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The Thing's ending interpretation: It doesn't matter who is who
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Look, I know that even Carpenter doesn't know if Childs/MacReady is the Thing, and he intentionally prefers to keep the ending open. However, I have a small interpretation of my own based on everything we hear and see in the movie.
I think the final scenes of the movie aren't about who is the Thing, and who isn't. In the same way Inception's ending is not about the question if Cobb made it to the real world or not. Although in 2018 Michael Kaine confirmed that all the scenes he's in are in the real world.
Someone could say The Thing is the best anti-war film. And I believe this statement isn't far from the truth.
First things first, I don't believe in the endings where both of them are humans, or vice versa. I think it doesn't make sense narratively. Very basically it is a movie about good guys (humans) fighting bad guys (The Thing). And if there's no clear answer to which side won/lost, the dialogue and the whole ending scene of the film kind of don't make sense. I'll explain.
The second thing is that MacReady is clearly the main protagonist of the movie. I think it would be a really strange twist if he would turn out to be the Thing at the last second of the movie. But then there's Childs. MacReady very understandably suspects him of being the thing.
And the movie actually addresses it in the final dialogue and also gives the final meaning to the whole movie.
C: How will we make it?
M: Maybe we shouldn't.
C: If you're worried about me...
M: If we got any surprises for each other, I don't think we're in much shape to do anything about it.
C: Well, what do we do?
M: Why don't we just wait here for a little while... See what happens.
*The main theme of the movie starts playing as Childs drinks from that bottle
The ending is connected with the beginning of the film where McReady loses the chess party to the computer and then pours alcohol into it. In the end, McReady can't win the battle with the Thing. But he can pour the battlefield with alcohol and go down with it. He can freeze this conflict.
I think maybe the meaning of the movie lies in McReady's words: "If we got any surprises for each other, I don't think we're in much shape to do anything about it."
Maybe the point of the movie is that in any war/battle/fight/conflict, there are no actual winners. Both sides of the conflict are fucked, one way or another. And even if there's a truce one day, it doesn't mean the war has ended.
At the end of the movie, the Thing is back to square one. If McReady doesn't have a flamethrower under his ass, once the fire will die out, they both will be frozen, including the Thing. And it means the conflict hasn't ended. It's literally frozen, and the Thing will be able to try again in the future.
Top Comment: I have nothing to add on what you said, but to pre-empt anyone who is about to say it, whenever the ending of The Thing is brought up, someone always talks about Child's lack of visible breath in the cold. Here's a clip from earlier in the movie when the The Thing clearly has visible breath in the cold The breath issue in the final scene has always been a lighting issue and nothing else.
The Thing (1982) is a perfect film.
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Everything from the cast, directing, writing, cinematography, and music, make The Thing (1982) the perfect film.
Ennio Morricone composing the soundtrack to John Carpenter and Bill Lancaster’s vision, made this a recipe for success.
Kurt Russell, Wilfred Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas Waites give perfect performances.
The special effects were ahead of their time and still hold up in some aspects. The Norris-Thing scene is what made me really admire the hard work and dedication of the production staff.
All in all, this film is a top 3 for me, and I enjoy it every time I’ve watched it. Suspense and mystery tied in the package of horror.
It’s beautiful.
EDIT: Also I want a hat that looks like Kurt Russell’s from the movie lol. EDIT 2: The special effects artist was Rob Bottin.
Top Comment: “Why don’t we just...wait here for a little while....see what happens?” So good
What is The Thing?
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I think I'll post some of the thoughts and ramblings I had long ago to the reddit and "wait awhile... see what happens." Now that the holidays are over, let's quell the memes and pics and discuss the film for awhile.
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Is The Thing the owner of the spacecraft or did it assimilate the owner? Did the spacecraft come to Earth on purpose or by accident? If on purpose, did it choose Antarctica on purpose or land there by accident? Does The Thing assimilate with directed purpose or does it merely seek to survive? Can there be just one Thing or more than one Thing? Can there ever be no Thing? Does it have its own intelligence and a mission of conquest, or is it just a parasite along for the ride?
In my opinion, The Thing is a cosmic parasite, that neither depletes the health of it's host nor the resources the host has available to him. As long as the host can live and and go about his business, The Thing can happily lie dormant until it's existence is threatened. Anyone familiar with military S.E.R.E. training will recognize that what appears to be intelligence is merely a survive-evade-resist-escape response to the environment. The Thing is not an intelligent being as humans understand intelligence; it doesn't think with logic, reason, understanding, emotion, as we do. It doesn't know what humans or dogs are or where the continents are or how many miles it is to the coast or how many people live on Earth.
When The Thing invades a body, it doesn't take over and cause the human to be an alien, puppet, robot, shell or zombie. The Thing retains every characteristic of the host and the host acts with 100% autonomy as if he were not a host. It's only when The Thing senses danger or an alternate means of survival does it reveal itself to the detriment of the host.
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I have a WordPad document full of ramblings and ideas that generally are distilled before they are posted to reddit as "answers" to other's questions. But I thought I would post a couple in raw form to see what happens and to get some dialogue going. Help and enjoy!
Top Comment: Weird and pissed off, whatever it is.
The Thing
Main Post: The Thing
Who the Thing is
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I know this is a dead horse people have been beating for the better part of 40 years now, but I watched The Thing for the first time a few weeks ago, and ever since I've been hooked, but the ending has been driving me nuts. Upon an autism driven, sleep deprived deep dive, I've figured out who the Thing is at the end of the movie.
We first need to establish the canon approved by the director, John Carpenter. The original movie, prequel, and video game are all canon. Anything said by anyone but Carpenter isn't canon. Carpenter has stated that 1 of the people at the very end of the movie is the Thing. Now that that is out of the way, onto the fun part.
When the movie first released, it was completely ambiguous who was the Thing, or if either were the Thing. The prequel didn't answer any questions either, gave some new theories as to who it could be with the addition of the Thing being unable to recreate inorganic material like Child's earring, but that theory is easily brushed aside by the fact the Thing learns from its mistakes and since it's already been caught once due to a missing earring, that it wouldn't make the same mistake and would forcefully re-pierce the Child copy. But with the release of the 2002 aptly named video game "The Thing", we know exactly who was/is the Thing. At the beginning of the game you find Child's frozen body, and he is confirmed dead. MacReady's body is no where to be found. Fast forward to the end of the game you are picked up by a mysterious helicopter pilot and together you kill the giant Thing. When you ask who he is, it is none other than MacReady. This proves unequivocally 100% that MacReady was the Thing, the game takes place 3 months after the movie so any normal human like Child would've frozen to death, but the Thing can hibernate. How/when MacReady was infected is what baffles me.
From what is seen in the movies the Thing only has 1 confirmed way of assimilating someone, by force. It's hypothesized that a single cell can infect someone, but if that was the case, why does dog-Thing licking Bennings not assimilate him, why would it need to the forcefully assimilate him with the tentacles later on? From every on screen instance we've seen of assimilation, it takes prolonged physical contact with the tentacles. It doesn't take a lot of time, but certainly more than a momentary brush. The only potential example of ingestion assimilation would be with Blair, but it would've have to have happened off screen which makes me doubt it's viability as an infection method. At no point in the movie do we see MacReady come in contact with the Thing or any particle of it. A few close calls, yes, but direct contact? He had drank out of numerous bottles that people who later turned out to be assimilated had also drank out of prior to the blood test so I highly doubt the single cell infection theory since his blood tested clean. The only possible explanation I can think of is Clark's blood. When MacReady tests it, it jumps out of the petri dish and scuttles away. If every cell of the Thing is alive in its hive mind, then it's possible those cells survived all the BS that happened afterwards, and crawled up to a dying MacReady at the end of the movie and assimilated him then, but why not assimilate Child as well? Even if he was dead by the time MacReady was assimilated, the Thing can reanimate/copy dead organisms so why wouldn't it?
As much as I love this movie, holy shit does it piss me off. The original is damn near perfect, and the prequel doesn't make any plot holes or anything, but the video game completely ruins the ambiguity of it all that makes The Thing as interesting of a movie as it is. Also, mb if people have already made this connection, I'm new to this sub and since none of my friends have watched the movie yet I didn't have anyone else to yap to.
TLDR; MacReady is the Thing
Top Comment: The fact is all we know for sure is at least one was still human and at least one knew the risk of "the thing" escaping.
What is this thing?
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I found this while going through my grandparents old things. I have no idea what it is or what it is used for.
It has a bow (like from a bow an arrow) with "F. Dick" next to it, it says Stainless and Made in Germany.
Can anyone enlighten me?
Top Comment: A damn huge sewing needle
What is your opinion on The Thing 2011? Which parts do you like/ dislike?
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Hello everyone!
I've been recently working on a review of The Thing 2011 as a personal passion project- video- thingy (which I might upload on YouTube if I'm confident enough). I want to include a segment relating to what fans of the 1982 film thought of its 2011 prequel. I think this subreddit is the best place to ask.
Thank you so much in advance if you drop your opinions 😎
Top Comment: I really liked the way they tied the stories together. I think it’s obvious that it was a passion project where at least some of those involved really did love the original. The teeth idea was a nice twist and the language barriers and spooky Norwegian music work well to set the stage. The creature looking completely unlike anything on earth in the beginning was true to the story as well. My main critiques are the cgi, which was bad enough to jar me out of immersion in the story, and also it just missed a certain something that the original had in terms of atmosphere. It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly that was- the first one just felt more bleak, more real, and more like you were there, among all those grizzled grumpy dudes who had found themselves at the very ends of the known world somehow, together facing something completely unimaginable. The remake felt like a movie, the original felt like a true story/documentary, I guess that’s the best way I could put it.
What are your thoughts on The Thing (1951)?
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I saw it and thought it was just alright. It’s not as good a film as the 1982 version hut it has its charm. I thought there were far too many characters and that the lines were delivered too quickly. I also prefer the Thing monster from the 82 version as well.
Thoughts?
Top Comment: I don't think you can compare it directly to the 1982 version. It is a product of it's time and was well regarded. I saw the 1982 version before it and still hold them both with great regard. It is a straight forward creature film like many of the era. I love the interaction between the characters. It makes it much more enjoyable to watch. You have to realize that this is just post ww2. The US had just unleashed the A bomb and people were afraid of what science would do. Today, the great fear (among those who don't understand) is about AI. I may be older and sentimental, but this will always be one of my favorites.
Do you think “The Thing” is a perfect movie? What would you change about the plot or how the characters responded to the situation, if anything?
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=05NSpr70twY
Top Comment: I do find the “The Thing” to be a perfect movie. To be honest I find the best part about “The Thing” is the ambiguity behind the alien’s past and mere existence. I love the idea of an alien organism that defies everything we know about the known universe, an organism that is capable of absorbing all organic matter it comes into contact with and in turn creating an exact clone which imitates its host life form perfectly. I love how we never fully understand how the alien works, nor do we ever find out its motives. We aren’t even sure if the Thing was the original pilot of the spaceship, or just another life form that had been assimilated by the Thing. We will never know where it even came from, just that humans are at the mercy of a sinister intruder organism. Pure cosmic horror.