John Carpenter, the visionary behind eerily prophetic science-fiction horrors like “They Live” and “The Thing,” is sharing his unfiltered thoughts about Donald Trump and the “return of racism” following the former president’s divisive ascent into politics.
In a podcast episode earlier this month, “It Happened In Hollywood” host Seth Abramovitch argued that the Republican presidential nominee could’ve easily been a villain in “They Live,” Carpenter’s 1988 satire of Reaganomics and consumerism, prompting the director to agree.
“It makes total sense,” Carpenter replied, adding, “There’s so much of what we’ve turned into as a country that just makes me heartsick. This return of racism and xenophobia.”
Explaining that he grew up in the Jim Crow South, Carpenter added, “It’s been brought back by Trump, I think. And ugh, it’s horrible. The world is just horrible now.”
The director added, “I have hope for mankind. I have hope that things will get better. But I worry, I worry, I worry.”
Left: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Right: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“They Live” famously starred then-pro-wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as a man looking for employment in an economically devastated Los Angeles, only to discover that an alien race has infiltrated the government and mainstream media.
The sci-fi flick has long been treasured as a cult classic, but some right-wing trolls have seized on the film’s lizard-like aliens, who disguise themselves as human politicians, to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Carpenter has pushed back, insisting that the film is a satire of “unrestrained capitalism.”
“The ’80s never ended,” he told Abramovitch on his podcast. “I couldn’t kill it with my movie and nobody could kill it. The ’80s is still with us, and that’s why you see all this stuff today — it’s never going away.”
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Carpenter also presciently mined fears about fascism and private prisons in “Escape From New York” (1981) and about viruses in “The Thing” (1982).
Asked what advice he’d give aspiring directors, he suggested, “You have to come up with your own vision, how you see things, how you tell a story visually,” he said. “I can’t tell it for you.”
He concluded with a cheeky jab at the same unrestrained capitalism “They Live” criticized, telling Abramovitch: “I can continue talking like this, but you need to send me money. And I will teach, but I will only teach for money.”