They Live

'Due to a computer error,

'the food stamp programme has been suspended until further notice.

'Please do not apply at this time.

'All applicants for work wages now report to window D.

'Thank you.'

Last place of employment?

Denver, Colorado.

Worked there for ten years. Then things just seemed to dry up.

They lost 14 banks in one week.

So, can...

There's nothing available for you right now.

They use their tongues to deceive.

The venom of snakes is under their lips.

Their mouths are full of bitterness and curses.

And in their paths, nothing but ruin and misery.

And the fear of God is not before their eyes.

They have taken the hearts and minds of our leaders.

They have recruited the rich and the powerful,

and they have blinded us to the truth.

Our human spirit is corrupted.

Why do we worship greed?

Because outside the limit of our sight,

feeding off us, perched on top of us from birth to death,

are our owners!

Our owners!

They have us. They control us.

They are our masters.

Wake up! They're all about you, all around you.

'Sometimes when I watch TV, I stop being myself,

'and I'm a star of a series or I have my own talk show,

'or I'm on the news getting out of a limo, going some place important.

'All I ever have to do is be famous.

'People watch me, and they love me.

'And I'll never, never grow old,

'and I'll never die.'

Excuse me. You need anybody?

- Maybe. - I've got my own tools.

This is a union job.

So...

Er, then may I please speak with the shop steward?

Sir?

Hey, there's no sleeping on this site,

so you park your ass some place else tonight.

Excuse me.

Then when do I get paid?

Thursday.

You need a place to stay?

Chesterfield's over on 4th street. They've got hot food and showers.

I'm going that way if you want me to show you.

I don't like nobody following me unless I know why.

Well, I don't turn up with anybody till I see where he's going.

They'll be serving the food up soon.

Good, I'm starving.

Whoa!

Hey Frank, how's it going?

You may get a chance to meet some of the folk.

This here is Gilbert. Anything you need, he knows where to find it.

- Hi. - Hi.

- What you got in that pack? Tools? - Yes, sir.

If you can use them, we can use you.

The shower's caving in over there.

Let's get something to eat.

There you go!

Howdy!

- Peas? - Yeah, plum.

- Some more? - Yeah.

I've got a wife and two kids back in Detroit.

I haven't seen them in six months.

The steel mills were laying people off left and right.

They finally went under.

We gave the steel companies a break when they needed it.

Know what they gave themselves?

Raises.

The golden rule.

"He who has the gold makes the rules."

If they close one more factory,

we should take a sledge to one of their fancy fucking foreign cars.

You know, you ought to have a little more patience.

Yeah, well, I'm all out.

The whole deal's like some kind of crazy game.

They put you at the starting line,

the name of the game is, "Make it through life."

Only everyone is out for themselves and looking to do you in at the same time.

OK, man, here we are.

Here we are. Now, you do what you can,

but remember, I'm going to do my best to blow your ass away.

So, how are you going to make it?

I deliver a hard day's work for my money, I just want a chance. It'll come.

I believe in America. I follow the rules.

Everybody has got their own hard times these days.

'And you've always thought you couldn't wear press-on nails

'because of all the active things you do?

'Well, if you're ready for beautiful, natural-looking, easy-to-apply nails,

recoloured in seven luscious hues,

'just...'

'Our impulses are being redirected.

'We are living in an artificially-induced state of consciousness

'that resembles sleep.'

Goddamn hacker. That's the second time tonight that asshole has cut in.

'The movement was begun eight months ago

'by a small group of scientists who discovered - quite by accident -.

'These signals being sent through...'

- That thing's giving me a headache. - Yeah, tell me about it.

Must have took the hacker months to figure out how to do this.

'The poor and the under-class are growing.

'Racial justice and human rights are non-existent.

'They have created a repressive society,

'and we are their unwitting accomplices.

'Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness.

'We have been lulled into a trance.

'They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others.

'We are focused only on our own gain.

'We...

'Please understand,

'they are safe as long as they are not discovered.

'That is their primary method of survival.

'Keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated.'

Blow it out of your ass!

Choir practice went a little late last night, didn't it?

The church lets us use their kitchen.

Till four in the morning?

Hey, we take care of a lot of people here.

'They are dismantling the sleeping middle-class.

'More and more people are becoming poor.

'We are their cattle.

'We are being bred for slavery.'

- Not again! - 'We cannot break their signal.

'Our transmitter is not powerful enough.

'The signal must be shut off at the source. We have...'

- Billy, I have a headache. - Me too, honey.

Could somebody please explain to me what the hell all that's about?

Just that idiot licking his nuts again.

And there's nothlng wrong with it.

We have to face facts. Only a few seconds got on the air.

It's time to forget about breaking in on top of their signal.

They're only gonna jam us out again and again.

Then we have to send the shipment out on the street.

No, no, no... it's not gonna work that way. We've been all through this!

We have no other choice.

Robbing banks.

Manufacturing Hoffman lenses till we're blue in the face.

We're just not gonna reach enough people!

We gotta find new people, strong people who'll work with us.

That's my baby.

Oh!

Just leaving, you know... Your door was open.

Just wanted to close it. Didn't want no one breaking in.

- Neighbourhood watch. - Yeah...

Now let me touch your face.

- That's fine. - Mm-hmm, good. Now your hands.

- That's fine. - Good.

- You're a working man. - Yes, sir.

Here. It's the revolution. Let me show you.

I gotta be going right now. Maybe some other time, huh?

Huh?

This world may have blinded me,

but the Lord has let me see!

You'll be back. You'll be back!

I've been hearing something on the streets the last couple of weeks.

Weird stuff.

Some sort of epidemic of violence is what they've been saying.

I was talking to one old boy who's from San Anselmo.

He told me they got some sort of cult up there.

End-of-the-world kind of stuff.

- Well, what are they doing? - Shooting people, robbing banks.

Same old thing as always.

Whole lot of people gone crazy over some nutty dream they just had.

You wanna know the truth?

This kind of shit happens at the end of every century.

It does.

It's just people afraid to face the future, that's all it is.

Hey!

What's happening?

I was inside there a while.

All kinds of cardboard boxes, some kind of lab setup.

What do you mean?

There's no singing. It's a tape recorder.

Leave it alone, man.

It ain't none of my business, ain't none of yours.

Yeah, but our boy Gilbert's in there helping them.

I got a job now and I plan on keeping it.

I'm walking a white line all the time.

I don't bother nobody. Nobody bothers me.

You better start doing the same.

White line's in the middle of the road.

That's the worst place to drive.

I'll see you later.

I'll see you later.

Step down. Watch it.

Easy, easy. This way.

All right. Now we cross the road.

It's dirt here.

Quickly! Quickly!

- Go, go, go! - Come on, this way. This way.

Frank!

We know who you are!

Leave us alone.

We know you.

We know you.