On Tuesday, writer and director of late ‘80s cult classic “They Live,” John Carpenter, took to Twitter to assure his followers and trolls alike that the film has “nothing to do with Jewish control of the world.”
Why, you ask, did Carpenter feel the need to share this message? Let us break it down.
Gizmodo reports that a group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists have been concocting a pretty twisted theory about “They Live,” which argues the film’s plot ― aliens essentially taking over the world while hiding in plain sight ― is a metaphor for Jewish supremacy. They believe the film’s narrative outlines how Jewish people become richer and control the world right under the rest of the populace’s noses.
Some folks have gone so far as to share Photoshopped memes as so-called “proof” of their theory. We repeat: these memes are Photoshopped and not real depictions from the film, but what is truth in a world of fake news?
The GIF below, which uses one of the film’s most iconic scenes, replaces the “Obey” billboard message with an anti-Semitic drawing.
That same drawing is used here:
And just for good measure, here’s the real scene:
Despite the fact that Carpenter confirmed the film’s meaning, the trolls continued to dispute him. The fact that he wrote and directed the movie clearly means nothing to them.
It should be noted that the theory comes from a small, but vocal, group of fans of the film. Gizmodo also notes that the theory has been floating around on message boards since at least 2008, but seems to have gained new traction in the current political climate.
In an old thread on Stormfront (”Voice of the new embattled White minority!”), someone wrote, “Great movie, one of my faves. The jews in the movie are not very realistic though. The real ones are much uglier.” Another commenter wrote, “the Jews really are the aliens controlling everything. Living among us and we don’t even know it.”
Sigh. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Before You Go
