I was never captivated by horror. I could see the obvious effects in movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Stephen King did it well because he also made his stories about character, but that’s about as far as I’ve gone.
For years, the title, They Live, just blended into the mass of cheesy 80s horror titles, like Trick or Treat and Slaughter High. But I’d heard a comparison between They Live and the current political climate, so I ordered it from my library (support your libraries, people!).
And it’s pro-single. The movie takes place in a dystopian landscape where the homeless are rampant and the rich control everything. Kinda like the real world. But Roddy Rowdy Piper of World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) fame plays John, a drifter who’s wandered into Los Angeles looking for work. At one point, he finds a pair of sunglasses that reveals that some people are actually aliens. Additionally, some of the advertising shows its hidden message (i.e., an ad for a vacation resort hides a message that states “Marry and Reproduce”). And that’s when it qualified itself as a pro-single movie for this cat. Other messages include “Conform,” “Obey,” and “Submit.” Kinda like the real world.
There is a hint at a romantic subplot, but it fools us – twice. Roddy takes Holly, a human woman, hostage. She seems like an ally right before she attempts to shoot him. Later on, John and his newfound Frank join a resistance movement (Frank’s initially reluctant because “he has a wife and two kids,” nearly reinforcing the idea that superheroes are single). But Frank’s a badass. Holly appears as a supposed double agent and ally of the movement, right before she attempts to shoot John again. Nice subversion on the part of John Carpenter.
While I’m not a big horror or science fiction buff, I appreciated the message of subversion. And it could apply today.