Some days, it might seem like our lives aren’t really our own. Unseen forces are at work, occasionally hinting at their presence but never in any lasting way. We buy that thing without thinking too hard about why we did. We consume products and resources. Why did you watch that popular TV show just now? Is it really that satisfying, or was there some other kind of compulsion? John Carpenter’s They Live offers an answer — but now that it’s getting a toy line, we might wonder if it’s a false flag after all.
The whole point of Carpenter’s sci-fi horror satire in the ’80s was that we didn’t realize media and government had these agendas. That to the extent they increased power over us and persuaded us to consume, we couldn’t see it. Now, everyone is blatant. In They Live, aliens tricked consumers into buying more things. In 2019, They Live action figures come out, and nobody has to subliminally suggest we buy them. We’re just there already, fingers hovering over the preorder button.
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Fortunately for us, Rowdy Roddy Piper, may he rest in peace, left behind many, many action figures with his likeness. So we will always have a champion against our new-old outer space overlords. The They Live figures do not include Piper’s Nada character, but do feature a male and female “ghoul” in 3-3/4 inch scale, ’80s style. Both are available at your favorite online outlets now.
But what if this is reverse psychology and the aliens don’t want you to buy their toys? They may be playing multidimensional chess. Tell us whether or not you’ll add They Live to your collection in comments below. And don’t forget to wear sunglasses!
