The link between John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ and the AIDS epidemic
Subtext and allegory have always been key recurring themes of John Carpenter’s work, regardless of his best and brightest movies being heightened genre fare. The Thing is no different, with many parallels being drawn between the horror classic and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
That’s not to say Carpenter went into the film from the very beginning with the intention of creating that deeper meaning specifically, although it does play directly into several of the sci-fi terror’s other notable themes, including paranoia, mistrust, and masculinity.
The most obvious comparison comes when Kurt Russell’s MacReady is testing the blood of the remaining team members stranded at the isolated impulse, seeking to determine which one of them – if any – is hosting the creature that’s been killing them off. Unbearably intense and masterfully orchestrated, Carpenter would confirm on The Thing‘s DVD commentary that this specific scene was inspired by public fear over the AIDS epidemic.
Going deeper, the gathered men seem fearful and frightened of losing themselves to an unseen, invisible threat, one that threatens to consume not just their body, but their very identity. In the opening act, the crew are about as overtly masculine as it comes as they crack jokes, down whisky, and project an outward air of confidence despite the harsh and unforgiving conditions they find themselves in.
That all changes following the blood tests, though, with the allegory further being either added to or alluded to by Carpenter at no point acknowledging or even expressing an interest in defining the sexuality of his characters.
It’s an all-male crew alone and separated from the world, but there’s no mention of wives, girlfriends, or women in general. It’s implied that they’re all heterosexual because it’s never explicitly stated otherwise, with the early stages of the AIDS epidemic creating the false perception that it only affected gay men, even though it was transferable to anyone regardless of sexuality or gender.
Even when somebody has become infected by the creature, it’s impossible to tell without a blood test, and when one of their numbers is revealed to become the latest host, they’re immediately viewed as a monstrosity long before the phenomenal practical effects turn the clear undertones into bombastic body horror.
It’s an undercurrent that unfolds subtly and organically, furthering the perception that it was never intended to be one of the main takeaways from the film. And yet, a combination of events and circumstances saw The Thing release in 1982 when the AIDS epidemic was all over the headlines, with those parallels being reached without Carpenter actively seeking to draw them or spell them out.
Of course, The Thing doesn’t need to be experienced or re-watched through that specific lens, but Carpenter openly acknowledged that reading between the lines to see how real-life panic informed his atmospheric classic was hardly a coincidence.
