Senseless Violence

Several months ago, Alex introduced the film They Live to my household. In the movie, the protagonist, Nada, discovers a magical pair of sunglasses that enables him to see that grotesque aliens are disguising themselves as humans and slowly taking over the world through advertising and corporate control. Granted, it’s ridiculous in concept, but it’s a unique way to critique capitalism, I suppose. They Live was a moderate success in the late 80s and a cult classic today, still remembered by some for the infamous lines “Life’s a bitch and she’s back in heat” and “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.. and I’m all out of bubblegum.”

While the quotes are great, They Live’s exaggeratedly long fight sequence is the most memorable aspect of all. I’m not generally a fan of even theatrical violence, but this scene is so over-the-top that it is difficult to resist laughing as they continuously beat each other silly over the act of trying on sunglasses.

If someone wanted me to put on a pair of sunglasses at any cost, I think I’d relent much sooner. In turn, I think if someone was that distrusting of my simple request to try on glasses, I wouldn’t choose them to assist me in a fight against alien domination.

In researching this scene, I learned that South Park had parodied it an episode. Immediately, I realized it must have been the controversial “Cripple Fight” in which two disabled individuals have an equally pointless out and out bout. If you’ve seen this particular episode, you’ve never forgotten it, as it is shocking and offensive. And while it now makes a little more sense given that it had some sort of inspiration, I don’t want to excuse it entirely. Below, someone spliced both clips to demonstrate their closeness.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice that South Park uses some audio straight from the movie.

As much as I don’t want to be involved in a physical altercation anytime soon, I hope that if one were to occur it would play out like this one.