They Live (1988)

[Antiboyscout]

You noted the point of a vacation advert is to have people spend money on an ephemeral temporary experience that they may not enjoy. You know how to have more free time and extra money to have more vacations? Not having kids. This is why the demography of most of the western world has collapsed. It was encouraged. This also started in the 60's so even before Reagan was president.

Citation needed.

[Rocketboy1313]

You noted the point of a vacation advert is to have people spend money on an ephemeral temporary experience that they may not enjoy. You know how to have more free time and extra money to have more vacations? Not having kids. This is why the demography of most of the western world has collapsed. It was encouraged. This also started in the 60's so even before Reagan was president.

Citation needed.

Images

I am aware that birthrate is declining, that happens in all developed nations. But that has to do with a move away from religious and agrarian society where god isn't finger wagging at the use of condoms and you don't need to have a bunch of children to work on a farm. It doesn't have anything to do with vacations.

To say nothing of the baby boomer generation (which is not just an American thing) being a "boom" an outlier of high birth rates.

[Antiboyscout]

You noted the point of a vacation advert is to have people spend money on an ephemeral temporary experience that they may not enjoy. You know how to have more free time and extra money to have more vacations? Not having kids. This is why the demography of most of the western world has collapsed. It was encouraged. This also started in the 60's so even before Reagan was president.

Citation needed.

Images

I am aware that birthrate is declining, that happens in all developed nations. But that has to do with a move away from religious and agrarian society where god isn't finger wagging at the use of condoms and you don't need to have a bunch of children to work on a farm. It doesn't have anything to do with vacations.

To say nothing of the baby boomer generation (which is not just an American thing) being a "boom" an outlier of high birth rates.

It's not vacations specifically. It's the general notion of "don't have kids indulge yourself". Buy a second car or a bigger house. It's not condoms, it's endlessly encouraging women to enter the workforce even when being a mother would be more fulfilling.

Do to their shear size, the baby boomers should have created an echo boom, a millennial generation distinct from gen x and gen z, but they only did in a few countries.

[Admiral X]

Given how babies and young children are, not to mention the costs associated with having them, it's a pretty hard sell to have babies when you can avoid having them thanks to birth control and the like. Of course young people, both men and women, are going to want to enter the workforce and make money for themselves - they don't really need encouragement beyond their own materialism. For all the talk of how fulfilling it is to have kids, everyone knows about the negatives and for a lot of people that's what's keeping them from doing so.

[Kendrakirai]

I say again, it’s about reinforcing what people are inclined to do anyway rather than *changing* their opinions. It’s the human collaborators that are really the ones who are benefitting from the money. What use does an alien species have for paper or even a pittance of gold and jewels?

No, the subliminal messaging seen with the glasses must be to keep humanity bickering amongst itself, not noticing the conspiracy, either fat and content or working too hard for too little gain in a vain hope of things getting better.

Maybe it coincides with the WASP concept, (we do only actually see LA or whatever the city is) maybe the messaging differs depending on where in the world you are, and 80s LA was very that. I dunno, I don’t live there.

But subliminal messaging only really works if you aren’t already opposed to what the message is trying to tell you. So they spread it around to everything. The message to OBEY is going to click if you put it on enough different political or religious viewpoints. MARRY AND REPRODUCE on a picture that you’re targeting at heterosexuals (which would have been almost everything mainstream in 1988). It won’t click with everyone, but it’ll click with enough that they’ll, for example, spent two months salary on an engagement ring, tens of thousands on a wedding, and then even more if/when a baby comes, making them have to work more to pay for it all, keeping them too busy and happy(ish) to pay attention.

It all comes down, I think, in the aliens view, to *distraction*.

Now the message of the movie could be something different, but I don’t think you’d go that far to make an internal message that’s too different from an external one.

In this case, I believe the message should be “Pay Attention”. Bickering over what other messages it could have would be exactly what the aliens want!

[BBally81]

Mind you, the thing is that the system depends on people like Roddy Piper believing in it. "

Unfortunately Piper started to live that part for real near the end of his life to the point that he was a fan and supporter of conspiracy theorist nutjob InfoWar's Alex Jones.

[Mecha82]

It's sad how far Piper fell during near end of his life. I mean Alex Jones can't be taken seriously and Piper become both fan and supporter of that nutjob.

[CharlesPhipps]

I am aware that birthrate is declining, that happens in all developed nations. But that has to do with a move away from religious and agrarian society where god isn't finger wagging at the use of condoms and you don't need to have a bunch of children to work on a farm. It doesn't have anything to do with vacations.

To say nothing of the baby boomer generation (which is not just an American thing) being a "boom" an outlier of high birth rates.

The ban on birth control by religious society is a pretty exclusive Catholic thing.

I'm pretty sure the satire is in the fact society encourages you to marry and have children regardless of whether you're economically suited to it or not.

[Beastro]

You noted the point of a vacation advert is to have people spend money on an ephemeral temporary experience that they may not enjoy. You know how to have more free time and extra money to have more vacations? Not having kids. This is why the demography of most of the western world has collapsed. It was encouraged. This also started in the 60's so even before Reagan was president.

Citation needed.

Images

I am aware that birthrate is declining, that happens in all developed nations. But that has to do with a move away from religious and agrarian society where god isn't finger wagging at the use of condoms and you don't need to have a bunch of children to work on a farm. It doesn't have anything to do with vacations.

To say nothing of the baby boomer generation (which is not just an American thing) being a "boom" an outlier of high birth rates.

It has to do with outside forces driving mortality rates up since life existed and our inability to cope without survival compelling certain things out of us (Like delayed gratification being a thing).

Such religious teachings were in keeping with how life was. You reproduce like rabbits because if you don't the mortality rate will win enough that we're all dead. The problem now is oddly people choosing to forego perpetuating themselves. 4.5 billion years of life comes down to them and they chose to opt out of it without even failing to try.

[CharlesPhipps]

It has to do with outside forces driving mortality rates up since life existed and our inability to cope without survival compelling certain things out of us (Like delayed gratification being a thing).

Such religious teachings were in keeping with how life was. You reproduce like rabbits because if you don't the mortality rate will win enough that we're all dead. The problem now is oddly people choosing to forego perpetuating themselves. 4.5 billion years of life comes down to them and they chose to opt out of it without even failing to try.

As stated, it's not even universal in Christianity and opting out of reproduction to help others with their lives is even higher in some branches.