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maxwell-grant · 2 years ago

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So yesterday was my birthday and I invited a friend over to watch some movies we’d been each putting off. He showed me They Live, which I’d somehow never seen, for the first time, and I repaid the favor by breaking his brain with Speed Racer and letting him see how everyone ever was 100% wrong about that movie at release and it is in fact the best thing ever, but in regards to They Live:

I expected a good time and had a really great one. I knew about it’s central alien allegory, and how it’s been co-opted by anti-semitic memes and right-wingers who think they’re being cute. I knew it inspired dialogue in Duke Nukem, I knew it was a John Carpenter film starring Roddy Piper with Keith David in it, and that was it. I was blissfully unaware of everything else, including the fact that it somehow winds up being a spiritual successor of “The Challenge of the Beyond”, the pulp writer round robin exercise nowadays most famous for it’s H.P Lovecraft - Robert E.Howard parts.

There’s a post on it that floats around regularly and I’ll link here for better explanation, but in short: Lovecraft’s section of this story had the protagonist George faint from terror constantly and go mad after turning into a giant alien centipede, which was followed by Robert E.Howard immediately retconning said madness in his opening line and having the character embrace his new life as a horrid centipede beast in a new planet and go on a conquering rampage of “titanic adventure” as George the Centipede Barbarian. I bring up George the Centipede Barbarian not because it’s funny, but because They Live intentionally pulled off a very similar kind of brutal tonal dissonance.

They Live is very comparable to The Thing in the sense that it is a 50s concept told through 80s filmmaking and distorted accordingly, to the extent that the black and white parts are not just colored differently, but shot differently from the rest of the film in a way that’s far more reminiscent of 50s horror films. Our protagonist is an 80s meathead cowboy who lives in a struggling urban landscape with mysteries and horrors he never quite understood but continue to plague him and those around him, and he has a moment of truth when he puts on magical sunglasses and finds out that he’s been living in a Twilight Zone episode the whole time, and so has everyone. The black and white allegorical terrors won and have been running everything all along, and that is the point the episode should end with our protagonist horrified and broken, “wouldn’t that be fucked up / doesn’t this remind you of something / these horrors are real” message conveyed, episode over.

Except our protagonist is an 80s meathead cowboy, so instead of surrendering to the horrors after finding out everything is a monstrous lie, he fights back with a shotgun and a bag of one-liners. Dude just immediately, like not even 10 minutes after he first puts on the glasses, starts blasting alien cops and bankers and spaceships. I really did not think that “bubblegum” one-liner happened that early in the movie. This dissonance would have been wonderful regardless but it helps that it’s done so intentionally.

I really didn’t expect that the movie was this 100% completely blatantly unsubtle about the true nature of the alien ghouls as bloodsucking capitalists. It’s not some veiled allegory that can be left to interpretation, the movie tells you repeteadly and explicitly what it is about. The film tells you that the aliens are weaponizing communist paranoia to gain control over cops, preceding a line “We'll do anything to be rich” and then a description of them as “They are free enterprisers. Earth is just another developing planet, their third world” is actual dialogue from the film and that’s just before we learn the aliens all wear expensive watches, that most of the cops going around brutally gunning down the resistance are humans who sold out, and get scenes of the aliens and humans standing around in suits congratulating each other on profit margins. I don’t meant this as an insult but it’s frankly cartoonish in how unsubtle it is, it’s insulting that John Carpenter even had to set the record straight with Yes This Was About Capitalism and Reagan and Yuppie Bloodsuckers You Stupid Fucks like the movie isn’t hammering the point constantly.

If you haven’t watched it, did anyone ever tell you that the inciting incident of the movie is the protagonist being radicalized by police brutality? Yeah, funny, nobody ever talks about what happens in the movie before George puts on the sunglasses. The first 20 or so minutes are about the protagonist, George Nada, arriving in the city and struggling to find a job or place to stay and being offered one by Keith David’s character Frank, who takes him to a homeless community. They have a handful of dialogues together where Frank repeteadly expresses a cynical viewpoint towards life under You-Know-What, over opportunities turning into traps and steel mills giving themselves raises by screwing workers over, and George brushes him off stating he still believes in America, he still believes in getting a fair shot.

George is quickly and immediately reduced to horrified bystander as the police storms his community and destroys their church and goes around beating up them up and evicting tents by bulldozer, while George runs around trying to help and save at least one of them. The next time we see him, he puts on the sunglasses and learns the awful truth and starts his rampage (framed in no uncertain terms as an act of revolution) by doing, what else, shooting cops. Or, well, aliens who approach him as cops and tell him that, now that he sees them, they can work out a deal to profit together if he just goes quietly. The movie makes it as obvious as it could possibly make it.

So yeah, watch They Live, it’s Duke Nukem vs The Twilight Zone’s Episode on Capitalism (with Extended “Guys Being Dudes” Action, I’m glad I didn’t know about that alleyway fight scene beforehand). Also watch Speed Racer, it’s glorious, and it has the exact same villains. Had a really great time yesterday with both.

#they live #film #John Carpenter #roddy piper #keith david #everyone who told me this movie was ambiguous was full of shit #I do wish it was a little more clearly against Othering since that might have prevented it's unfortunate legacy #but you can't blame Carpenter for underestimating how deeply stupid anti-semitists are #it's mostly sad but still funny that american right wingers keep using this movie for their memes #my dudes this movie couldn't possibly be more about you #yes it draws a line between aliens and sellout humans and yes it's more specifically about #unrestrained Reagan capitalism #but come on #the aliens are red white and blue ghouls who treat the world the way America treats the rest of the world #the movie is pointing at you and saying you ruined everything and you deserve to be shot #Avatar wishes it could be this potent as a criticism

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some-pers0n · 2 years ago

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i watched emesis blue, very good, please ramble about it to me

You watched it??? That's so cool!! I'm so glad I was able to infect you and harass you into watching it by reblogging every single thing even tangentially related to it.

So, for the rambling part. Yeah. I'll probably just say first and foremost that Emesis Blue is probably my favourite thing to come out of this fandom. I can barely even begin to describe my love for this movie. It's something I wish goes down not just in TF2 history, but fandom in general as an example of how great fan content can be. It takes the mercs and throws them into a situation that I can only describe as 'nightmarish'.

That's another thing too. I remember once seeing a person describe the movie as a nightmare. I can't honestly think of a better description. It radiates this nonstop uneasiness and dread. No joke, the entire time I watched it I had this constant feeling of pressure in my chest. Even just thinking about Emesis Blue or the scenes in it brings it back. It's harder to breathe and I'm more alert.

I'm a horror enjoyer. I love horror. I've consumed a lot of horror.

Never has a piece of media created a feeling like that for me. The only thing that comes close is 'The Descent', which uses a similar tactic of darkness and constant dread.

But, if I go on more, I'll dip into spoiler territory. I cannot say it enough that watching this movie blind is the best experience. So, yeah. If by some means you haven't watched Emesis Blue, please do it. I know it's a horror movie and not a lot of people are into those, but I can't stress just how good it is. Please. It's free. You can watch it right now on YouYube.

Also, quick note. I was rewatching the movie while writing this and found your comment. Epic. My thoughts exactly as well.

So, let's start with me admitting something: I have not a single idea as to what's happening. I need a hour long story breakdown of this movie.

But, I can try to piece things together. In order to lay the groundwork. I could be wrong about several things, but this is how I think it goes.

Helix Technologies created the respawn machine. Jules Archibald sold it to both Redmond and Blutarch to play both sides of the war. However, the respawn machine is pretty bad and has the tendency to breakdown and cause the person it resurrects to come out...well, broken.

Scout (Jeremy) was one of these victims. The Medic (Fritz Ludwig) helps him out and around, even prescribing him these pills called 'Valium' (spoiler: they're actually the evil bad pills made by a sister company of Helix Technologies).

Medic is...not doing so hot, might I add. Because of some event, he's been prescribing himself the Valium. Though, he's haunted by hallucinations and whatnot. There's a theory that Medic was the one who killed Scout's mother, linking how the movie on the TV, 'M', is about a German murderer and how the director of the film's first name is 'Frtiz'.

Being honest? I thought from the start that Medic being the killer was a possibility, but refused to believe it if only because I thought it was obvious. M = Medic was my train of thought.

Anywho, something happens to Scout and Medic tosses himself into danger to try and save him.

Meanwhile, Soldier (Jane Doe) and Spy are on a mission to find Archibald since he's been kidnapped. Actually, the ploy was to have Archibald be faked kidnapped so that he wouldn't suffer the consequences from how the respawn machine is terrible, but we don't know that yet. They investigate the crime scene of Scout's mother and are led to Medic's office, where they eventually learn they need to go to the Conaghers.

Blah blah blah, the movie happens. Medic is having a bad time. Soldier meets up with the RED Demo (Cyclops as he's called here) and Spy has a funny little run-in with a Pyro and gets horribly burned in the process of escaping them. They all eventually meet up again after suffering through unprecedented amounts of horrific shit and play a nice round of Russian Roulette. Medic dies. Oh and also Archibald is dead because Spy figured out the ruse behind his plan.

They host a funeral for Archibald and Soldier is about to kill himself and the others with a grenade before Medic pops out and shoots Spy. He then goes on a wacky little killing spree and hops into an ambulance before then falling asleep at the wheel and crashing it, dying in the process.

What a silly story. I love it to bits.

Now with that out of the way, I wanna talk about some stuff that stands out to me.

Soldier's character is probably one of the best versions of him I've seen. He keeps that same 'Soldier TF2' charm to him, but he's brave. He's loyal. He stands by his friends in this hellish situation, never backing down or giving up. I also adore the flashback scene of him. The atmosphere of the war and trenches–

CAN I TALK ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE TOO?? My GOD it's pristine!! The cinematography and the lighting and everything about it oozes with dread and fear. There are only a couple jumpscares in the movie, but by god I find the constant terror to be far more compelling. It's suffocating with how well its done.

The emotions and expressions too. One scene that's always been in my mind is the elevator scene. We see Medic cycle through his emotions. He's sobbing because Scout is dead and now he's stuck here. Then after being offered a cigarette, he perks up and starts laughing. It's haunting. I remember the chill that ran down my spine the first time I watched that scene. And minutes later with Medic pointing the gun to his head, about to kill himself, before putting it down and lashing out at his reflection.

Medic and his character in Emesis Blue is like my good ol' Medic TF2 blorbo, but in an opposite direction. Emesis Blue Medic is a husk of a man, his very soul and sanity being ripped from him a long while ago. He's not doing so well. I adore every single scene with him. You can see all of his fears and and emotions so clearly.

Have I also mentioned this is animated in SFM? Yeah, THAT nightmare of an animation software? I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of bugs and glitches Fortress Films had to endure. How many times entire scenes were corrupted and they had to restart. Just even knowing how much care and work the team put into this movie makes me respect it so much more. This is truly a work of passion and love for the game and its community, delivering something that's beyond words.

The sound design is another aspect I don't see really talked about. It's really good. Take the scene in Scout's home for example, with the TV playing and the droning from the phone. It's haunting.

It's just an incredible movie. It's why I think psychological horror is the best form of horror. It relies less on big scary monsters with sharp claws and axes being the main source of fear. Rather, it focuses on when those monsters will show up. It grips you with dread and refuses to let go. It never gives you that relief that comes with a jumpscare. The startling, yet comforting release never happens.

Emesis Blue also succeeds in a way that none of the characters make dumb choices. They do everything right, yet they still fail in the end. I feel that makes it more terrifying. When you do everything correctly, but it doesn't work out. It makes the situation all the more helpless. All of this mistakes happen at their own hubris, like with Spy trying to take a break by smoking a cigarette and ends up nearly burning to death.

I also love how it doesn't answer a lot of questions. Leaving the audience with a mystery and the ability to theorize on stuff is lovely. What is the masked figure? Why are there seemingly elements of time distortion? How much is a hallucination and how much of it is real? All those sort of things.

But, yeah. I love Emesis Blue. I love it a lot. It's not just a TF2 animation. It's a genuine horror movie. I've seen multi-million dollar Hollywood movies that pale in comparison to this. It shows that talent and storytelling can come from anywhere and could be simply amazing. The fact that I can watch this on YouTube for free feels off. I feel like I should be paying Fortress Films or giving them something for their work.

But, I guess praise and a couple fanfics is good enough. Very rarely does a work move me enough to actually make fanworks. I get ideas, but never write them down.

So, those are my bigger thoughts on it. I'll just list a couple more.

-I refuse to believe that Scout's name isn't a reference to Jerma985. His name on the report is 'Jeremy. E', like Jeremy Elbertson

-When I was first watching through it, my stupid god-forsaken Science Party-obsessed brain thought: "Ooh! Medic and Engie are together! :D" when Medic came into the Conaghers. Then then they started fighting it turned into: "Oh no, they're going to kill each other D:"

-The scene of Soldier trying to get through the countless corpses of himself feels like something out of a cosmic horror and I love it

-I think this movie made me understand Freedom Fries more

-Cyclops's death ruined me RIP my buddy

-That weird Scout monster thing was terrifying

-I am obsessed with Stalingrad and the other resurrected mercs. They're so cool

-Emesis Blue is a great example as to why 2Fort is a horrific map

-That scene of Medic with gouged-out eyes and chipped teeth smiling and staring at the camera makes my blood run cold every single time. I cannot overstate just how much I love that scene

-They gave Demo a pistol finally I'm so happy <3

-I am a massive sucker for Pyro headcanons where they're justed a fucked up and inhuman monster and Emesis Blue scratched that itch. Following up on that, I love how Pyro's face is the same as that one Half-Life 2 zombie model. You know the one. The one that's of a genuine real burn corpse? Good times

-When Spy got burned, I genuinely thought that he would eventually become the Pyro through some weird time distortion shenanigans. I still believe in that theory too, honestly

-I actually really like how it uses the TF2 characters since you're already familiar with them and my intense love for them makes me care about them a thousand times more

-People who complain about the movie tossing in references have no idea what fun or thematic parallels are

-Medic spitting out his teeth in the end could either be a reference to Scout's nightmare at the beginning or to how Medic's teeth are literally falling out in real time. Maybe both. It could be both

-What in gods name is in that briefcase I need to know

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #emesis blue #I am incredibly normal about this movie #Emesis Blue ruined my life 10/10 would watch every day for the rest of my existence #sp-rambles

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