We've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and we're all out of bubblegum

We've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and we're all out of bubblegum, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass....and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Adapted from John Carpenter's They Live

They Live. We Sleep - The Poster

They Live. We Sleep - The Poster, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

Science fiction, whether by intent or not is more a reflection of what scares or ails a society than a prediction of what will happen in the future. Whether it is HG. Wells's tale of class conflict in late 19th century England (The Time machine) or Orwell's commentary on the propaganda and the power of the state (1984) science fiction has provided writers, film makers and others with a powerful tool to look their societies straight in the eye. This is no less true in John Carpenter's 1988 B-Movie sci-fi classic, They Live with it's scathing indictment of 80's Reagonomics.

SLEEP

SLEEP, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

They Live - John Carpenter

They Live - We Sleep

They Live - We Sleep, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Sci-fi Friday - They Live (1988)

John Carpenter's 80's sci-fi b-movie classic, They Live seems all the more topical given the recent economic meltdown whose effects are rippling across the globe tearing jobs out of the system as it goes. As IMDB puts it;

"Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued."



Also the movie has one of my favourite quotes.

"Nada: I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum. "