Thursday May 21 2026, 7:00 pm
Tonight we’re going to party like it’s 1988! They Live is proletariat hero John Carpenter’s scathing takedown of the politics of selfishness that was just beginning to gather steam in the 1980’s under Ronald Reagan, an addlepated former celebrity who took the White House twice under the slogan “Make America Great Again.” Sound familiar? Carpenter didn’t “see it coming” because it was already here, but it’s still chilling to hear a corporatist shill announce in the film, “Our projections show that by the year 2025, not just America but the entire planet will be under the protection and dominion of this power alliance.” Nailed it.
Anyone surprised by the rise of fascism in the good old US of A just wasn’t paying attention, so we’ll be setting the tone for our feature presentation by showing some ’80s music videos that tried to warn us. Screening followed by open discussion. –RdR
Related media:
- This Ain’t No Picnic by MINUTEMEN
1984 punk rock music video that samples archival footage of a young Ronald Reagan, who acted in military propaganda films - Joke’s On You by Christian Lunch
If Project 2025 was a 1981 synthpunk song - Yuppie Rap by Mike Saad and Bill O’Neil
I forgot to show this 1989 satirical music video at the screening - They Live knew the yuppie would win
Coincidentally, this video essay dropped just a few days after our screening. - Happiness by Steve Cutts
58M views and counting. People get the picture, but the big question that came out of our club discussion was, “What do you do once you see the truth? How does one act on the knowledge?”
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