31 DAYS OF HORROR 2024 -6: SYMPATHY FOR THE THING

 Ever since seeing John Carpenter's THE THING  back in 1982, audiences have debated over whether or not either (or both) of the story's survivors are the titular shapeshifting extraterrestrial life form. I personally do not care if McCready or Childs or both are the Thing, as that ambiguous and bleak ending totally works for me, but I know most viewers do, so have at it. But also, ever since seeing THE THING for the first time (and many times after that), I have always wondered what the Thing's perspective was. It's clearly sentient and VERY intelligent, as evidenced by it attempting to construct a spacecraft to escape in, and all of its actions, from the moment we first see it as a dog up through the explosive fate of the main creature, point to acts of violent self-preservation motivated by justifiable fear. I don't know how the men at the ice station would have communicated with it, or if they even bothered to consider attempting that option, but it's something to think about.

I'm a lifelong STAR TREK kid, so I firmly believe in the principle of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) and the wonder of seeking out new life and new civilizations, and the Thing and its cornucopia of forms is itself the very embodiment of IDIC. Imagine what could have been if Earthmen and the Thing had met in friendship and fostered an understanding? Even as a child when I played with my Major Matt Mason astronauts and my beloved Outer Space Men aliens (Google them; I would gladly commit a felony to have all of them again), the interactions of my characters were influenced by Trek’s sense of the wonder of exploration and inter-species unity, so my aliens were never evil invaders. Despite their sometimes bizarre appearances or bodies built for strength and carnage, they were all fellow explorers who extended hands/tentacles/wings in friendship, so approaching THE THING with that mindset, I weep for that misunderstood intelligent sentient. I totally understand why the Earthmen dealt with it in the way that they did, and that THE THING is at heart a monster movie that examines abject paranoia, but still...

What do you think? Please write in with your thoughts on this.