The Thing (1982) FULL WATCH ALONG w/ Mia

If you’re going to watch The Thing again… the biggest, most fun question to think about is… Was MacReady the Thing, and if so, When was he Imitated? When were any of them Imitated? I’ve always seen The Thing as a Detective Story, without a Detective character. You, the viewer, are the Detective. It’s up to you to find clues (which there are many) and watch all the characters and listen to what they say. Look at the decisions they make and ask yourself if they make since. Ask yourself what might be the reason for a certain character acting a certain way. This is a film that you have to Watch Very Closely. What makes The Thing such a Fun Movie is that there is No One Definitive way to watch it. Carpenter created a film that makes the Viewer feel like they are Another Character in the film. The Viewer is not all knowing on Any character, not even MacReady. Because there is so much they don’t show you and so much you don’t know, it creates a paranoia in the viewer the same as the characters in the film. All the way up to the final shot and fade to black, you Cannot Definitively Trust any of the characters or Know for Sure what any character’s real motivations were. The movie has Not One but Many Endings, even though it’s always the Same Ending. That is some Masterful Filmmaking there. Something else that is fun to do on multiple viewings is… “Watch the Bottle” There is a theme of liquor bottles throughout the film. The Thing is a Super-Intelligent Life Form that can perfectly imitate Human Life Forms, mannerisms, personalities and even memories. There is nothing to suggest that Drinking Alcohol is enough to kill the Cells of The Thing. We are introduced to the Bottle just before being introduced to MacReady. These two characters are linked throughout the film. What does MacReady do with the Bottle in the very last scene with Chiles? Also pay close attention to Blair’s Smirnoff Bottle… especially in the Shack scene and what is said and who touches the Bottle. Keep your eye on it. Other questions to ask while watching… Who's room did the dog go into the first night? Who was the Third Man that went with MacReady & Norris to see the Ship in the ice? Why didn't MacReady want Blair in his Shack? Why & How does MacReady keep Fuchs from getting help from Blair & Doc? Was Blair "Too Far Gone" for the situation? When recording himself on the tape-recorder… Why does MacReady tape over himself saying, "Nobody Trusts anybody now. We're all very tired."? Why was MacReady so distant with Fuchs in the Lab, before the lights went out? Why did MacReady never relay Fuchs' Warning about the Small Particle... prepare own meals... eat out of cans? Why was it an Hour before anyone found out the lights were out in the Lab? Why was MacReady's torn shirt outside? How and Why did it end up also in the furnace in his Shack? Was it the same one? Why would there be two? Why did MacReady & Nauls spend roughly an Hour at MacReady's Small Shack? What might Norris & Palmer be thinking about when they look at each other as everyone is suspecting MacReady after Nauls comes back? Why did Clark have to Die? Why did MacReady test Windows' blood before his? Did MacReady's plan to "warm things up a little" really make any sense, when it was all said and done? Who benefited the most from his plan? (Remember how the Thing survived for the past 100,000 years?) What happened to Nauls? Who Butted Heads with MacReady the most in the film? If you were a Super Intelligent Being that could perfectly imitate any other Intelligent Being... Who would you want to imitate? Hint for last one… Wouldn’t you most likely want to imitate someone who was in charge and everyone trusted? If you were losing this Trust, how might you gain it back? “Trust is a tough thing to come by these days.” The Thing is a Masterpiece in Filmmaking… credit to John Carpenter and some of the Best Practical Effects ever put on screen, by Rob Bottin. Special shout out to one the Greatest Film Composers of All-Time… Ennio Morricone. PS: you will here a lot of talk about there being gasoline or kerosene in the bottle being given to Chiles at the end, which “proves” that Chiles was the Thing. I don’t buy this because MacReady was clearly about to take a drink before Chiles walked up, paired with all the other imagery and usage of liquor bottles in the rest of the film… this idea just doesn’t work for me. Also, many will bring up that Chiles had no breath in the final scene, which “proves” Chiles was the Thing. This one really doesn’t work. If you look close enough, he does have breath. It’s just the lighting. Both of these theories don’t have any evidence showing throughout the film to support them. The Film is deliberately left unresolved and ambiguous... however, there are Clues and Many Reasonable Questions to be asked, and they might just lead you down one road, further than the other.

Larry Darrell