Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Them!

My dad told me once that the scariest movie he ever saw as a child was Them!.
According to the synoposis on IMDb,  "The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization." 
My dad saw it at a nickel matinee in a base theater when he was about 9 years old and reportedly had trouble sleeping for weeks afterward. Besides my fascination with the notion of such freedom at such a tender age, I was appalled with the revelation that anything had ever scared my dad. While I could completely relate to being terrified by giant, man-eating ants, it was more terrifying to me that my hero had at some point shared my childish fears. 


With the advent of the BetaMax, we kids were initiated into the world of movies my dad had witnessed on the silver screen. I remember watching the movie with my jaded, post-Star Wars eyes and finding the special effects laughable and the dialogue melodramatic and stilted. This is what had scared my dad? At the time I chalked it up to one of those quaint 50s phenomena like pearls and shirtwaist dresses and watched Time Bandits instead. 


Last night as I was falling asleep, I was thinking about this - for that is the time when one thinks of such things. Snuggled into my grown-up, post-modern bed, in my grown-up post-modern head, it struck me that the title of that movie - Them! - is the scariest of all. We are all afraid of Them. It is Them that keeps us up at night worrying about what lurks beyond our vision. 


What do They think of me? They said the best thing I should do for my kids is... They say that high fructose corn syrup is bad for me... They might think I'm insane if I... They say the best jeans for my body shape is... They say things about haircuts, health problems, grieving, death, loving, diet, diapering, you name it. They name it. I don't want to disappoint Them. It's not even as tangible as large man-eating ants. It's something even more laughable, really. It's our perceived audience of judges, informants, advisers, expert witnesses, and admirers. Because, don't you know, They don't have anything better to do with Their time than to scrutinize my every thought and action and pass judgement. 


There's the other Them, too. The evil other half of Us and Them. They don't live like we do. They are a threat to me. They don't believe this. They are responsible for this mess. They don't get it. They are to be feared. We are not Them. I'm so glad I'm not like Them. It's our ability to turn people, with one large stroke of  a paintbrush, into two dimensional, larger than life man-eating ants. It's the sort of thinking that helps us sleep at night, comfortable in our own designated circle of Us that, thank our lucky stars, is nothing like Them.


The 1954 version of Them! is a Cold War movie. Remember that umbrella of fear we used to live under? The threat of nuclear annihilation? of Communism? of scary people who looked just like us only wore more utilitarian gray? The era that brought us such gems as Do The Russians Love Their Children, Too? (shame on you, Sting!) and Dr. Strangelove (thank you, Stanley Kubrik!) and that after-school special of doom, The Day After (what?! Just... what?!). We look back fondly and laugh. Such silliness. Such paranoia. Really?! Imagine... quaking in your bed because there might be a domino effect and the whole world might become Communist and there will be vaporization?! My dad shuddered in fear at age 9 under the threat of giant insects. I shuddered in fear at age 9 under the threat of giant bread lines. I'm so glad we've all grown past that sort of nonsense.


Imagine if the Cold War had internet access. Do we even know what wars We're fighting now? I'm not talking about the ones We fight with heavy machinery and tax dollars. Stay At Home Moms vs. Working Moms, Lefties vs. Conservatives, Breasts vs. Bottles, Beatles vs. Stones, Green vs. Guzzling, Luddites vs. Techno-Babies, Vegans vs. Carnivores, Locavores vs. WalMart Shoppers, Natural vs. Synthetic, Coke vs. Pepsi, Literacy vs. Reality TV, Cut vs. Uncut, Apple vs. PC, Christian vs. Athiest, Agnostic vs. Believers, American vs. Imported, Immigrated This Century vs. Descendant of Immigrants, Legalization vs. Prohibition. I've forgotten some on purpose.


We've all hidden in our ideological bomb shelters at one time or another. We've donned the tin foil hats and duct taped our mental windows to keep Them out. It's human nature to hang out with people who like us, who are like us, and who affirm what we believe. The unknown and the misunderstood are naturally a little scary. But when does it become childish fear of things laughable, melodramatic, and stilted? In a world that 1954 only dreamed of, we all have global information literally at our fingertips. How will we use this amazing tool? To erase dividing lines and realize that regardless of ideology most of us are just doing our thing and trying to do it the best way we know how? Or to further divide and categorize and demonize until we finally move from Us and Them to simply Me?


Me. Frozen in that cinematic silent scream, hands raised, backed in a corner and immobilized by a swarm of fictitious man-eating ants. Maybe that's what scared my dad.


This post was written for the GBE2 topic: Reviews. It sort of fits. I'm not sure what They'll think about it.

33 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I don't give a fig about what They think, but the us and them thing has always bugged me. A lot.

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    1. Thank you. I try not to give a fig, but sometimes I do. The Us and Them thing bugs me more and more.

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  2. Lots to ponder tonight, my mind is racing at all of the different 'Them's in my life. Great post!

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    1. Thank you! It seems the Thems are always there in one way or another.

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  3. As a kid (and still now) I was terrified of scary movies, but not "Them," for the exact reasons you mentioned: laughable special effects, et al. So I loved that movie. That being said, how you used it as a take-off point for your thought-provoking post is vastly surpassing excellence. How about a couple of these? "Insurance vs extortion; prisoners vs warden; Macy's vs swap meet; MVP vs never drafted…" Mo-B and Simple from "Bad Neighbors."

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    1. Ooh! Good ones! It seems that there's always something to fight about, when I believe in reality we all have more in common than we think.

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  4. There is a John Irving book called "A Widow for One Year", in which a children's author writes a story called "A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound". Irving later turned that fictitious story into an actual children's book, but the idea of the story itself is absolutely terrifying to me. I loved the book, I love Irving, but it was that little snippet that kept me thinking late at night. What is scarier than waking up to an unusual sound, the sound of someone trying not to make a sound? Is it Them? I am giving myself the creeps!

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    1. John Irving is easily one of the creepiest men alive. I adore him. I had no idea that was turned into an actual children's book. I will have to hunt it down and scare my kids to death - in broad daylight, allowing for enough time to forget about it before I try to go to sleep. Thank you for that.

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  5. Yes, this is brilliant. It's worth noting how you listed all those wars and they are all so familiar. Some are louder and more destructive than others but they are all being fought and why? I am guilty in my own way. I have the wars about which I feel passionately but one thing I focus on is that it is my right (and responsibility) to make up my own mind on all of these issues. I have the right to my own opinion. It gets very complicated, however, when I am not allowed to exercise my right to choose on something. Very. Complicated.

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    1. I agree with you, it is complicated. There are many things about which I hold strong, and I believe valid, opinions. I think it's necessary to make some judgments. What rankles, though, is the vilification of others who don't necessarily agree.

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  6. At work today I said I'm not sure who "they" are, but I agree with some of their ideas, said as I ate my cookie before my salad and a coworker told me that is what "they" say you should do. In the case of cookies, I will listen to "them". In the case of what Mom Hair should be (short and easy to care for) I think I will do my own thing.

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    1. They are most definitely right about the cookies. What is Mom Hair? Oh great. Yet another aspect of parenting I've got ALL WRONG.

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  7. Hey, you...I want to offer my "go you" on this post. I love your use of metaphor and thought this post sounded somewhat like one of those scenes in a move where all the stuff comes out in a bit monologue and the audience gets all filled up with emotions because it hit them in the face with a big ball of "think about it" Nice work!

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  8. Very well done. Lots of thoughts to ponder and roll around in my head. How often I get mad at Them for doing this, without realizing I'm doing it too! They, Them, Us, We ... If you're not with Us, you're against Us. Sigh. Such complicated, deep thoughts.

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  9. Great blog. I admit that right now, I am definitely having some real anxiety over what a certain "them" is going to think. It's best to let it go.

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    1. I alternate between this sort of acute anxiety and believing that I am invisible. It's so hard to let it go completely, though.

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    2. This is EXACTLY how I feel! Imbalanced on the fence between over-exposure and total invisibility. Both induce anxiety *laugh*.

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  10. Ah the Them's, They's, We's and Us'. It's hard to tune them out. Yet even harder to break the division.

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    1. Yes, yes. Breaking that division is a two-way street. It's hard, but not impossible, I believe. In my imaginary universe, simply by being open and accepting of people, we could help others feel safe enough to do the same.

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  11. Sadly, I worry all too often what they think. I wonder if they care what I think? Probably not.

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    1. Law of averages says that someone is worrying about what you think. Just probably not who you'd expect.

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  12. Wow! I think I will be thinking about this post when I go to sleep tonight.

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    1. I hope it doesn't give nightmares about giant, man-eating ants. Thank you for stopping by and reading!

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  13. Yes.. there's a panoply of "Them" and sadly, no end to "Their" proliferation...

    This need we have to include by exclusion is terrifying indeed.
    The Monsters are Always due on Maple Street:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZTe4SJnxPc

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    1. Oh, Rod Serling just got even sexier!
      How will I ever define myself if not by what I hate? [sarcasm font]

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  14. There is so much amazing food for thought here, I don't even know where to begin digesting! Thank you for writing this stuff down - meaningful thoughts, and really fabulous post.

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    1. Wow! Thank you. It's funny, I write this stuff down and then wonder why I do. And then boom! Validation in the form of very kind thanks. You made my day.

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  15. I love the way you tied all of these concepts together in such a neat package. As a liberal-ish type thinker obsessed with books who lives in a very right-leaning county where none of the Top 5 recreational activities involves the written word, I've often felt like a lone "us" in a sea of "thems." The one way it has been good for me is that it has forced me to see that there are almost always more points in common than points of divergence--no matter how extreme those divergences may be. If I waited to befriend only those with whom I'm in complete agreement, I'd truly be a hermit. (Instead of being only the borderline hermit I am now.)

    PS--Maybe I've always misunderstood the Sting "Russians" song, but I always heard it as him saying that the Russians DO love their children. Yes, he says "I hope the Russians love their children, too," and "If they love..." but he is critical of the leaders of both sides of the Cold War and ends with the lines: "What might save us, me and you/Is that the Russians love their children, too." There are also the lines: "We share the same biology/Regardless of ideology." To me, he was saying the hysteria and fear of "Them" was unwarranted and really based upon the rantings of the mad men in power. Okay, stumbling off my Sting soapbox now...

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    1. I lived in Huntsville TX for a brief stretch and understand that of which you speak. It is much harder to extricate and find commonalities when the divergences are so vast. That said, "I hope the Texans love their children, too."
      PS - You are right and I was afraid you would bust me for that. Upon listening to the song again during my little sound-check, I realized that I was thinking of the egregiously paternalistic "Do They Know It's Christmastime At All" of roughly the same time period. A song that has nothing at all to do with Sting or Russians, for that matter. I shall have to print a retraction so Sting won't quit reading my blog.

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    2. Ugh. The Christmastime Song. "Egregiously paternalistic" is such a dead-on description of that song.

      Don't worry about scaring Sting away, he's a pretty understanding guy and I put in a good word for you. We're tight like that. HA!

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  16. Sting's busy practicing tantric yoga. Or something, so you're fine.

    I, too, live in an area surrounded by folks whose ideologies differ from mine. I live in a hippie-haven in the middle of not-hippies. I can attest to the fact that Texans do, in fact, love their children too. :-)

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