There is a short story called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson.
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There is a short story called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. You have probably never heard of it, but it was turned into a John Carpenter movie called "They Live."
In the story, a man named George Nada is hypnotized by a stage magician, but when he is told to "wake up," he wakes up completely and realizes he can see aliens living among us, whom he calls Fascinators because of their hypnotic powers.
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There is a short story called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. You have probably never heard of it, but it was turned into a John Carpenter movie called "They Live."
In the story, a man named George Nada is hypnotized by a stage magician, but when he is told to "wake up," he wakes up completely and realizes he can see aliens living among us, whom he calls Fascinators because of their hypnotic powers.
The Fascinators hypnotize people into thinking they are normal human beings and they control everything from the media to the government. Their subliminal orders are everywhere. "MARRY AND REPRODUCE," "WORK AND OBEY," and most especially, "CONSUME."
George tries to convince people of what is happening, which doesn't work, and he eventually receives a phone call from one of the Fascinators, who instructs him to die at exactly eight o'clock the next morning.
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The Fascinators hypnotize people into thinking they are normal human beings and they control everything from the media to the government. Their subliminal orders are everywhere. "MARRY AND REPRODUCE," "WORK AND OBEY," and most especially, "CONSUME."
George tries to convince people of what is happening, which doesn't work, and he eventually receives a phone call from one of the Fascinators, who instructs him to die at exactly eight o'clock the next morning.
Refusing to go down without a fight, George storms a TV station, kills the Fascinator on the news, and uses its image to command everyone to "wake up," see the aliens for what they are, and kill them.
Humanity triumphs in the end but poor old George dies at exactly eight o'clock.
The John Carpenter version is snazzier. It's got a guerilla resistance and magic shades and pokes fun at the sociopathic consumerism of the Reagan Eighties.
But it's the "waking up" part that's important.
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M mindtunes@troet.cafe shared this topic
