Civil War, They Live, and the Importance of Staying Aware
On questioning government authority and morality
When I first saw the trailer for Civil War, I have to admit that I misjudged it. Perhaps that was because I saw it during my screening of Late Night with the Devil, a film I was practically drowning in excitement for. Luckily, Late Night with the Devil met my expectations… but the handful of trailers that played before the film felt like a long and painful wait, making my dismissal for them a lot easier.
Civil War was one of those movies, and my first thought was that it was some weird propaganda film, meant to divide Americans even more than we already are. I mostly thought that because of how much negativity has been pushed in media lately, assuming it was probably some strange “red vs. blue” thing. Despite my initial thoughts, I decided to keep an open mind, especially in seeing that it was an A24 film.
Then, I started to see the reviews come in. People were giving it pretty good ratings, so I figured it had to be better than I originally thought.
So, when the movie came on streaming, I decided to give it a go. And, yeah, I definitely misjudged it.
There Are No Sides
Civil War isn’t a movie of division. Or, at least it’s not meant to be in terms of your everyday American citizen. Rather, the premise comes from the idea of the government’s abuse of power. The president turns the country to dictatorship, using any tool he has to do so. He disbands the FBI (yikes) and airstrikes civilians (double yikes), not only creating fear but making it near impossible to hold him accountable. The Land of the Free is turned into a hellscape of war and pain.
While, yes, there is some division among the citizens, that’s not really the main focus. America is broken into the Western Forces, the New People’s Army, the Florida Alliance and the Loyalist States. However, the Western Forces and the Florida Alliance are against the president entirely, and the WF are made up of California and Texas. This is only important because these are typically “blue” and “red” states, coming together for the greater good.
On the other hand, the film doesn’t really talk about politics. It never dives into the idea of Republicans vs Democrats, and for good reason. It’s a film that’s meant to make you not necessarily see “sides,” but rather focus on the humanity and morality of the situation.
It’s All About Survival
The movie never even explains the origin of the war. It never talks about why the war broke out, avoiding the conflict in order to focus on the people involved instead. While it does drop hints here and there, the film is meant to be more of a character study.
The movie is more so the government vs its citizens rather than citizen vs citizen. Certainly, there are outliers, but the main premise is the focus on the abuse of power.
Possibly the most intense scene tells us this.
There’s a scene where the main characters are confronted by a soldier, threatening them with a bullet to the head.
He asks them, “What kind of American are you?”
One can assume that if one of them said a state that’s part of the rebellion, they would’ve been shot dead. The main journalist trio survive the encounter by the bravery of Sammy, but their two friends are shot. Tony, one of their unlucky friends, is an important death in the scene, as he’s shot after revealing he’s from Hong Kong.
Despite not necessarily having a stance in the war, he’s murdered simply because he’s not American. An enemy, then, as he’s not important to the soldier’s cause.
Other scenes in this movie prove the same. It doesn’t matter if you have a stance or don’t—you’ll be punished. Police militia beat people for protesting the war, militant soldiers are in a sniper battle with a homeowner, and even towns who “stay out of it” need to have sniper protection at all times.
At some point, it becomes a matter of survival rather than a matter of whose side you are on. When everybody in the country are shooting at each other, staying alive is more important than whatever “side” you align yourself with.
Unity is Key
Some people criticized the movie for not having a particular political stance, but in my opinion, not having one made the film’s message much more powerful. A stance would cause divide, something the film is trying to avoid. Civil War is meant to make us uncomfortable in not having a clear side to “root” for, but only because it wants us to understand that unity is more important than anything else.
We shouldn’t be focused on whose side is superior. We should be focused on humanity.
I have to assume that most people watched this film and thought, “Hey, this president fucking sucks.” Because, yes, he does in fact suck. But notice how they never said which party the president belonged to.
He’s a president for himself, not for the people, and that’s the issue here.
The themes of this film are plain as day: be aware, be vigilant, and don’t be afraid to question the intentions of authority.
Similarly, They Live also gives us these same points.
While They Live takes a sci-fi horror approach, with the authoritative figures being revealed as mind controlling aliens, the message is all the same.
It’s Humanity vs. Them
They Live focuses on “waking” people up to the harsh reality of America. In doing so, it exaggerates the evil nature of corporate greed and governmental power. The film was made in the 80s, when materialism was heavily advertised as the American Dream.
Wall Street became the thing. Yuppies were 20-somethings with unlimited riches, banging on the buck of stocks and bonds while partying after their 9-5. For the first time, young people were… well, balling, you could say.
But with young people making more money than before came corporate America wanting to also make a buck. Advertisements for teens and young adults ran rampant, pushing the young to buy, buy, buy.
Meanwhile, America was also experiencing the tailend of the Cold War. Kids learned to duck under desks in case there was a nuclear bomb (not sure what the hell that was supposed to do) and adults worried over the constant news cycle of what was next.
The government had America in fear. Russia was going to kill everyone. Nukes were going to be dropped. The perfect America of the 1980s would one day be gone in just the press of a button. But the thing about fear is that it makes it easier to control people. You can see where I’m going here.
You see, They Live took advantage of the culture of 80s America, using it as the basis of the film. It explored how the culture was wrong, but with a twist: the elites, corporations, and government were all aliens controlling the population.
It turns into another “us vs them” story, but with the stakes being much higher. It’s humanity against aliens, and if the humans don’t win… well, it won’t be good.
It’s All About Power
Society is controlled by the dollar, therefore making it easier for aliens to turn everyone into corporate slaves.
There’s no freedom to anything. Humans are herded like sheep, ushered into corporate ladders to believe they are garnering some level of success. Humans become the slaves of the aliens, tricked by fancy cars and designer clothing.
Throughout the film, we see the subliminal messages that the aliens use to mind control the population.
“WORK 8 HOURS. SLEEP 8 HOURS. PLAY 8 HOURS.”
There’s an illusion of freedom there, until you remember the other hypnotic messages.
OBEY.
CONSUME.
CONFORM.
BUY.
SUBMIT.
MARRY AND REPRODUCE.
These aren’t just random words meant to make audiences feel uneasy. These are words to brainwash the population to continue being slaves. We must all be the same and obey their rules. We must all keep the economy strong. We must all keep having kids so we can continue the abusive cycle of slavery.
They Live always makes me think of the saying, “Slavery never ended, it just modernized.”
Even within the film, we see that those who fail to succeed in the thriving economy are basically exiled, tossed to the curb like trash as those who are unemployed and homeless serve no purpose to the aliens.
Understanding the Core Issue
Both films rely heavily on one core concept: humanity.
They Live just so happened to make it more obvious with aliens taking over the world. Civil War took a more realistic approach with a power hungry government against its own people.
Also, what’s important to note is that They Live is almost 36 years old, and the short story that inspired it—Eight O’Clock in the Morning—came out in 1963. This has been an American message for decades, and continues to be one even in 2024.
I mean, it’s not really a surprise. Money is power and power is money. Once someone gets a taste of it, like… let’s say the POTUS in Civil War, it can become a dangerous thing.
These films both pose an important message for Americans. We should be united, despite the traumas we may face. None of us will ever all agree on everything, but we can at least agree to be kind and understanding to one another. Humanity is built upon compassion, and without compassion, the abusive powers win.
Not watched Civil War yet, but Garland has made interesting movies in the past so I will hopefully catch up with it soon. They Live is one of Carpenter’s many classics. A great film 👍🏼