John Carpenter”Couldn’t decide“About a key aspect of The thing Ending, which instantly proves several major fan theories wrong. The run of John Carpenter movies from the 1970s to the late 1980s is one of the all-time greatest directorial hot streaks. In the span of 14 years, he helmet Halloween, The thing, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China And many more. In addition to this, he often wrote and composed the music for his works as well. While The thing Now believed to be Carpenter’s masterpiece, the reception to the film in 1982 was extremely hostile.
The thing was a box office bomb upon releaseWith prominent critics like Roger Ebert slamming its nihilistic tone and the cruelty of its special effects. It took years for the film to be rediscovered on TV, VHS and DVD before it was reclaimed as a classic, while fans were still puzzling over some plot elements. The thing The ending may be intensely bleak – with survivors MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) doomed to freeze once the fire from their ruined camp is extinguished – but it suits the story perfectly.
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John Carpenter “couldn’t decide” if children were infected at the end of the thing
The biggest question mark of the thing may have no definitive answer
The lingering mystery of the ending involves whether Childs is infected or not. The character disappears early in the third act after seemingly abandoning his post at the camp. Childs later claims to have chased yet another ape before he got lost, but MacReady is clearly skeptical of this. There has been much debate about Childs’ true nature The thing finale, but Carpenter’s own director’s commentary reveals even he doesn’t have a clear answer.
The commentary was recorded sometime in the 1990s, with Carpenter and star Kurt Russell talking viewers through the movie. At the end of the film, Carpenter reveals to Russell that “I still can’t decide whether Childs was a creature or not. I can’t decide.” Russell supports this sentiment, stating “There is no way to tell or no way of ever knowing.”
It has always been assumed that Carpenter had a clear reading of what was an imitation The thing Ending, but the comment dispels that. if anything, The complete ambiguity about Childs only underlines the film’s themes of trust and paranoia. It is up to the viewers to decide for themselves, what was the intention of the scene.
What John Carpenter said about the ending of the thing
“Can’t tell you, sorry.”
During production, Carpenter wasn’t quite sure how the film would end. The director even shot some alternatives The thing Endings for safety too; One version ended with MacReady alone in the ruins of the camp waiting to die, while another version revealed he was rescued and a blood test revealed he was not infected.. The latter was filmed only for safety purposes and was not even shown to test audiences. On that note, the audience hated the actual ending of the movie, but Carpenter felt that since the story was about the end of the world, there was no point in offering hope.
Despite his comments on The thing Commentary, Carpenter may have a definitive reading of the ending now.
In most interviews, Carpenter maintained that he knew who was infected The thing Last scene – but will Never Discover the answer. Talk to Comicbook.comThe filmmaker said “Yes, I know. I know who is the thing and who is not at the endBut when pressed for reply, he humorously replied with “Can’t tell you. Sorry.“
Despite his comments on The thing Commentary, Carpenter may have a definitive reading of the ending Now. It is also possible that he is still not sure, but when asked in interviews or by fans, his stock answer is that he will never reveal the truth. There were spinoffs to the film that revealed different answers; in The 2002 video game, Childs is revealed to have frozen to death in the camp, while MacReady survives and rescues the player character In the final scene.
Dark Horse is short-lived The thing from another world Comic series also revealed both men were human, with early issues charting their continuing misadventures. Neither of these are considered canonical answers though, and are alternate universe tales. in truth, If Carpenter ever did Revealing the answer, it would undoubtedly disappoint fans Who’ve waited decades to hear it. Again, the lack of an answer is the point.
None of the endless fan theories of the thing make sense
Yes, Childs really breathed in The Thing’s finale
Over the years, many theories and video essays have popped around The thing Closing moments. The most famous theory proposes that although MacReady is clearly seen breathing, Child’s breath cannot be seen, which was an afterthought. The reading may have come at a time when the film was consumed on VHS or DVD, however The advent of Blu-ray and HD versions reveals that Childs is very breathing in the finale; It’s just hard to see since he’s backlit.
… an ape would have the same taste buds as Childs and would spit out the liquid once he tasted it.
Plus, foreign imitations are perfect Copies of their original hosts right down to biology, so it would make little sense for a child’s clone Not to have no lungs. This rules another Thing Theory, suggesting the whiskey bottle MacReady passes to children is not booze, but gasoline. This is a way for the movie’s hero to test whether children can taste the difference between the two; When Childs drinks it without any problems, MacReady laughs as he knows the other man is an imitation.
Again, an ape would have the same taste buds as children and would spit out the liquid once it tasted it. It’s even the “Light in the eye” theory, which was a secret that went unnoticed for decades The thing Blood test scene, cinematographer Dean Cundy revealed (during a commentary for the film’s Scream! Factory re-release) that although the uninfected characters have some light in their eyes, the only ape in the scene does not.
|
each The thing Movie |
Rotten Tomatoes Shot |
|---|---|
|
The thing from another world (1951) |
87% |
|
The John Carpenter Thing (1982) |
85% |
|
The thing (2011) |
34% |
Thus his dead eyes reveal his true nature. Some fans have tried to set this reading The thing End too, though Cundey said that the light in the eyes clue was not used for the final scene On Carpenter’s invasion. Again, this makes sense because the director isn’t sure if Childs is infected or not. All of the above theories are rendered anyway, considering Carpenter never intended any of these readings.
The mystery of the end of the thing should never be answered
The question mark over children must remain
Another 1982 sci-fi classic is Blade RunnerWhich also had fans puzzling over whether or not Harrison Ford’s Deckard was a replicant. There were compelling arguments on both sides, but Ridley Scott put the debate to bed during the 2000 documentary On the edge of Blade Runner. The director finally confirmed that yes, Deckard Is A replicant. While this pleased the devotees who always read the film that way, it also annoyed those who felt that Deckard needed to be human for the story to work.
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This is the risk of a movie that poses an ambiguous question – only for the creator to provide a definitive answer. For this very reason, Carpenter is right to stop The thing Finish a mystery. It’s designed for audiences to come up with their own interpretations, and any answer the director could give would be completely satisfying. This ambiguity has fueled decades of debate and theories, and that is the way it should continue.
Source: Rotten tomatoes, comicbook.com,