More Than An '80s B-Movie, 'They Live' Predicts Modern Life

The Black Lives Matter movement popularized "woke" and "stay woke." These terms mean staying awake to social and race-based injustice and watching its effects.They Live.The film makes people wake up to "reality."

They Live.Alien overlords use a radio signal to hypnotize humans into seeing a desired world. Money appears on sheets reading, "THIS IS YOUR GOD." Billboards simply read, "Obey." Everyone watches TV. Resistance cuts TV broadcasts with signals showing the "truth."

The poor and underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights do not exist. They built a repressive society; we are their unwitting helpers. Their goal is to end consciousness. They lull us into a trance. They make us ignore ourselves and others. We focus only on our gain. Keep us asleep. Keep us selfish. Keep us sedated.

The film attacks capitalism running wild. Carpenter showed the Reagan administration the film gave the "finger." Aliens stand for any oppressive idea: the patriarchy, white nationalism, corporate greed—you name it.

Decades before Black Lives Matter, the film touches on police misconduct.They Live.The film shows police power issues clearly. Police use military strikes, bulldozers, and riot gear to tear up a homeless camp. They assault and shoot unarmed civilians, including children. They viciously beat a blind Black preacher.

A resistance member states, "Most cops are human. They hear we are communists trying to overthrow the government." This language still describes people the status quo sees as bad. Carpenter shows officers are human; some have conscience.

Later, Nada insults a rude alien. She reports him using alien tech, and police arrive in seconds. The idea that police only "protect and serve" the elite stays strong.

Because of its short run time and B-movie status,They Live.The film does not focus on relationships or character motives. However, Nada and Frank Armitage (Keith David) share ideas. This scene summarizes the conflicting views causing the race-based split in America.

Nada believes, "I do hard work for little money. I just want a chance. It will come. I believe in America. I follow the rules. Everyone has hard times now." Nada, a straight white man, holds a valid view for himself. He expects his share.

Frank, a Black man, faces systemic prejudice and grows more cynical.

The game is crazy. They put you at the start. The game is making it through life. Everyone acts selfishly, trying to destroy you.

The fight between the two characters mirrors race relations in America. Underclass Blacks and whites clash, finding common ground before realizing the conflict serves no purpose.

The fight between Nada and Armitage clocks in at just over six minutes.This fight is one of the best in movie history.The fight lasts so long it becomes crazy, then funny. Nada wants Frank to wear sunglasses and see things as they are. Frank wants Nada to clean up and keep his family out of trouble. Both men try hard but beat each other up for too long.

Do not call this famous fight just B-movie nonsense. The story built structural weight into the scene from the start. Carpenter, writing under the name Frank Armitage, gave five pages to the scene. Stunt coordinator Jeff Imada choreographed an elaborate sequence from the simple direction: “The Fight continues.”

This scene functions as a metaphor. Nada challenges the system. Frank tries to stay safe. It is also a fight between a Black man wanting to stay low and safe, and a white man trying to change the Black man’s view... by force. The fight keeps potential allies distracted from the real enemy: the rich aliens colonizing Earth.

The aliens unite in the final act to celebrate their progress with human co-conspirators. The leader boasts, “By 2025, America and the whole planet will fall under this power alliance's protection and control. The gains benefit both us and the human power elite.”

In reality, in 2020,10 companiesAbout ten companies control almost every large food and beverage brand worldwide.Six corporations control 90% of the media in America, down from 50 in the 1980s when Carpenter wrote this.Six corporations control 90% of the media in America, down from 50 in the 1980s when Carpenter wrote this.

The dialogue is an accurate prediction. At this rate, by 2025, people in one room could control most of the world's resources.

The film approaches levels of correct pop-culture predictions.The film approaches levels of correct pop-culture predictions like The Simpsons.Carpenter's line about profit margins shockingly matches the 2019 gains for America's wealthiest people.Carpenter's line about profit margins shockingly matches the 2019 gains for America's wealthiest people.

In his speech to the elite, the alien leader congratulates the alien and human alliance:

The human power elite gained substantial gains for themselves and you. They gave us access to the resources needed for our expansion. This year alone, the per capita income for each of you grew by 39%.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, theThe list includes the world's richest 500 people.saw their total net worth increase by 25% or $1.2 trillion.

Carpenter spoke openly about his issues with capitalism. When asked if capitalism worsened since the film, heThey said this.:

The system morphed into something bizarre. The same problem—unrestrained capitalism—still exists. I am a happy capitalist. I love my country. I love the system, but there must be restraints. Nothing lasts. Everything aims for profit. I do not want to complain about it.

He did not complain back then either.They Live.The film did not make huge box office money, but Carpenter accepted it as a moral win. By the late '80s, he had enough. He decided to make a statement, however silly, and he made one.They Live....he told theThe Los Angeles Times.. "I just love that it was giving the finger to Reagan when nobody else would."

A large part of the film happens in a homeless community in downtown Los Angeles. Carpenter used a real tent city and hired the homeless from LA’s Skid Row as extras, seeing it as a chance to feed and pay them. Three decades later, the tent cities remain. Homelessness is arguably a worse issue now than when the film was made.

Many main characters inThey Live.are homeless or financially struggling. Their frustration with joblessness, the shrinking middle class, and rising real estate prices still affect our current economy.

In the 1988 making-of documentary, Carpenter states, "All the aliens are upper-class, rich people. They slowly exploit the middle class, and everyone gets poorer."

The film's cast is diverse by Hollywood standards. Many humans, extras, and some leads are people of color. The people you see who are not aliens show a mix of society. However, all aliens chose to look white. The few human collaborators also look white.

The film addresses what later became called white privilege. When Nada, the all-American hero, meets the police, they immediately offer hush money. This contrasts sharply with the people targeted without mercy at the homeless camp. His skin color gives him options others do not enjoy.

Later, Drifter (George "Buck" Flower), a white homeless camp member, joins the alien inner circle. How he got there remains unclear, but it cannot be good. Afterward, they give him full access to the alien home base. People of color do not get this access.They Live. White privilege serves as a tool the aliens use to keep control.

Carpenter references climate change in another political Easter egg. Informed citizens knew about global warming in the '80s; the topic had been written up in the New York Times.inThe New York Timessince at least the 1950s, and in 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen testified to Congress on the subject.It testified to Congress on the subject.The "Bearded Man," face of the resistance broadcast, says, “Look at the environment we live in. Carbon dioxide, fluorocarbons, and methane have increased since 1958. Earth is being acclimatized. They are turning our atmosphere into their atmosphere.”

Carpenter's choice to include this climate change reference now seems very accurate, given how the discussion escalated to flat-out denial while scientific warnings grew more urgent each month.

Nada sees drones flying overhead with her reality-revealing sunglasses. They monitor everyone and target her. This raises the question: Is this life imitating art? Sci-fi movies often inspire new tech. Hoverboards exist now, and cell phone designs trace back to the.theStar TrekThe communicator.

Drones came from movies likeThey Live?

They LiveSci-fi flicks were not the first to show handheld communicators; this idea dates back to Dick Tracy. However, certain elements made Carpenter’s version predictive. All aliens wear designer watches for constant contact and quick escapes. Making them luxury watches nodded to Carpenter’s anti-yuppie comments. Today, many Americans wear expensive smartwatches for text and calls, and use Uber for quick exits.

Carpenter was not the only sci-fi artist to guess about smartwatches. But he was definitely aware of the high price tag.

Modern life involves too much media—TV, movies, cable news, social media, video games, music, and books—all fight for our attention.

The conflict inThey Livestems from stopping a local cable station broadcast. The aliens try to stop human free thought with distractions, and the resistance fights to block their signals. Throughout the film, everyone watches TV, exposed to commercials that change how they think.

Looking at the media scene now, Carpenter seemed on the right track. Still, he could not have foreseen Facebook and Twitter's growth.

The struggle shown inThey Livemay not end, but it will be on TV.

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Carpenter’s vision is more legacy than foresight.They LiveThe aliens fromThey LiveThe imagery from They Live became a theme in political art after the film's first release. People use it at protest rallies.

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster, took heavy inspiration fromThey Live. He also madethe clothing brand Obey, using the line from the film.

The legacy ofThey LiveThey Live helped many artists speak out against oppressors and express themselves artistically. It even inspired white nationalists, which Carpenter quickly shut down.quick to shut down.

The legacy ofThey LiveThey Live gives people new ways to express opposition to power imbalance and wealth concentration. Carpenter was persistent, but he did not always criticize. He encouraged regulating the systems, not attacking them.