History YMMV / TheyLive

** At what point was [[spoiler: Holly on the aliens' side? From the beginning? Or did they just make her a better offer during Nada's absence?]] [[Website/SFDebris At least one reviewer]] has argued that Creator/MegFoster's performance as Holly is not simply DullSurprise, but subtle foreshadowing that [[spoiler: she is TheQuisling from the start, demonstrating that she's in on the conspiracy even before Nada kidnaps her.]]

** Naturally, given that it's a film about shadowy elites ruling the world from behind the scenes, {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s have taken a significant liking to it. Carpenter insists that it's a satire of '80s yuppie capitalism run amok, and has told [[ThoseWackyNazis neo-Nazi]] fans of the film (who read a specifically anti-Semitic meaning into it) to go [[http://www.avclub.com/article/john-carpenter-thinks-internet-nazis-need-put-sung-247940 piss right the hell off]].
** A lot of conservatives read this movie as anti-socialist, mostly as an offshoot of "elites = liberals, liberals = socialists" line of thinking. Never mind the fact that the whole thing is a criticism of an overly capitalist society (and, by WordOfGod, satire of the Reagan administration's consumerist society), and that the heroes are branded as DirtyCommies.

** Likewise, the film has libertarian fans, for some of the same reasons that conservatives have towards it. In fact, a ''lot'' of Creator/JohnCarpenter's films have been read as libertarian, even though Carpenter himself insists he's a liberal. In an interview with fellow horror director Creator/MickGarris, Carpenter questioned why he has so many libertarian fans and joked that he might rethink his political beliefs.

** During election seasons it's common to see every politician depicted as one of the evil aliens from the film, implicitly accusing them of pursuing an ulterior agenda (of evil). Mainstream pop culture celebrities, especially ones that market to a mass audience, get the brunt of this too.

** It's common to see every politician depicted as one of the evil aliens from the film during election seasons, implicitly accusing them of pursuing an ulterior agenda (of evil). Mainstream pop culture celebrities, especially ones that market to a mass audience, get the brunt of this too.

* WhatAnIdiot: Nada's immediate reaction to discovering that the world is run by aliens is not to keep quiet about the fact he knows their secret and avoid any unwanted attention, but to loudly announce that he can see through the masquerade and to start shooting any alien he sees with a shotgun. This not only gets them hot on his trail in order to silence him, but also makes him look like a kill-crazy murderer to the unaware humans who can only see the aliens as normal and innocent people.

** Around election season, it's common to see every politician depicted as one of the evil aliens from the film, implicitly accusing them of pursuing an ulterior agenda (of evil). Mainstream pop culture celebrities, especially ones that market to a mass audience, get the brunt of this too.

** The subliminal OBEY/CONSUME/etc signs have been remixed all over the place, notably into Shepard Fairey's OBEY GIANT campaign (which uses the likeness of Piper's fellow WWE wrestler Wrestling/AndreTheGiant). Around election season, it's common to see every politician depicted as an evil alien pursuing an ulterior agenda.

** The subliminal OBEY/CONSUME/etc signs have been remixed all over the place, notably into Shepard Fairey's OBEY GIANT campaign (which uses the likeness of Piper's fellow WWE wrestler Wrestling/AndreTheGiant).

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: By many people's assertion, there were a lot of things wrong with 1980s American consumerism.

* ValuesResonance: The only things outdated in this film are the hairstyles.

** Likewise, the film has libertarian fans, for some of the same reasons that conservatives have towards it. In fact, a ''lot'' of John Carpenter's films have been read as libertarian, even though Carpenter himself insists he's a liberal. In an interview with fellow horror director Mick Garris, Carpenter questioned why he has so many libertarian fans and joked that he might rethink his political beliefs.

* ParanoiaFuel: The whole point, in a way. That commercial you just saw on television... just a commercial or a subliminal message telling you to "OBEY" and "CONFORM"?

** At what point was [[spoiler: Holly on the aliens' side? From the beginning? Or did they just make her a better offer during Nada's absence?]] [[Website/SFDebris At least one reviewer]] has argued that Meg Foster's performance as Holly is not simply DullSurprise, but subtle foreshadowing that [[spoiler: she is TheQuisling from the start, demonstrating that she's in on the conspiracy even before Nada kidnaps her.]]

* SignatureScene: The alley fight. For better and for worse.

** [[Website/SFDebris At least one reviewer]] has argued that Meg Foster's performance as Holly is not simply DullSurprise, but subtle foreshadowing that [[spoiler: she is TheQuisling from the start, demonstrating that she's in on the conspiracy even before Nada kidnaps her.]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: By many people's assertion, there were a lot of things wrong with 1980s American consumerism.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Roddy Piper as Nada is widely considered one of the better acting performances in a movie by a pro wrestler.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: A lot of the actors have to wear rubber masks that are completely inarticulate, especially the "What's wrong, baby" ending.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The plot revolves around creatures that have infiltrated the human race by [[TheyLookLikeUsNow making themselves look indistinguishable from us]] and posing as benevolent members of our society. With the help of at least one other human ally, our hero finds out about these grotesque foes, thereby learning how to identify them and how to protect himself and other humans. Eventually, he stumbles upon a secret meeting of the monsters (along with a human who was previously unaware of their existence). After one of the monsters at the meeting gives a speech detailing their plans, the hero discovers an enemy weapon that he hijacks to deal a debilitating blow to the inhuman enemies. Although he and the other human who witness the meeting have their lifespans severely shortened from the encounter, the hero considers it a worthy sacrifice since he enabled humanity to defeat the infiltrators...Yeah, sorry Creator/JohnCarpenter, but it looks like a certain ''[[Creator/RoaldDahl other]]'' master of scares [[Literature/TheWitches beat you to it]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Nada is an everyman with little apparent education and limited skills. When confronted by a massive alien conspiracy in the heart of modern society, he realizes only he can see them because he's wearing special glasses (designed by rebel engineers who know about the alien invasion).\\
'''You'd Expect''': Him to stay quiet about the fact he knows their secret.\\
'''Instead''': He tells the aliens very loudly and proudly that he knows their secret through the glasses, thus making the aliens send in a police squadron and label him a wanted fugitive (the aliens ''are'' the law and authorities!)
** There's also the issue of Holly.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given how hostile Holly has been to him especially how she shoved him off a 3 story height from her mansion, Nada would shoot her down or at the very least not trust her and keep her out of his pursuit of taking down the aliens' satellite which projects their human disguises.\\
'''Instead''': He genuinely trusts Holly and recruits her as a Third team player to follow him and Frank to the roof that has the satellite.

** Is the bearded drifter, [[spoiler:Someone who sold out in the aftermath of the shantytown raid, or was he a spy from the start, working to discourage the masses from listening to the bearded hacker, and perhaps spying on the church resistance group.]]

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: After Nada has gunned down a bunch of aliens masquerading as cops, a human cop cowers before him. Nada tells him, "Beat your feet", allowing him to run away unharmed.

** A lot of conservatives read this movie as anti-socialist, mostly as an offshoot of "elites = liberals, liberals = socialists" line of thinking. Nevermind the fact that the whole thing is a criticism of an overly capitalist society (and, by WordOfGod, satire of the Reagan administration's consumerist society), and that the heroes are branded as DirtyCommies.

* {{Narm}}: Holly's wide-eyed nervous stare becomes this after a while, thanks to an infamously flat performance from Meg Foster.

* Padding: The fist fight, infamously so.
* ParanoiaFuel: The whole point, in a way. That commercial you just saw on television ... just a commercial or a subliminal message telling you to "OBEY" and "CONFORM"?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[Website/SFDebris At least one reviewer]] has argued that Meg Foster's performance as Holly is not simply DullSurprise, but subtle foreshadowing that [[spoiler: she is TheQuisling from the start, demonstrating that she's in on the conspiracy even before Nada kidnaps her.]]

'''You'd Expect''': Given how hostile Holly has been to him especially how she shoved him off a 20-foot height from her mansion, Nada would shoot her down or at the very least not trust her and keep her out of his pursuit of taking down the aliens' satellite which projects their human disguises.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Given how hostile Holly has been to him, Nada would shoot her down or at the very least not trust her and keep her out of his pursuit of taking down the aliens' satellite which projects their human disguises.\\
'''Instead''': He genuinely trusts Holly and lets her follow him and Frank to the roof that has the satellite.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Compared to other sci-fi movies Who handle their themes more gracefully and subtly weaving them into the plot, this movie’s more in your face way of giving its commentary can become a drudge even if you agree with its statements.

** "Eating from the trashcan of ideology" is popular among Slavoj Žižek fans, due to his documentary ''The Pervert's Guide to Ideology'' where he references the alley fight scene.

** "Eating from the trashcan of ideology" is popular among Slavoj Žižek fans, due to his documentary *The Pervert's Guide to Ideology* where he references the alley fight scene.