A Geek History of Time - Episode 151 - They Live is a Marxist Polemic, Not Anything Else Part II

Episode Date: March 26, 2022

I'm not here to poke holes and suspended this belief. Anyway, they see some weird shit. They decide to make a baby. Now, I'm not gonna merge it. Who gives a fuck? Oh my god, which is a trick on you, baby. You know what I'm saying? Well, you know, I really like it here. It's kind of nice and it's part of the oldest box of them.

It's one of the most fun things I've ever done. So yeah, sure, I think we're gonna settle. If I'm a peasant boy who grabs the sword out of a stone. Yeah, I'm able to open people up You will yeah any time I hit them with it, right? Yeah, so my cleave landing will make me a cavalier I thought it was empty headed, plebeum trash. It's really good and gruey. Because cannibalism and murder, we'll back just a little bit, build walls, keep out the radiance. We can't use to live in the ground.

A thorough intent doesn't exist. Some people stand up white gibots, some people stay seen white gibots. Let me just... This is a Geacher's Tree of Time. Where we connect an artery to the real world. My name is Ed DeLong, an animal in the world history and an English teacher here in Bourbon, California, middle school, in the normal.

And as I mentioned at the beginning of our last episode, I am gradually getting closer and closer to having an Oscar. No longer resembles a construction site, I'm very excited about it. And specifically, sometime in the next couple of days, I'm very much looking forward to my very, very fancy barbecue grill actually coming out of storage,

which I know I've talked about before, but it is imminent. My wife has borrowed the truck from her company's fleet and we're going to be pulling our stuff out of storage this weekend. And so hopefully by Sunday night I will actually have my fancy barbecue grill smoker set up ready to go. And I'm very, very excited. So that's what I've got going on. How about you? I'm Damien Harmony.

I'm a Latin teacher and a drama teacher up here in Northern California. I'm just kind of excited that like you and producer George will have something to talk about that basically just means that I can show up and get fed. And I think this is wonderful. I so I'm fully in support of your bill. Hell, I'll even bring meat for you to do so.

I won't free load that much, even though I'm the only one of this group that has only a single income. But, but no, I'll still bring my own meat for you to Wow us and you and he to discuss the finer points of Seasoning sure is it smoking charcoal briquettes. Yeah, like pellets of Seagull beaks or something. I don't know what you people use We moved inside to cook It would be awful. Yeah, I'm single big. I'm just saying yeah, okay, the unmitigated goal. Oh Fuck you

Oh, it's valid good even sir That pun was gonna hang like an albatross or Where does that phrase come from? Well, it's, it's an, yeah, it's an ancient maritime superstition that an albatross, I don't know what the, what the source of the idea was, but the idea was that albatrosses were birds of omen. Right. And if you killed one, it was, it was terrible, terrible bad luck.

Because they're using good luck. Yeah. Killing one would curse it. And I think the poem, the rhyme of the ancient mariner, water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink, water, water, everywhere, not a drop to drink. No, not a drop to drink.

And I mean, it's just almost an epic poem. Right. The protagonist, if you could call it that, of the poem is responsible for the death of an albatross. Oh, okay. And as part of his punishment by the crew to try to get the bad luck off the rest of them, they force him to wear the bird around his neck.

Oh my God, so it's literally an albatross. There's literally an albatross. Oh my God. So it's literally it is literally it is literally it is. Yes. Yeah. Which is part of the point. Okay. So yeah. Sure. That's that's my understanding of you know, you have an albatross around you. I think that's I think that's where that comes from. I yeah. There's good enough as any answer. I think that makes a lot of sense. So in as much as hanging a bird around someone's neck makes a lot of sense. So in as much as hanging a bird around someone's neck makes a lot of sense. Well, yeah, I mean, you know, in as much as it's a literary reference and thus, you know, everything that comes with that. Yeah. So, but Marxist-Polemic... Oh, yes, they live.

It is a Marxist-Polemic against Reagan as no matter what the anti-Semites say. See, I almost want to fast forward to that part of this because you keep repeating that exact phrase and I'm like, okay, wait. Yes, well, that's the title. Okay, wait, I know. Just like they live being written on the wall of the church as right discussed. They live, we sleep. Yeah.

So, okay. Last we talked, not a Roddy Piper's character, watch the police... Over-trying, destroying a homeless encampment. Completely unrealistic attack on just common citizens who are completely marginalized, who have no power against them, and yet they're heavily militarized,

and they're wearing way too much gear for the job that they've got to do, and they're wearing way too much gear for the job that they've got to do and they're just overly brutal with no cause. Like this would never happen. It wouldn't ever happen in 1986. Right. But then you have the programs that, as we've discussed in prior episodes, allowed police departments to get, you know, literal military equipment. Yes. And, you know, if you give somebody the ability to do it, they're going to do it.

Mm-hmm. And with the military equipment, it comes a military mindset. Yeah, without the military training. Yeah, yeah. And rules of engagement. Or rules of engagement. So yeah. Yeah, so.

Sadly, that was not. That was that was that was satire that became appreciants. Yeah, so again, I would say that maybe that's rule two A. Satire becomes prescient when it's done out, basically generation later. Yeah, satire has a very short half life, corollary, it often becomes precinct. Yes. Yeah, so so then after that we saw more commercials and and more homeless people now

The thing is while Nata played by Rodney Piper was sneaking around in the church earlier that day He accidentally found a bunch, a box. Right. And he himself is homeless. So there's this idea of, I found something that's hidden. It's going to be of some value. And so when the attack happens, he ends up going through the church one last time. He grabs said box.

If I recall correctly, he grabs said box from the hiding place that he had discovered and then put back. He grabs said box and then he runs off with it. And he buries it in the garbage. But when he does so the next day, in an alleyway, he puts on, or he opens the box, and it's a pair of glasses. It's a whole bunch of glasses, just sunglasses, right? And he puts them on.

And that awakens him to reality. Yes. So everything up to this point in so many ways is just exposition. Even up through the police attack and stuff like that, it's just exposition. Exposition. It's setting up the stakes. At this point, there's nothing amiss in this world other than like, oh, it's a fairly oppressive, you know, LA government.

This is Cthulhu level shit at this point. Okay, I'm gonna quibble. Sure, sure. I'm gonna quibble because... I believe quibble is a certain kind of old being, right? Well, yes. A few of us VBB QL quibble. Well, yeah, it's very difficult for human vocal cords to make the proper noises, but that's close as we can get. But when you specifically mention Kutulu, you are talking about the love crafty and mythos and weird fiction.

Yes. And now here's the thing, weird weird fiction The bad guys in they live Mm-hmm are not inscrutable enough Okay for for weird fiction to necessarily apply I would say this is definitely Body snatchers level shit, okay. I would make that analogy because because in weird in in lovecraftian fiction The powers that you are dealing with Have to it's it's an issue of magnitude. It's it is not that Nearlitho-Tep or any of them are actively malevolent

It's that they exist on a level so far beyond our understanding of the universe that anybody who perceives their level of perception is broken by it because it would be like an ant suddenly seeing the world from our perspective. Right. Okay. We don't we don't destroy answer squish spiders or whatever because... Out of malice. We hate the right... And that's the extent of it. And we often are responsible for that

destruction without even realizing we're doing it. We're walking down the street and we step on a snail. Right. You know, fuck you. Yes, sorry. I legitimately had forgotten. I that was just the example of pop it in my head. But I genuinely didn't mean to trade your, I know. I know. But, but, but, but, but, but, but you get what I'm saying. I do. And that and that visceral response is appropriate based on what you know we're talking about.

Whereas the villains in in they live the aliens are very, very comprehensible. They have human motivations. They are evil. They are evil. Yes, they're malicious. They are malevolent. In that kind of... That's where it was.

They de-humanize us. Yeah, they de-humanize us. They are narcissists. They don't careinize us. Yeah, they de-cominize us. They are narcissists. They don't care about our dignity. Yeah. We are, as this fellow on the TV said, we are their cattle. Yeah. Now, I would say, however, John Nott's response to this is to go what anybody else in any

any other movie would classify as insane. Yes, so I do think there's still some love craftiness. There's a little bit. Yeah, it's the same, maybe it's the same melody, but it's being played on a kazoo. Okay. As opposed to like a full symphony. I can see that. Yeah.

All right. So either way, the awakening of the proletariat to the realities of the world and its system that oppresses all of us is suddenly made manifest by him looking through these glasses. Yeah. And it is a hyper reality, which is, this is, I love this because they did it again in Madonna's Truth or Dare a few years later.

The reality is in black and white. Okay. The hyper reality, right, is technicolored layers of lies. Okay. So you see the black and white reality and then you see the technicolored layers of lies. And in color, the images are all manufactured. They're meant to keep us asleep and compliant,

but in black and white, we can actually see the signal. We can see the signal, we can see the coding, we can see the matrix. Yes. What was it? Oh, Bay. Oh, Bay was a big one. I'm gonna get into that. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, there's a I watched it just recently and the completely pointless titty shot at the end. Yeah. Might need rehabbing. Okay. Because in the background behind the woman, who is a strode upon the gentleman who's, hey, baby, what it, it says, uh, procreate and reproduce. Oh, okay. So they were. Yeah. Um, but anyway, uh, the, the, the, the images in black and white are stark. Yeah. They are clear and

they are jarring. Um, now this is the second podcast that I've done that has mentioned, uh, John, uh, Baldrilar has mentioned John Baldrilar's Baldrilar and his book Simulakrom and Simulation. The first one was our far-sighted episodes episode 63 to 66 for those who want to go back and listen to them. And Gary Larson, by the way. Also dealing with Ronald Reagan. Yes. Which is I find interesting right there we're dealing with Simul. Yes. Which is, I find interesting right there, we're dealing with Simulak Room and Simulation with Ronald fucking Reagan. Well, okay, this is the guy that, you know,

Doon's Barry, what's the artist's name? I'm forgetting that. Gary Trudeau. Chewdau. Not Gary Trudeau. Gene Chudeau. Yeah, anyway. Something.

That, you know, he always has some cartoon stand-in for the president. Reagan's stand-in was Max Headroom. Oh, that's right. In the comic. Yeah, it was Gary Trudeau, by the way. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay. Yes. Yeah.

The PMF candidate is Justin Trudeau. Yes. Right. Okay, it is Justin Trudeau. Yes. Right. Okay, it was Gary Trudeau. And so, you know, when you think about the level of cartoonishness that Reagan just kind of embodied, it was kind of part of his brand. Like, and he was intentionally right up on the edge of absurd, just as part of the persona he put forward as, you know, the national, the national sheriff. Yeah, it was a manipulation.

Yeah. I would also say with Reagan, I mean, he was a movie star. Yes. He came about in an age of media. He was a creation of media On so many levels he wasn't real Like yes, I mean again, I go back to the PBS documentaries that on the living presidents back when I that on the living presidents back when I think it was 2004, the election of 2004, and it was very clear that PBS had an agenda. It just was one that I agreed with, but they did the living presidents. They did them out of order, and they did Reagan, and then Bush, and then they did Carter. And I think the reason they did Reagan,

and then Bush, was because they wanted to point out, oh, one of the Bushes was a decent human being. And competent. And the St. Reagan is bullshit compared to the real Bush, because Reagan pretended to be a war hero. Bush was. Reagan pretended to want to shrink the deficit. He grew it. Reagan pretended to play brinksmanship. He actually wanted to reduce nuclear weapons. Everything he did was pretence and was simulation and simulacrum. Okay, so In short the glasses show NADA and therefore us that the world that we live in is dictated by the images that are presented to us by the various media sources Creating a version of reality that isn't based on our own perceptions. It's a hyper reality

Okay, the world around us is charged by those very images and symbols, creating our own world view. If there is an objective version of our society, Bajrilar doesn't believe that it really exists. Because everything is a construct. Yes. Okay. The world of they live is created by the manufactured images everywhere in our civilization, and only when we put on a pair of magic sunglasses, do we actually see the world for what it really is? And the facade that is used to exploit

and conquer us is actually lifted. So all of those images, all of those constructs are charged with the energy of our belief in them. Okay, so we depend on them to be real, though they are not. Okay, and we've constructed our lives, and therefore we are ready to defend it. Because so much of our identity is tied up in it. Okay. Now with the glasses on, that facade is lifted, and we go ape shit. Yeah. And we're able to see things for how they really are, which is a world manufactured just like the ones

that we see without the sunglasses. Mm-hmm. Okay. So, which again, it's like, if this is a simulation, it's a really shitty version. Like, you know, like, this is the best we can do. Yeah. Which, by the way, in the Matrix, they talk about, he says, you know, actually we lost fields

and fields of humans. Yeah, because no one. Because it was too perfect. Right. You didn't believe it. Right. Yeah. Oh, God, that gets to us.

Now, the rest of the movie goes as we remember it. The first image that we have, the alien is an older white guy in a business suit. There's the news stand. He's clearly is an older white guy in a business suit. They're the newsstand. He's clearly white collar, he's driving a nice car. The man running the newsstand is black and not an alien, which I find to be an interesting choice. In fact, I went back and watched and I could not find any people of color who were aliens.

Well, okay, if you're going to put on a mask in order to dominate a planet. Good point. You know, I think if you're just, if you're just coming from the point of view of I'm going to write an alien occupation, because I can't really say invasion, but an alien occupation horror movie. You know, why would any of the occupying alien hordes choose to be part of a down-trotden population?

Yeah, a marginalized group. Yeah, doesn't yeah. The only thing I would say is that it would lend a layer of legitimacy because you could have people from the... You, Trotton? Yeah, I mean, you could have the person that Carter Woodson talked about often, the one who was so loyal to the system that he'd so terribly internalized that he would come to defend it. A person who didn't know his place, but in the reverse of what we normally think of. Okay. And so I would just say it would lend legitimacy that way. Okay. But but here we have. But we're also this is you've you have me on your side now. This is a Marxist polemic. Yes. So that's going to be part of the best that you're trying to make, like some animals need to be dropped.

Yep. And then in that same scene, you know, the white businessman who is actually one of these ghouls, aliens, he hands the money over to the guy, the guy is holding the money, and when John Nada puts the glasses on, he looks at the black newspaper standowner and he looks at the magazine. The magazine has a ton of messages and it consume, sleep, etc. And then, oh, sorry, just real quick breaking in. My daughter's cat never comes to see company and he's down here to see you. Well, hello. Yes. We'll probably keep this in. Yeah. But. And then yeah, Saxons come to see you too. Why do you've been well? You you are now one of the family. Yeah.

But anyway, so the the newspaper stand owner, he's holding on to the cash still, because he's going to talk to Nottis, say, hey, buy something or leave. And the cash says, this is your God. Yeah. Which I mean, honestly, it's not that different than in God we trust. But it is different enough to be Marxist

and it's different enough to be something that It is different enough to be Marxist, and it's different enough to be something that Bajr-Lard would have pointed out, because it's literally a symbol that we're charging with meaning and infusing with meaning. Oh, yeah, well, especially since we abandoned the Silver Standard. Although to be fair, we did that to help the poor people. Yeah, well, yeah, I know. I understand, but I'm just saying. But yes.

Now, the next alien we see talking is a rich woman who is being helped by two humans, a housemaid and a retail worker. So again, you have the working classes and the upper classes being clearly distinguished. All of the workers in the market are human, but the more successful trapping looking folks, those are all aliens. So here's a question. Sure.

It's been a while since I saw any part of they live. Mm-hmm. Is there at any point anybody who is not a quizzling, but is legitimately an upper class person in this movie who is not an alien. Yes. Okay. There are several rich people who are not aliens. Okay. Yeah. All right. But they're quizzlings. Okay. See. Okay. So they're so they're. They are they are they are in on they they know what's going on. They have sold their people out Yeah, I can't think about it. I can't think of a single rich person who is not aware of the game Well, okay, wait in the in the grocery store There's two guys who are in suits one of them is a standard human one of them is a

Alien yeah, okay, and they're talking. He's like, I don't know. And he says, look, man, you should just go for the promotions. Like, well, that's easy for you to say, you already got your promotion. That's a human talking to an alien about stepping up to his level. So. okay. Yeah. Sorry. It's, I'm trying to think there's a few people at the, at the bank, okay, who he doesn't shoot because they're humans. And I think there might be, yeah, I can't think of any obviously rich people that he runs into that aren't quizzlings or yeah. So and then we get to my favorite part. Okay.

Here's here's the quote. He's watching the TV and on the TV is a ghoul. Right. And he's in front of a podium and then in front of the podium it says obey because he's watching it's a blast and it says quote, it's a new warning in America. It all boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. That's what's on TV. Wow. Now, not a reveals himself as being able to see

and he says something to the effect of what figures it would be him. And he starts kind of does the Roddy Piper laugh, you know. Yeah. When he reveals himself, he's like, you know, it's funny when I take off these glasses, you know, and he says, you know, you're fine. You real fucking ugly.

Yeah, and stuff like that. And you know, your head fell into the cheese dip back in 1957 and all kinds of stuff, right? The standard Piper lines. The rich people who are ghouls start talking into their Rolex watches and sure enough, seconds later he's accosted by the police.

Now he makes his escape and he meets Holly Thompson who is clearly wealthy. She's also, she drives a really nice car. She's also a human, but she's clearly the petite bourgeoisie. And she works for cable 54. Nada compels her to take him to her house and she lives in the Hollywood Hills. And she takes the quickest opportunity she can

to betray him by hitting him over the head with a bottle of champagne and throwing him through her window. Her very large window that lets her to overlook everything. Yeah. This is a significantly Marxist scene. So, he was his weapons, compels her to take him to shelter. Yeah, and then go on and then she Uh-huh being the petty bourgeoisie as you say Hits him over the head with a luxury item. Mm-hmm luxury alcohol luxury luxury booze. Yep. Opium in the masses Mm-hmm and then flings him out and then defenestrates him uh-huh Through the window over which she watchesestrates him. Uh-huh.

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I'm sorry Nata shows up at work having gone on a killing spree or not Frank. I'm sorry. Not a shows up at work having gone on a killing spree and Frank is like, I don't want nothing to do with you again the mind your business thing. Um, but then he shows up to give him a week's pay. He's like, okay, and now go find your go find a place to hide and don't ever come up for nothing. And I don't want to know you. Um, it's class solidarity through the efforts of violence. and don't ever come up for nothing. And I don't wanna know you. It's class solidarity through the efforts of violence because he's like, I just want you to put on these glasses. Like, I don't want nothing from you. And then they fight.

And they fight for a really long time. Yeah. Like, to the point where it's ridiculous. Yeah. On one level, you've got the bonding nature of violence, binding the working class together on another level. Yeah, on some levels, but also just the frenetic need for violence at the working class level to change things.

At the same time, it is a white man trying to open up a black man's eyes to who's really oppressing him. Yeah, it's kind of a kind of a problematic fish. Yeah. But at the end of it all, after beating the shit out of each other, suplexes, a belly-to-back souplex, and just a whole lot of knees to the groin. They both start to see the same hyper-reality through the same critical lens, a lens that shows both Nata and Frank that their democratically elected leaders in a capitalist system are hopelessly corrupt, complicit, and owned by those in charge. But literally through lenses. Oh yeah. Clear vision now, right?

Yeah. Now from there, the pace picks up quickly. I would say almost too quickly. I think it feels like they ran out of money or he spent too much time on exposition. Yeah. Frank and Nada meet back up with Gilbert. They go to a new meeting and they run back into Holly.

I thought I'd kill you. I thought I'd, I thought you did too. Hey, look, I really want to say something. Big explosion, deadly raid, teleportation, and now they're in the hidden place. They end up basically underground in LA. And I love a few quotes from the meeting because it's always the

background stuff that really just, you know, John Carpenter is really good at giving us exposition. Quote, good, the city's crawling with cops looking for us and most of the cops are human. They've been told that we're commies trying to bring down the government. And some of them are being recruited. Creatures are trading wealth, power. Like, yeah, no, I mean, it's, you know, nail meat head. Yeah, you know, yeah. Here Gilbert goes on. Most of us are, most of us just sell out right away Then all of a sudden we get promoted our bank accounts to get bigger We start buying new houses cars perfect, isn't it? We'll do anything to be rich

Then the bearded broadcaster chimes in as well look around the environment we live in carbon dioxide Flora carbons and methane have increased since 1958 the environment we live in. Carbon dioxide, fluorocarbons, and methane have increased since 1958. Earth is being acclimatized. They're turning our atmosphere into their atmosphere. And then we go back to Gilbert. So like these are talking in tandem. So you've got the guy in front of everybody who was helping the the poor's who is himself a worker who was putting Nada to work who, you know, who's doing all the revolutionary stuff, doing the work of the revolution, and then you've got the media piece too. You have the propaganda arm and you've got the working arm.

So back to the working arm, Gilbert. It's in our best interest, their free enterprises. The earth is just another developing planet, their third world. Then you go back to the broadcaster We are like natural resource to them to plead the planet move on to another they want benign indifference They want us drugged we could be pets we could be food But all we really are is livestock now we need an assault unit someone to hit them hard when the time comes We could be pets we could be food we could be

livestock someone to hit them hard when the time comes. We could be pets, we could be food, we could be livestock. Oh, it could be nuts. Sorry, I ticked back, it's ruined me. But yeah, I think that's, there's a statement about, Carpenter didn't use the term there, but it's a thing that's part of our parlance now is colonialism. Yeah.

Like huge. Yeah. And what was Lenin super against? Yeah. You know. And this is, we all need to rise up, right? And again, I just love the very beginning though. They think they've been told that we were commies trying to bring down the government

Hi, how you doing? We're just gonna wave this big red flag in front of this isn't even gonna be subtext anymore I'm just making it text how you doing there's like I mean there's the Jonathan Swift satire aspect of it Yeah, you know, then there's the point out the climate change aspect of it in 1988 because it was actually known science even back then There's the useful idiots. There's the genders like there's so much And so then they again they teleport to get away from the police raid and they're underground and and they end up at these hidden headquarters And I love these hidden headquarters. And I love these quotes too. So here is like the main ghoul talking to a ballroom filled with rich people and ghouls.

And he says quote, our projection show that by the year 2025, not only America, but the entire planet will be under the protection and the dominion of this power alliance. The gains have been substantial both for ourselves and for you, the human power elite, and in return the per capita income of each of you here tonight has grown in this year alone by an average of 39%. Wow. Do you know how much more money corporations have made in the last 39% Wow Do you know how much more money corporations have made in the last year? If you do a year, yeah right around the same number Nice Bang

I'm just gonna keep driving these nails right? I'm just gonna keep driving these nails, right? Yeah. And they run into the homeless guy from before that I talked about in the previous episode, the one who's complaining that the TV signal gets cut in on. Yeah. Now he's dressed up in a tuxedo. He's the one that had changed the channel before.

I don't wanna hear this guy, you know, get him off my TV. And now he's black tie Um, and he's fully endorsing the sellout Um, and as they pull guns on him after having him take them to the studio. Yeah, um, he says I thought you boys understood It's business. That's all it is. You still don't get it do you boys? There ain't no countries anymore. No more good guys. They're running the whole show. They own everything, the whole goddamn planet. They can do whatever they want. What's wrong with having it good for a change? And they're gonna let us have it good if we just help them.

They're going to leave us alone. Let us make some money. You can have a little taste of that good life, too. Now, I know you want it. Hell everybody does. You do your own, you do it to your own kind. What's the threat? We all sell out every day. Mine is well beyond the winning team. I mean, it's like you called central casting. Yeah. You know, you did. Yeah. I mean, it's not like you did. You did. did yeah, yeah So how is like what he says? Yeah, clearly set up as as the foil and What the the guy in charge said about everybody getting wealthier and then what Gilbert and the TV guy say As well as Roddy Piper's I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass Mother nature's a bitch and she just went into heat. That's another one of my favorites, which made no goddamn sense.

None. None. How is all of this not a critique of like, Reaganomics and Alex P. Keaton and trickle down in Wall Street, which came out just a year before? I find it hard to make a counter argument. Yeah, I mean, fundamentally. I think if you, yeah, I think if you, if you saw from the focus enough and you pay more attention

to the schlock. And, and I mean, yeah, there's a certain level of having to tune out the, the dialectic. Yeah, you know. Like you can't, it's inexcapable. Yeah. It's like trying to drink Sprite without tasting Lyman. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. Now I kind of want to Sprite. Kind of. I always liked it better than Seven Out. A little bit, yeah, now I kind of want to sprite kind of I always liked it better than seven out a little bit Yeah, anyway also how is this not a call to arms like literally for the workers of the world to unite Yeah, it's I mean right up. I mean, you know, Piper's been running around the whole time with guns with shooting with these guys. Yeah, yeah Piper's been running around the whole time with guns. With shooting these guys. With a shotgun. Yeah.

Yeah. And evidently, the aliens, as advanced as they are, don't have redundant backups and they don't have a propaganda arm in place to control what people briefly saw. And herein lies the joy of movies because he goes and he shoots the thing. With a tiny ass little gun, too, he shoots the only place that the signal's coming from and then suddenly everybody can see the ghouls. There's this wonderful reveal moment in the bar where he just starts to look and he's looking around because he doesn't realize it and then it keeps happening and then, hey

baby, what's the matter? And then credits. Okay. What's the matter and then credits? Okay, so so I just had a momentary nerd out Because I think I realized that doctor who may have May have may have bitten on on this. Oh, so in Matt Smith's tenure as as the doctor the beginning, what I said was the beginning of his second season as the doctor.

A new, a whole new alien enemy is introduced called the silence. And the trick about the silence is there are these huge kind of slender man looking aliens with big, misshapen-looking heads, are very pointy chins and very big rounded heads and you know gray alien look at eyes and and they're one of their tricks they're their biggest trick is if you see one of them, the moment you look away, they have a psychic defense that you look away and you forgot you saw them. Oh.

And so they can, they, there's a wonderful scene. It's kind of like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that somebody else's problem field. Yes, yeah. It is actually very much that and so they they there's there's this great great moment where And then I'm forgetting the actor's name, but Crowley from supernatural. Oh, okay. Yeah, that actor plays a CIA agent, an American CIA agent. The lawyer from...

That'll start a black to go. Yeah, he plays in a CIA agent, and this is all happening on Earth in the 60s around the time of the Apollo. Okay. And he winds up walking in on one of these aliens. And he's totally deadpan. He looks the alien says, are you armed? And the alien, you know, and it's you know,

hideous, semi-demonic alien voice laughs and says, we've been here since before you are kind of invented fire in the wheel. We have no need of weapons. And it's really important. He never takes his eyes off of it. Because he knows that if he looks away, he's going to forget it was there. Right. And one of the most effective horror things they've ever done on Dr. Who is from this series, where the main characters figure out every time we see one, we make a mark on ourselves. So when we look away and we forget, we're gonna see, oh,

shit, they're here. Smart. And so there's a couple of points where we're following a character and they go into a new room and there's like five hash marks on their arm that weren't there before. It's like, ooh, I mean, it's amazing. So anyway, he never takes his eyes off of the monster. Reaches into his jacket, pulls out a revolver, goes, welcome to America. Bam, bam, bam. Yeah. Yeah, and so but anyway, and the and spoilers by the way for this for the series, but it's been several years so they yeah Yeah, um, the doctor winds up rigging up

Uh gets gets a a you know gets video. It's a video recording of one of the aliens saying It's a video recording of one of the aliens saying, we rule your world. You know, the only way you could ever get rid of us would be for you to kill us on site. So he takes this recording and he sets up a signal repeater that broadcasts as part of the moon landing. And everybody's watching it. And there is a moment in a bar where everybody in the bar is watching the moon landing. And they see that. And they see that.

Right. And the other thing is these aliens are psychic. And so when it says kill us, everybody in the bar turns and there's like two of the silence in the bar. And they don't really have facial expressions, but you can see their shoulders start to cut a tight. Then they start shuffling backward and everybody in the bar just pick something up and moves on them. Oh wow. And yeah, that's like there we are. Yeah, you know, oh, that's great. Yeah.

So in 90 minutes, someone who knows very little about what's actually happening falls over backwards into success, thwarts a very unsophisticated set of plans with a single bullet. Yeah. And then he flips off the aliens as he dies. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Like you do. Yeah. Well, I mean, what else would you expect of a man who is there to liberate and impregnate as many women as possible. That's too bubblegum and kick ass. Right. Now, John Carpenter, who many claim to be a libertarian, I think is more of an anarchist. And there's that space where they overlap.

Yeah, yeah. He said plenty about this movie. So I can go right to the source. Okay. Quote, I quickly realized that everything we see on TV is designed to sell us something. It's all about wanting us to buy something. The only thing they want to do is take our money. It was a dream.

This reaches back to Baudre Lard since Carpenter shows us the reality, the real reality, as, quote, in black and white, it's as if the aliens have colorized us. That means, of course, that Ted Turner is really a monster from outer space. I find no way to argue with that. You know, yeah, I'm sure Jane Fonda would probably be able to tell us a couple of stories. Yeah, yeah. What's the matter, baby? That's that's awful. I feel a little bad for Jane Fonda. Um,

which I'm sure my father hearing me say that would be he'd have to make a podcast. Yeah, yeah, he'd be like, yeah, anyway. And by the way, if your dad is listening, if this is the first time he's listening, I would just point out that your son has done amazing work for the last 150 episodes. You've got some catching up to do, sir. Thank you. But so Carpenter casts the aliens as manipulative colonizers

who are never satisfied. Yeah. Or as he calls them studio executives. What? What? Not that he has strong opinions on that matter or anything. Funny you should say. So here's a quote to that effect. They want us to own all our businesses.

A universal executive asked me, where's the threat in that? Or no, they want to own our businesses. I'm sorry. A universal executive asked me, where's the threat in that? We all sell out every day. I ended up using that line in the film. Wow. And here's the thing about this movie. Casting Roddy Piper was central to the message of the movie. The authenticity gets a shot in the arm with Roderick Tooms. Because I want you to realize his real name is Roderick Tooms. Yeah. Everybody knows him as Roddy Piper who plays the character, Roddy Piper, in wrestling, which is a hyper reality in and of itself. Yes.

Because wrestling is a work. We're getting really meta here. Right. So you want to talk about authenticity. You've hired a wrestler to play a part, right? Now because I do want to talk authenticity, though I want to look at how Roddy Piper grew up or Roderick Tum and how he wrestled.

So, Roder Tum's father was a bull for the Canadian Northern Railway, or National Railway, and I say a bull. So, he basically, again, start the movie off how? There's a train. Yeah. And there's police brutality. There we go.

Roddy was born and partially raised in Winnipeg. Okay. Uh, I'm not sure if he saw Kevin and Winnie having strap on sex. Um, it's a wonder yours, joke folks. But if you think about when Roddy grew up, he was born, I believe in 1954 or 52. So he would have been a teenager right when Kevin and Winnie were caught pegging. Yeah. Yes.

Good evening. So that one, that legitimately that hurt that was that that I'm I'm gonna need brain bleach for that one. So he wasn't an easy kid by any account and he once got expelled from junior high at which point he ran away and was living largely in youth hostels which existed there. Yeah. And he picked up odd jobs. He was a homeless youth who bounced from spot to spot, getting bullied in and out of

school. He was scrawny at the time. Now, take this with a grain of salt because it is... It is his version of the story. But his story has also never changed much. No, he's added details about like, well, I'll tell you in a second, the bullying was so bad when he was young

that he opted to walk home while living in Saskatoon, walking home along the tree line instead of on the road because the kids would bully him on the road and he didn't want to get bullied so he walked on the tree line. That carries with it a special danger because that's where the wolves like to snack. Again, it's Roddy Piper. Oh, okay.

But he's talking about getting bullied not like that. Yeah. And then I talked my way out of this or whatever. No. Yeah. So somehow he ends up getting taken in by a bagpiper group. Okay. I couldn't figure out how. I don't know. But he got a he got decent at playing the bagpipes. He legit did it. Summer slam of 92. He played Scotland the brave

um in in Wembley Stadium. Nice. With a bunch of other Pipers which by the I was dating a gal briefly and I wanted to show her what I loved about wrestling but she was also very into her Scottish heritage and so I was like oh perfect here watch and then I was like yeah and she's like oh my god he's doing a really job I'm like right I said I don't know what that song is she

looked at me she's like you're joking I was like no I actually don't I have no idea she's like that's you're joking. I was like, no, I actually don't. I have no idea. I was like, that's literally Scotland the Brave. I was like, oh, that's Scotland the Brave. Yes. So that didn't last long. No. But it was a good attempt.

Yeah. Yeah. So he got to be good as a bagpiper. Now, when he was 15, he starts picking up odd jobs for wrestlers. Under Al Tomco, who was promoting the AWA out of Winnipeg, and you might remember that the AWA was one of the largest midwestern territories it was. It bumps up to Calgary.

Well, it doesn't get into Calgary, but it bumps up to that territory, which is run by Stu Hart. So Al Tomco is promoting the AWA on behalf of Verne Gagne, who's doing it out of Minnesota. Now this keeps Piper in the AWA loop which stretches from Manitoba down to Colorado and from Colorado over to Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Oh Jesus. Yeah. Now in fairness, it's only like six cities out of a place that only has seven. Yeah. But it's also like well over a thousand miles.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. So while he was there, he had his first professional match in a major promotion at the age of 15. No kidding. Yeah. He was squashed in 10 seconds by Larry the X Henning. You might know Larry Henning as the father of Mr. Perfect Kurt Henning. Okay. I recognize the last name Henning. We've been doing this long enough. I recognize the last name Henning. Now he continues on in a AWA as a jobber.

Jobber is one who loses to enhance other talent and he works his way as a jobber, down to Dallas, down to Houston, and over to the Maritimes. So he will make your guys look good. You want to have him on as an enhancement talent. Now, it's not until he gets to LA under what was then known as NWA Hollywood Wrestling,

as well as NWA San Francisco, then he actually develops into a wrestler who did more than just job. Now, Roddy Piper was scrawny, he was scrappy, and he was really good at becoming a heel. And he relied largely on ethnic insults to get under the skin of various audiences. So wherever he was, he'd find, okay, what's one of the largest minorities? I'm gonna make fun of them. Okay.

Now in fairness, this is the 1970s. He's a very undereducated person who grew up with a hard life and he also grew up in Winnipeg. Yeah. You know, there's very few success stories grew up in Winnipeg. Yeah. You know, there's very few success stories coming out of Winnipeg. This is true. Neil Diamond being the most among them maybe.

Okay. And maybe Chris Jericho. Okay. So. But he was quick-witted, but again, he was scrawny, right? So he could take a beating. Okay. So he wouldn't shut up, he wouldn't shut up, he wouldn't shut up,

he wouldn't shut up, and then the good guy would finally beat the shit out of him. And as a terrific heal, he also very rarely ever lost. So he'd take a beating and then he'd escape. Oh, passing people off, making them wanna come back. And as a result, he'd always leave when he was on top, and then he'd go to the next place and then when he'd come back,

they're still mad than wanting to get it, see him get his ass kicked. So he goes up to the Portland for the Pacific Northwest territory in the late 1970s and he actually worked so well up there that he was really, really loyal to Don Owen, I think. Was it Don Owen? Sounds about right. Really loyal to the promo, I think. Was it Don Owen? Sounds about right.

Really loyal to the promo, but promoter up there. Anytime WWF would go through there, Roddy would take himself off the tour. Oh really? Yeah, he's like, I'm not gonna work against this guy because he did such a good job taking care of me. Oh, that was up there. Yeah, so he basically spent from the late

70s up into the early 80s in the mid Atlantic Georgia area as well. Okay. And at one point he goes up to the WWF. This is when Vince senior still owned it right for a cup of coffee with Finns McMahon senior But the old guy is up there specifically Freddie Blassy and Arnold Scotland They stuff toilet paper down his backpipes so he was unable to play and this is in Madison Square Garden So he gets out there and he can't play It really clearly affected him like if you watch interviews and him talking about that He is a vulnerable and hurt person when he talks about it. Oh wow. Yeah, he is a, he, I mean, the dude never had therapy.

It's obvious, you know, but like he's got some like, really open wounds and he's just like, man, why did they have to do that? And like, I mean, he's really domed. Oh wow, okay. After that, he left. He's like, fuck it. Now this seems to have, like I said,

genuinely heard his feelings. And he was, I just mentioned the interview where he said, he said, you know, why they do that, man. They didn't have to do that. He turned face in Georgia, gaining a tremendous following, which culminated in that dog collar match. Right, right.

Now we're full circle back. Yeah. Now, he spent, Roddy Piper spent most of his life as a wounded, scrappy, sensitive, and vicious mouthed wrestler. He could talk with the best of them. He was seen by many as the greatest heal of all time, and he could also hold his own against the toughest of them. And ultimately, he rarely ever lost. And he was not a very trusting man either. But he was loyal to those who were good to him. Like I said, when he went up to North West, he wouldn't, he would stay home when the WWF would go into Don Owen's territory because he didn't want to betray Don Owen. Yeah. Once he stopped being a jobber, the amount of times that he

job clean on TV was probably fewer than 20 times from 1983 to 2012. And when he did, it was to people that he trusted and respected. For instance, my favorite matchable time was WrestleMania eight. Okay. Him against Brett Hart. He jobbed clean to Brett Hart. Now, given all of this, think about the character John Nada. He was a wounded vagabond counting only on himself and out of his depth the entire time. Okay. He comes in with his own tools. He's polite and he ultimately doesn't know what he's getting himself into. Yeah.

But that doesn't stop him from getting into it. Now, as usual, satire, no matter how ham-fisted and this is one of the hamiest of fists ends up getting lost over generations rule number two. Yeah right originally there was a street art group called Andre the Giant has a posse. Right and it was headed by a guy named shepherd fairy and its main logo was Andre the Giant's face with the word obey and block letters below it. Oh yeah, seeing those stickers everywhere. They're usually on the back of,

I think, a one-way turn sign or something, yeah. Frank Shepherd Fairy, while in college, made it paper and vinyl stickers with an image of Andre the Giant and his build height and weight in the background. They started plastering it all over Rhode Island starting in 1989 and it caught on quickly. The text said Andre the Giant has a posse because Titan Sports threatened to lawsuit Titan Sports as WWF.

He stopped using Andre's name. And then he reduced the image to just Andre's facial features with the word Obey and Big Block Letters underneath. That's what we saw out down the West Coast. Ferries' reduction of the stenciled text heavy sticker down to a very simple design and a single word was at once a massive parody of propaganda and a direct callback to they live. It definitely had some do-shomp vibes to it. Yeah. It definitely had some do-shomp vibes to it. Being ironic and conceptual in its criticism of political and aesthetic art of the past,

what I get a kick out of is how commercialized and parody this has become. Obey became a clothing brand under Ferries' direction, starting in 2001, and the design itself was massively popularized by the Obama campaign in 2008, which was the first to successfully utilize social media. And I believe it was actually the first to raise a billion dollars as a campaign as well. I think so. In many ways, the Red Sox became the Yankees with this. Yeah. Uh, the counter-culture becomes the media culture. Ferry starts going after other users or other artists for using his art, threatening to sue due to trademark infringement.

Mm-hmm. And yet, he continues to use his brand to fund and promote anti-corporate aesthetics. Yeah. Now, I'm not here to play Gacha on his brand. Good for him if it's all true, and I do think people have a right to their intellectual property. But if it's, if it, it is more the corporatization of Obey as the brand that my students mindlessly bought for years into the 2010s to show their allegiance to counterculture iconography and all wear

the same shirt. Yeah. That'll take us. Well, either that one or Shagavaris portrait. Yeah. Which you can buy at Target. Right. Like, wait.

Yeah. Hold on. Like, I mean, I recognize that I'm the token conservative here, but even I you know, you got to admit that that's that's come on Yeah, who won that like who won there? Yeah, who really won there now John Carpenter himself is also an interesting wrinkle He has tremendous anti-authority streak in him And I can chalk some of that up to the fact that he grew up as the son of an academic in Tintucky And I can chalk some of that up to the fact that he grew up as the son of an academic in Tintucky You both have the democratizing impact of academics and the borderland mentality at play going on there

One could classify him as being a libertarian, but I think that that's kind of a lot lazy gotcha type stuff I think he's a wealthy man who wants to do what he wants, but he also sees the need for social safety nets and the like yeah He seriously had a hard on against Ronald Reagan. And just about, I really, oh, turgid. Good use of that word. Good use of that word.

In just about every interview I read about they live, Carpenter said it was an anti-Ragan movie. Well, yeah. Yeah, but I mean, I mean, you know, it's a new morning in America. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. That's not just like I'm using like we've talked so many times about like movies that accidentally became a thing. No, he set out to do this thing. Now, I do think that it was only incidentally Marxist, because it was pulling on those threads the hardest. I don't think he was going for Marxism on purpose. I think he slipped and fell and pulled Marxism into it.

I think, yeah, so if I'm interpreting what you're saying, right? He was hitting all of the targets that a Marxist would hit. Yes. And his, he didn't care so much about capitalism or colonialism or whatever as the enemy. He was focused on Ronnie fucking Raygun. Him, he's a prick. Yes. And everybody with him in his, you know, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, is well described in fascism.

The rise of fascism. Oh, you're American. American fascism, yes. Yeah. You know, reading through that, you know, Reagan courted the religious right, and then kind of did an important for him. Right.

You know, because he was much more interested in the hyper capitalist anti-Kami. Yes with the exception of his willful... Ignoring these questions. Yes, his willful ignorance of HIV, I think is the closest thing you can find to him doing anything that was in line with the kind of the evangelical evangelical, you know kind of agenda. Yeah, but You know other than that he was he was an economic conservative

Primarily, yeah, we'd say an anti-communist, well, rightist. Yes. You know, as opposed to a social conservative. Yes. Yes. And, you know, his pet projects were not their pet projects. Right. So because he was so focused on cutting taxes breaking unions and making corporate interests happy

That means that attacking him is attacking Late-stage capitalism because that was his identity. Yes, I agree fully politically policy-wise That was his hope that was everything he was. There wasn't any other part, there wasn't anything else in the suit. And so, yeah, you kind of, when you punch hard enough, you don't just break the nose,

you hit all the pulpy stuff behind it. Yeah. And that's kind of what happened here. Yeah, I think that he incidentally, hit all the pulpy stuff behind it. Yeah. And that's kind of what happened here. Yeah. Yeah, I think that he incidentally hits all the targets that Marxists are hitting. When you punch Reagan so hard in the teeth that you actually, you know, not Adam Smith mullers out.

You know. I think that John Carpenter doesn't trust any authority beyond his own, though. Which is another thing he said almost by wrote, which is him telling on himself as being another John Millius. But an anti-Ragan John Millius. But an anti-Ragan John Millius who's not nearly the same level of prick. No, that's true. But it's like, we talk about Joe Millius now,

after talking about Conan, I feel, yeah. No, no, no. Millius, Millius is a jerk. Yeah, true, true. Well, Millius, I think they have the same streak in them of don't tell me what to do. Yes. It's just that Millius goes a different direction with it. Yeah. And I think a lot of

people attract John Carpenter to that in their minds because they have so many examples of guys that talk like that who end up being rightist libertarians. Yeah. And I think, you know, he gets tagged as a libertarian more often than not because libertarians see his anti-authority as anti-authority except for his own and they're like, yeah, I want to be in charge too. So libertarians are telling on themselves saying basically they want to be dictators. But the speeches that John Carpenter gives to the people by how do you put projection? Yeah, I mean, you know, he's telling John, John Nada, he's got people telling John Nada all the exposition that there is.

That's him writing things. And it's clearly those are silk screens of communist revolutionaries. Oh, yeah. You know? Well, yeah. And he's not a libertarian, at least not now. In a 2020 interview with Esquire, he was pretty clear when talking about the remaining Koch brother.

He said, I can't wait to hear this. Quote, the philosophy is pretty easy to understand. It all comes back to money. It's about being rich. It's about getting rich. Yeah. He's also not shy about pointing out the faults of Reaganomics linking it clearly to Trumpism.

Quote, I don't know what to say about the president. It's horrifying to me. I made they live back in 1988 and nothing has changed. Reaganomics has continued to flourish. The problem is unrestrained capitalism. It's worshiped and adored by everyone here. It's unbelievable and I'm scared. I'm just scared of the future.

Wow. I mean, Alan Moore said something very similar in 1983. Yeah. Yeah. He also really enjoyed the use of his films iconography too. Do you remember when Ivanka was holding up a can of Goya beans? Oh, yeah. Right, which is hella illegal.

By the way. Yeah, massively fucking illegal. Now first off, it's also really funny for her to hold up on a can of Goya beans, considering the man she's married to is a man from a modern orthodox Jewish family. Yeah. Goya. Go ahead. Go ahead. But secondly, remember that someone changed it so that she looked like they live ghoul,

and the can said consume. Oh, yeah, I remember that. It was nicely done. Yeah. Now, as the son of academic, he has an appreciation for expertise as well. Quote, but in the United States, there's always been a cult of ignorance, somehow it's in our nature. Some people believe that ignorance is just as good

as expertise, and it's not true, but maybe it seems like freedom. Now, the interviewer went on to state that, quote, parallel to Trump's ascension, we've seen a rise in right-wing extremism, as well as a rise in right-wing conspiracy theories and those golebul enough to believe him. Carpenter's only answer to that phrase, to everything that the interviewer just said, was, oh Lord, yeah. Well, like, what else do you say? Right. To that. Right. Yeah, I got nothing else. Yeah, like yes, all of that, you know. So finally there's also the problem that occurs with satire and art and that is our corollary, a generation later, it becomes prescient. And honestly a generation later, the very people you were trying to roast think, yeah, that's exactly

what my ideology is. It's like see what is not actually good dumb fuck that was supposed to be the bad guy saying that what yeah and and and the Imperium is supposed to be an over the top dark joke right you know like like God Emperor anybody is a bad idea right so no so no the the neo-nazis yeah watch they live and we're like yeah, it's Jews. Oh blood libel. Fuck me really? And in 2017 John Carpenter went out and addressed this shit and He said he's looking at neo-nazis taking on his iconography and taking the meaning and saying oh yeah This is this backs the Jewish world conspiracy bullshit And if you're lazy and you're not actually looking at the actual art or listening to the actual lyrics of the song I can see how you could get there. Yeah, like like did you not listen to the fucking dialogue?

Right, like the diet tried to die. Yeah, it's not even, yeah, there you go. Did you listen to the screenwriters rant? Right. No. No. From literally every fucking character. All they did was they looked, they're like, well, there's hidden forces that look like us who are always in the upper classes and always try to keep us real Americans from seeing

the truth. And he goes into a bank because you know those are controlled by and they control the media and that's all that shit. So okay. Someday I want to find one of these charcoal fox. I don't. Well hear me out. Okay. Like I'm not I'm not saying I want to I want to find them to you know socialize. But I want to I want to find one of these charcoal fox. I want to sit him down and I want to find them to socialize. But I want to find one of these chocolate foxes. I want to sit him down and I want to say, have you actually ever looked at

what the Jewish immigrant experience in the United States was like literally forever? Well, see, I think they could do is like, they could point to like the BIPOC characters in this and be like, see, I'm not racist. I'm just pointing out the clear truth that the Jews are behind it all. I know, I understand, but I'm getting to a deeper issue here, which is if you bother to actually look at what the experience of Jewish people literally, literally anywhere in the world has been historically. You realize that the idea that there a cabal running everything is a load of horse shit.

It's the only way that you can keep believing that is is by saying that they're a cabal running everything They want you to think that they're weak you see Okay, that's that weird ask is yeah, that bizarre bizarre internal Ancestral yeah, like Antifa, you know is you know We're gonna if the civil wherever starts where we gonna, we're gonna beat those leftist liberals. Right. You know, with their hands behind her back, but oh my god, Antifa is terrifying. Yeah.

Like, fucking pick one. Yeah, please. Also, just because I'm in the middle of a rant and I see no reason to stop. If your Antifa, you're fat. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and, like, that's the fact it out the anti. Yeah. And so, and, and, and congratulations. You just made yourself a punching target. Yeah. Congratulations.

Anyway, it's everything that I mentioned before. And people could easily bend it to their anti-Semitism. They would be fully wrong in doing so. And if this podcast isn't enough to convince someone that it's inherently not anti-Semitic as a movie, John Carpenter went on Twitter. And he said, quote, they live is about Yuppies and unrestrained capitalism. It has nothing to do with Jewish control of the world, which is slander and a lie. Nice. He also responded further in his interview. He said, quote, yeah, I think these groups, groups are ridiculous.

I'm not sure when it started. I have no idea what the origin of that was. I know a lot of stuff started percolating after 9-11. Hmm. QAnon is just the old World War II conspiracy against the Jews being recycled. These QAnon people have no imagination. End quote. So at the end of it all, Roddy Piper showing up as a nameless hero in a rich town unable

to find work despite having his own tools, being shown a new lens through which to examine the world around him, fighting media... Dialectic materialism. Mm-hmm. Fighting a media complex, a rich and powerful people until it kills him, in the hopes that everyone wakes up to the truth that he sees in a hyper reality is Ipsophacto, a Marxist polemic against capitalism, QED.

There you go. And we even managed to kind of get in the usual thing that happens, which is, well, it's a Marxist polemic, but he wasn't actually trying to write one. Yeah. Well, that's rule number one. Yeah, it's an allegory, but they didn't try to write one.

So true. It's a statement about 9-ory, but they didn't try to write one. So true. It's a statement about 9.11, but they weren't trying to write one. Exactly. I know. Yeah. Yeah, I will not ever be able to watch any portion of that film without hearing parts of it delivered in a late 19th century German accent, ever again, because, you know, marks, like,

you know, I'm gonna look around and go, okay, how many beards do I see? Right. Like, yeah. Oh, yeah, he's got kind of, he's got the hair going. I call. There's a guy walking with a mullet in a guitar. Yeah

Nice. Thanks. So anyway, Carl. So what have you gleaned? Well, I have I have gleaned first and foremost that neonates fucking morons um and and, you know, that it really is disheartening, that is spiritually counter to hatred, bigotry, colonialism, racism, I mean, pick one. Yeah. And racist assholes, conspiracy theory assholes, who are usually like, you know, the Venn diagram is a perfect circle.

Mm-hmm. I always leads back to the Jews control everything. Yeah, it's always, like, fucking always. Like come up with something original. Mm-hmm. You know, yeah, nobody ever, nobody ever comes back around to, no, no,

it's the French. Right? Yeah. Nobody ever comes around to... It's always a Rothschild to never the Vanderbilt. Yeah. You know? Yeah, yeah.

The Dutch. Never comes around to bloody Dutch. Right. Well, if it does, it's a Dutch Jew. Yeah. Well well yes so but yeah you know Nobody nobody ever ever tries to come up with you know theories of of how You know the the first natives of North America were actually you know African right you know

It's always trying to find some some racist idea that they were Aryans. Right. Yeah. You know, bullshit. Like, come up with something original. Like, if you're going to believe in fanciful shit, like come up with a fancy. Mm-hmm. For God's sake. Um, and it's just it's it's annoying that no matter how, again, hitting the nail on the head, you can be with what you're trying to say, some idiot chuckle fuck with a red arm band is going to wind up finding a way to make it fit their racist ideology. And I don't know how much that has to do with just the nature of media and-

I think it has to do with madness. Meta anything, you know? And how much it actually has to do with the mindset of those kinds of people, which I think is also a factor. I don't know where the where the where the split is if it's like, you know, 70, 30, 60, 40, you know, but you know, it's it's also the other the other thought that occurs to me is the way most critics look at they live is not with any kind of scholarly, let's look at the ideology kind of viewpoint. Most of the time they live is lumped into the same category as Hell Comes to Frogtown. Right.

You know, well, you know, it's Rady, Rady Piper. He's a wrestler, how seriously he's going to take this. And it's like, well, okay, here's the deal. It's a rant. Like the movie is an extended rant. It really is. But it's a rant given by a guy whose father was an academic. You know, and so, you know, it's a rant given by a college professor.

So maybe there might actually be some intellectual meat on that bone. Mm-hmm. And, and we in the media landscape, I think there is a lot of focus given to the trappings within a given medium or within a given piece of media where well this just looks shlocky. It's an aliens movie. Right. It's a comic book. It's a comic book. It's a cartoon. It's a comic book. It's a cartoon. It's a ghettoization.

Yeah, and yeah, that's the best way to put it. And so, and awful lot of stuff, and this is a case of it, I think, and awful lot of stuff with genuine intellectual philosophical merit gets overlooked. Yeah. Because, you know, it's a big-grade action flick with horror overtones. And yeah. Yeah. I would agree. Yeah. It is once has the freedom to make these points very, very clearly. One might say zealousy. Yes.

And at the same time, it has that freedom, but it also has the constraint that no one's going to take it seriously. Yeah. Well, that's, I know I've talked about it before, William Gibson talking about science fiction as a genre being the court jester That's right of literature that it's like we can we can say things and point things out that nobody else can get away with saying Because well, you know, it's just the court jester exactly But at the same time while he knows just the court jester, what does he know? Right. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's

you can, you can absolutely hide the truth. Yeah, in something that no one's going to pay attention to. Or in order that they're not going to take seriously. Right. It's, it's like purposely creating extra Cassandra's. Yeah. You know, so, what do you readin'? Right now, I'm not reading much of anything, kind of still, sadly.

So how about you? Want you to give a look at IBM and the Holocaust, but Edwin Black. The strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America's most powerful corporation expanded edition. Specifically, get the expanded edition because there's some extra stuff toward the back. There's a lot of documents and pictures that previously had not been published. Oh, wow. So don't go for the old one, don't go for the hard cover, go for the paperback.

But it's a good book. I mean, it's up there with Hitler's willing executioners by Andrew Goldsworthy. Okay. The difference is this ties it very much to American corporations and their complicity in it, which businessmen strike that makes a lot of sense, especially with Prescott Bush holding all the money. Yeah. But the golds were the book, the Hitler's willing

executioner is a very, very good book. You got to be in a certain mindset for that one. This one you can kind of get away with not having to be fully present in your heart, just in your brain, or the other one you got to be fully present in your heart too. Oh wow. But honestly, as a companion set,

they're both really, really good to read. Like back to back, I think it's really, really good read. Okay. Excellent. That would be a my recommendation. Where can people find you in the social medias? In social media is on Twitter, I'm eHBlalock. On the tiki talk, I am Mr. underscore Blalock on Instagram.

I'm just Mr. Blalock, in one word. Where can they find you? Let's see, this is gonna drop in March. So on April 1st, you can find me at Luna's trying, we had to cancel three of them because of variants and stuff, but I think we're gonna go ahead and make a go of it for the April one, because I'm just gonna continue to drop. Fingers crossed. Yeah, well, you gotta got to bring your goddamn mask

and proof of vaccination. Okay. But I'll be at Luna's doing comedy with my comedy group, Capital Punishment. The long-awaited and much delayed return to the stage. Nice. You can also find me on Insta and Twitter with Harmony or on TikTok with Harmony 1. Cool, yeah, that should be enough.

But, all right. And corporately, where can they find us? Collectively. I'm gonna say collectively. Yeah, good good. Rather than corporately, collectively, we can be found at Geek History of Time on Twitter. And www.GeekHistoryOfTime.com online. And of course, if you're listening to us, you've already found us on some podcast service or another. But we can be found on Stitcher and on Apple Podcast. Yeah. So wherever it is that you have found us, please subscribe. Please give us the five

stars that you know we have earned or rather give them to us in accordance with our need. uh... in accordance with our need uh... please uh... and yeah that's that's pretty much that's it that'll do that'll do all right well for a key case of time i'm deemian harmony

and i'm at playlock and until next time keep rolling twenties you