That’s the simple part. The strange part is that the aliens are broadcasting oppressive subliminal messages through every form of media: TV, billboards, magazines, etc. There are also already numerous aliens living on earth in disguise. The only way to see the aliens or their messages is with special sunglasses that the drifter finds in an abandoned church. The glasses reveal a world in black and white where advertisements of any kind, even labels on food in a grocery store, are actually messages like: OBEY, MARRY AND REPRODUCE, SUBMIT, NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, STAY ASLEEP.
Carpenter named the drifter Nada to not so subtly emphasize that though he has skills and his own tools and is more than willing to work for his fair share, society at large sees him as nothing (nada). He looks at a wall of job postings at the unemployment office but when he finally meets with a case worker he’s told that there is nothing for him. Nada is played very well by wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. Physically of course, Piper is more than up to the task of being an action movie star, but he does a very fine job with the dramatic side of this character too. He starts out as pretty much a blank with practically no backstory. He also has an innocent optimism about his situation, even though he is homeless. He tells his only friend, Frank, played by the great Keith David, “I just want the chance. It’ll come. I believe in America. I follow the rules.” Piper says these lines with a realistic sincerity that is hard to believably deliver. Piper’s time as a professional wrestler came in handy in perhaps unexpected ways, like having to deliver some pretty ridiculous dialogue. When Keith David asks where these creatures are from, Piper replies with “They ain’t from Cleveland.” His most famous line of dialogue in the movie, which he came up with, is without a doubt, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.” And he does this without making the movie silly; instead he makes it fun.
Nothing about They Live is subtle and that is by design. To quote Roger Ebert, “If you have to ask what something symbolizes, it doesn’t.” That the message and the action do not hinder each other but together create an entertaining movie is a testament to John Carpenter’s skill as a filmmaker.
They Live airs on TCM on Friday, October 25th at 12:30AM CT. It is also available to stream for free on Tubi and Peacock (w/subscription).
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