*They Live

They Live

The horror movie demon John Carpenter created this stereotypically 80's styled movie which highlights the idea of consumerism in a somewhat playfully ironic way. 

The narrative is that low life "Nada" finds a box of what appear to be sunglasses and when he puts them on, the truth is revealed. The truth being alien robots controlling humans through the use of signs, billboards and packaging etc. Nada then begins to give the glasses to the homeless camp which he sometimes habits and its just this whole shit show of gun fueled, low budget, sci-fi gimmick which plays on the idea that "aliens' control us, when in fact, these aliens are just the power that control our own world and we don't really need truth revealing sunglasses to see this happening in the first place. 

The "sunglassed" world is simple, greyscale and the signs simple state commands such as eat, sleep, conform and obey. Visually, I love this movie as it is so simple yet effective in showing consumerism and almost laughs at the idea of how blinded we are by the world around us. My favourite scene is where "Nada" is in the store and he picks up a piece of paper which says "This is your god" he takes the sunglasses off, its a dollar bill. This film is definitely the most controversial John Carpenter film as it shows light on issues such as homelessness, materialism and conformity.  

Bibliography 

They Live - John Carpenter 1988