About a week or so ago, I happened across bits of an old John Carpenter classic on TV: “They Live.” It’s a movie that I love — and even though people sometimes scowl at Rowdy Roddy Piper, I defend him by pointing out that, as a professional wrestler, he’s basically an actor anyway.
Perhaps that late-night television cinema was a harbinger of things to come, or perhaps it was just a tell-tale sign of a more general cultural phenomenon, but it suddenly seems to be that ‘They Live’ is everywhere.
It’s cropped up in conversation, it’s referenced in mix tapes, there’s a book out, they’re talking about a remake — but ditching the sunglasses, and there’s a ridiculously in-depth slideshow online analyzing the movie like an English major.
With all of that (you really should check out all those links), how could I not finally do some Googling and dig up the original short story that “They Live” is based on?
It’s called “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” and it’s by Ray Nelson, and it’s pretty short. I read it in a single sitting, no sweat. It’s like a really long blog post.
Read it here. It’s pretty great.
