https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL8r5IJJ0ex/?igsh=MTYxYTdvNnlvbXh5aQ==

Cal88 said:

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Chapman_is_Gone said:

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I'm not a menstruating tween girl, so I'm not on Instagram. Would you ming summarizing the link for us?

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G4R is all out of bubble gum.

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I don't know what that means, but it made me laugh!!

I guess you didn't watch the movie.

Yeah.
I don't click on the Instagram Or TikTok links.
Gotta embed YouTube so it plays right there.

Or just write your arguments, no matter how absurd they sound. If you can't write, night classes at the local jc may help.

concordtom said:

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Yeah.
I don't click on the Instagram Or TikTok links.
Gotta embed YouTube so it plays right there.

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By movie, I meant Carpenter's They Live, the bubble gum line is from that.

Uh, yeah, no.
Had to look it up.

A classic, kind of ahead of its time in its depiction of homeless encampments in LA and media propaganda. The scene/line in question:

In They Live (1988), the eerie "robot faces" aren't actually robots they're aliens disguised as humans, revealed only when the protagonist wears special sunglasses.

What They Really Are

The aliens are ghoulish, bug-eyed creatures with skeletal faces and bulging eyes.
They use subliminal messaging and mass media to manipulate humans into consuming, conforming, and obeying.
Their true appearance is hidden by a broadcast signal, which the sunglasses disrupt allowing the wearer to see the world as it really is.


Symbolism & Intent

Director John Carpenter designed the aliens to look like corruptions of humanity, reflecting themes of consumerism, class control, and capitalist exploitation.
He described them as "free enterprisers from outer space" exploiting Earth like a third-world planet.

John Carpenter didn't just direct They Live he engineered it as a punk-rock middle finger to Reagan-era consumerism.

Subversive Symbolism

At its core, They Live is a bold takedown of:

Hyper-capitalism: The aliens aren't here to destroy us they're here to exploit us, treating Earth like a third-world outpost to drain.
Media manipulation: The hidden messages "OBEY," "CONSUME," "CONFORM" seen only with special sunglasses, expose how advertising quietly reinforces compliance.
Class inequality: The protagonist, Nada, is homeless and marginalized an everyman fighting against a ruling class with literal otherworldly power.


Visual Design as Protest

The aliens' faces were intentionally made to look ghoulish yet human-like: skeletal, bug-eyed, and eerily familiar a symbol of corrupted humanity.
Black-and-white through the sunglasses wasn't just aesthetic it showed the bleakness behind the illusion, pulling viewers out of the glossy lies of consumer culture.


Legacy & Influence

They Live inspired everything from street art to video games. Shepard Fairey's "OBEY" campaign? Directly lifted from the film.
Filmmakers and social critics still cite it as a masterclass in low-budget political satire, merging campy sci-fi with hard-hitting critique.


And of course, it gave us one of the most quotable lines in cult cinema history:

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

Cal88 said:

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I guess you didn't watch the movie.

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I thought that line came from Rowdy Roddy Piper in Piper's Pit (way before the movie)?

Go Bears Forever

I guess Roddy Piper popularized it in They Live.