Blog Post #4

What is the Alien in The Thing Really Implying?

Rasif Choudhury          

     The monster in the film, The Thing, plays a unique role in conveying messages the movie is attempting to illustrate to their audiences. The beast can mimic any type of living thing, and is free to choose when to enter and leave the body it is hosting on. This quality of the alien demonstrates one of the main critiques the film makes about society, which was the fact that there was a high level of distrust within America at the time the film was made. By looking at certain theories, observers can notice why the alien had been attributed with this ability to mimic any living thing. This will then allow viewers to understand how actual historical events leading up to the movie might have played a role in developing the alien’s unique characteristic. 

     Before observing how the alien helps portray one of the movie’s main argument about society, it is important to know how the alien fulfills its role as a monster. The ability for the alien to mimic any living form complies with Steven Schneider’s explanation of the surmounted beliefs theory. Schneider argues that characters in horror films complete its role as a monster, due to its capability to bring about the uncanny amongst viewers (Schneider, 170). Schneider depicts Sigmund Freud’s theory of the uncanny as an idea that we once had in the past, however overtime those beliefs become alienated through the process of repression (Schneider, 171). Monsters in horror films are aimed to bring back these repressed ideas, in order to instill fear amongst the viewers. Schneider outlines several characteristics monsters need, in order to fulfill its role to bring about the uncanny amongst viewers. One of these characteristics is our surmounted belief in the existence of doubles and replicas (Schneider, 183). The alien in the film fulfills this role, due to its ability to take any shape or form it desires to become. The alien is not bound to a certain body structure, and is free to choose what it wants to be. This ability instills great fear amongst the viewers, due to its unpredictable choice on who it will attack next. The audience has no certainty on where the alien exactly is throughout the film.

      The alien’s ability to replicate other people has a larger purpose than just simply instilling fear onto the audience. The alien serves as an agent to convey one of the movie’s main messages, which was the fact that there was a high level of distrust within American society. Events leading up to when this movie was created in 1982, gives an explanation to why the alien was attributed with this shape shifting ability. In 1972, the notorious Watergate scandal occurred, and unraveled the truths about the Nixon Administration’s involvement with the event (Isserman & Kazin, 274). At this time there was also a release of the Pentagon Papers, which was a document that specified the United State’s actions within the Vietnam War (Kutler, 23). There was also the ongoing battle of global supremacy between Democracy and Communism, and state control over communist influence within America (Schrecker, 43). These events within American history were a moment where the public lost complete trust with the government. There was no way of knowing whom their friends or enemies were. This greatly exemplifies why the alien in, The Thing, was given its ability to be a chameleon, and had an omnipotent presence throughout the film. Viewers would not know where the alien was until it decided to show itself. The alien could be any of the cast members at anytime throughout the movie. In a way this goes hand in hand with what was occurring in society at this time. People of the American society did not know where their enemies were. These enemies could be their neighbors, represented politicians, or even their own family member. This lack of trust can also be seen within the film. Throughout the film, the men of the army base lose complete trust with one another, and have no idea who to view as a leader. This characteristic of the alien allows it to take on the role of the monster, and instill great fear into the audience.

Works Cited

Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America 

     Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. 4th ed. 

     New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

     Print.

Kutler, Stanley I.. Watergate: A Brief History 

     With Documents. 2nd ed. Massachusetts:

     Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.

Schneider, Steven. "Monsters as (Uncanny) Metaphors: 

     Freud, Lakoff, and the Representation of 

     Monstrosity in Cinematic Horror."

     Horror Film Reader. Alain Silver & James 

     Ursini, eds. Limelight Editions, 2000. 167-187.

Schrecker, Ellen. The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief

     History with Documents. 2nd ed. Boston:

     Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. Print.