10 Films That Stick It To The Man

A political revolution is afoot, but it’s being run by aliens from another galaxy, “free enterprisers” from outer space that've taken control of the planet and won’t stop until they’ve depleted its resources.

To keep the population docile, they’ve hypnotized people with subliminal messages through their TV sets, telling them that self-esteem is linked to material wealth, fashion trends must be followed and greed is good. The aliens recruit people to work for them, luring them with the promise of wealth and an easy life, and it’s surprisingly how quickly they sell out.

When Roddy Piper sees the world as it really is, billboards that hawked consumer goods now say OBEY, CONFORM or NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT while money bears the words THIS IS YOUR GOD. Then Piper walks into a grocery store and sees an alien on television: “The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We’re optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don’t need pessimism.”

Released in the United States on November 4, 1988, four days ahead of the Presidential election, They Live was John Carpenter’s reaction to the insensitivity of political institutions that, together with the commercialization of popular culture, suggested a country that had lost its soul. “I’m disgusted by what we’ve become in America,” the filmmaker said at the time. “I truly believe there is brain death in this country.”